The idea for this project came from Frugal Family Fun. It was simple and fun to do. And Isabel loved how shiny her snowflakes were. I might try this activity again, letting her use sequins instead of tinfoil so that thye can be colorful & shiny!
The other thing we did last night (which usually we try to do on Monday morning) is her Scholastic reader that I subscribe too for us. And finally she played with some play-doh.
Yesterday we went to play at a snow fort & hill that a friend's neighbor created in an empty lot in their neighborhood. It was so neat & so much fun. Isabel loved playing hide & seek in the tunnels & caverns.
Tonight I took Isabel to a Learn to Skate class. It was bring a friend free night and I thought we would try it out. She did pretty good, but she's been on the ice before and does better and better every time. She had a good time and she really enjoyed watching the older ice skaters there. I kinda wish we could put her in the class, but it costs roughly $13 a class (for a half hour class). That is just too much money for a class. I will just have to take her ice skating and she'll have to figure stuff out on her own or from watching others. Sorry baby girl, but figure skating is not something mommy & daddy will be paying for.
She is the one on the far end in the back row. I am afraid she got her rhythm from mom. Let's just say it's not a strong suit of mine. But this was her first time in dance class, so I could be wrong. She said she had fun and was a very good listener. It is a community education dance class, so it is held in an elementary school gym. There will be a recital at the end, which I will let interested parties know about. Anyone is welcome to come view.
Isabel is more willing to open presents (well, eager to, in fact) and willing to pose for pictures. So, I was able to get some more pictures of her this day than of her brother.
I just love Isabel's expressions as she would open her Christmas presents from Santa. The only thing she told Santa that she really wanted was a pink unicorn pony. And she told that to every santa she saw & in her letter to him. So, she got 2 different pink unicorn ponies and some other new ponies. The girl loves her ponies.
Isabel had such a hard time waiting all day until it was time to open our family Christmas presents. Her big gift from mommy & daddy was the new play kitchen, which she has had a great time playing with already. Her brother gave her some wooden cutting food, which goes so nicely with the wooden kitchen. The other thing you can see in the picture is some new pink jammies that she received from mommy & daddy. The other presents she received from mommy & daddy is a couple books, a new puzzle, an art set, and a sock monkey. The homemade items that mommy made her were story blocks, a hat, and a dress. And baby dolly received a homemade knit scarf and mittens set that matches Isabel's hat.
Isabel & mommy went sledding at the hill at the park today with our friends Caitlin, Amelia & Gavin. They brought along hot cocoa for all of us, so the kids got to experience some tailgating. We had a good time, even if the girls get a little whiney about walking back up the hill.
Isabel's Christmas present included a kit for making sugar cookies and what was neat about the dough & frosting was that it was white in the package, but as soon as you added the water it turned pink. Isabel had very little patience in waiting to make these. We had a good time.
Isabel & I made these trees. They were inspired by some that Martha Stewart had created. Although, if we ever make them again we will use hot glue instead of school glue because the sequins have been falling off. But they sure are pretty.
We had no idea Santa was going to be at storytime. If I did know, I would have made sure she picked out clothes that matched. Sometimes the outfits she picks out can be quite interesting. She was pretty happy to see Santa again. Of course, she told him she wants a pink unicorn pony (which she has told all the other Santas, she has seen him 4 times.) Santa gave all the kids a candy cane a d stuffed penguin, which she thought was way cool, that Santa was giving an early present.
I took the kids to the Northfield Winter Walk this year. I had never been to it before. Lots of carolers & instrumentalists, all the free apple cider & cookies you could want, free sleigh rides, face painting, ornament making santa's helpers walking the streets & Santa. There were also plays & puppet shows & another holiday characters to meet and other things that we didn't get a chance to do. But we had fun.
Friday I took Isabel to the park to go sledding and took this picture before we went down the hill (many time!)
This was sledding we have done in our own yard. With all the snow we have been getting there is plenty of opportunity to sled here with all the huge snow hills we have.
Step 1: Collect fresh clean snow from outside
Step 3: Pour in 1 tsp. vanilla
Step 4: Pour in one 14 oz. can of sweetened condenced milk
Step 5: Mix together until evenly covered.
Step 6: Enjoy! You can freeze this, but it will end up having an ice milk consistency when you scoop it out again.
So, this year Isabel wrote her letter to Santa on the iPad and we left it by their stocking for him to read when he came to check on them. Then Santa wrote her & Henry back a letter. Her St. Nick presents included a christmas plate, a christmas book, christmas ornaments, some candy, a bracelet & purse.
Our family friends came over on Sunday, what I mean by family friends is that it's not just that I am friends with the mom from our playgroup. Our whole family is friends with their whole family. The dads were working on making their next adult beverage (they finally started drinking some of the beer they made, as it takes a long time, and they did a good job and made something edible) and watching the Vikings game. While that was going on, Isabel & Gavin were playing together and making crafts (Christmas train & decorated ornaments.)
Our friends Cheri, Cole & Jacqueline came over on Tuesday and we made the above crafts with them: baby food jar santa, fingerprint lightstrand & Christmas train.
Today, Isabel's BFF Maizee and her little sister Berklee came over for a playdate. They had fun playing dress-up and making crafts (candy decorated christmas tree and jewel decorated tree {not pictured}).
These are the ornament crafts she made on Saturday when her friend Amelia was over for a playdate.
These were crafts that she made at our ECFE class on Tuesday night. She made a dog biscuit ornament, a snowman, and a yarn ornament.
This is such a crazy picture. She is in some dress-up clothes and did her own hair. She made these crafts on Monday when her friend Aleah came over for a playdate. The painted christmas tree is a little container and they also made christmas cards.
Her friend Amelia came over for another sleepover and they couldn't wait to get outside to play. It was cold, so they had to come in for a while and then back out again to play some more. They had a good time and made some ornament crafts that night.
You can read about most of this on brother's blog. One of the things I forgot to mention that we also went to the Godiva store after lunch and bought some chocolate. Yummy! And at the Elf exhibit, Isabel also talked to Mrs Claus and some elves.
She wore the same outfit to this recital that she did during the summer, but I altered it. I took off the sleeves and added sequins around the armholes and in the skirt and in the center of the top. She looked very pretty and sparkled up on stage.
Her friend Aleah took dance class with her and she were so excited to get up on stage and perform.
Last week Monday I took the kids to Cabela's. They had a good time looking at the living & stuffed animals.
On Tuesday morning we had some friends over and we made some turkey crafts. Isabel loves crafting so much!
She spent a lot of time playing in the snow today. Hopefully there is still some snow on the ground tomorrow and we can go to the park to sled.
