🎵 Tis the Season to be Jolly... 🎵
This week has been a slower one.
We put our family tree up, and the children decorated it, which is always fun as they sing Christmas carols and reminisce about the ornaments as they put them on the tree.
Of course I needed to take some pet photos with the tree… luckily I did because it was knocked over the next day, by the pet not pictured.
Old things become new things
Our elderly neighbors moved down the road recently and, since they’ve drastically downsized, they’ve been giving us many things to either keep or donate for them. The girls, especially, have been in their bliss with this as they’ve found tons of treasures and created so many scenarios and role playing games with their new old things.
Furry Visitors
We noticed a new little tuxedo friend out on our porch one day so we decided to set out some food in hopes the camera would catch them.
We discovered not one but two little friends who come to hang out in our yard, although both look well taken care of and loved , and outdoor cats are pretty common here, so we won’t interfere. We may, however, get some outdoor shelters for them, just in case.
A Different Kind Of Elf
We don’t do the Elf on the Shelf. I’m not a fan of the whole “You need to be ‘good’ if you want Santa to come, so he sent this trouble making Elf to sit on a shelf and spy on you” thing.
But when First Born was a baby, I saw the idea of The Kindness Elves and I loved the premise, I couldn’t wait until he was old enough to participate.
It’s a fair amount of work. Sometimes they are the kind ones, bringing things for the kids to do, or make, or bake, and sometimes they bring ideas for them to do to be kind to others. So far, they’ve just asked for new names (the kids each name one every year), suggested buying toys for the local toy drive, brought a craft to make and suggested leaving them at the local park for others to take home, suggested wishing everyone they meet a Merry Christmas, and brought some pre-printed canvases for painting. They also brought a countdown calendar, a day late because Middle Born reminded them that it’s one of her favorite things they bring.
They’re not really for playing with, like the Elf on the Shelf, but they don’t lose their “magic” or anything if they’re touched. In fact, this year they’ve been hiding so the kids have to find “their” elf. It’s pretty fun.
-
- This year, we have DJ, Frostbite and Mary, with a bonus Sparkle who is a Santa Spy at Last Born’s request.
-
- They even have a little Canada Post Box that we was one of the neighbors treasures.
-
- First Born doesn’t usually participate in the crafting, but the elves always give him the option.
Finally… SNOW!
To everyone’s excitement, we finally got a dusting of snow. We’re in the southern part of Nova Scotia, in what’s called “the banana belt”, so we don’t get the snow that most of the rest of the province gets. And certainly not nearly the snow we were used to in our Petawawa ON and St Jean QC postings! That’s the thing First Born hates the most: No Snow. (Although, I’m mostly ok with it, myself!)
All three got in their gear and headed outside. First and Last Borns made a snowman, and Middle Born made a little snow dog. By the afternoon, the snow was gone but their creations stayed for another day until the rain started and they melted away.
For More 3 Little Learners
