Well, as of last night Kenny boarded the sleigh with Santa when he came through and he flew back to the North Pole until next year. It seems like it has been a long month of him being here as we have just stayed so very busy all month. Here is a recap of his last week with us.
On Day 19, Kenny decided to hang on the light above our kitchen table. He thought this would be funny since Kenzie is obsessed with the fact that he was found hanging from the fan once last year. It wasn't as funny apparently, but still a pretty big hit.
Our activity for the day was to make reindeer food. We try to do this every year. It is super simple and can mostly be done with ingredients we already have on hand. It was easy enough that we were able to wait for Daddy to get home before we did it. We just mix some sprinkles in with uncooked oatmeal, put in bags, attach tags, and there you go. We dropped some off with some of our neighbors with kids. Kenzie was concerned that the reindeer would have enough but between our 3 houses, I think they should be good.
On Day 20, Kenny made himself a swing. The kids LOVED this. Though Kenzie was quick to point out that he had to tape himself to it so he wouldn't fall. Yep. That's why he did it.
Our activity of the day was to go on a light scavenger hunt. Before that though, we had to go to the Kids' Club at Chick Fil A. We did this for the first time in October and the kids loved it. We couldn't make it last month but this month we did. Kenzie finally got her face painted. She was sad to have to wipe it off because of school the next day but she loved it while it was done. Both kids made ornaments for our tree which were actually super cute. We donated gloves and a hat for the cold weather so Chick Fil A can donate them. Kenzie met Santa Cow. Will... wasn't having that. A 6+ foot cow dressed as Santa was not high on his "must see" list. He made it about 1/2 way across the restaurant to him and then about faced and hightailed it back to his seat. He made me walk him all the way around the restaurant once to get back to his seat so he wouldn't cross paths with the cow. Our neighbors and their little girl came too so we had dinner with them and then all the kids played outside on the play area. It was a lot of fun. After that, we headed out to see some lights. Kenny found this awesome sheet online ;) to use as a guide to give us a sense of purpose as we drove through lights. The kids loved it and called out everything they saw hoping that we could mark it off on the list. We did pretty well. We only missed about 5 things, I think.
Day 21 was apparently a day for crazy antics with the Bunny Sock Monkey. Kenny and her got into a snowball fight over the gingerbread houses. Kenzie and Will laughed hysterically at the snowball stuck to Kenny's hat. We must have caught them mid-fight.
Our activity of the day was to watch a Christmas movie and drink hot chocolate or chocolate milk. We elected to go the chocolate milk route. The kids picked Frosty the Snowman that we record on the DVR every year around this time and we settled in with chocolate milk and popcorn. Both kids enjoyed it. Will wasn't super excited about chocolate milk. Kenzie was like that her first year having it too but now she loves it. She doesn't drink a lot of it at once, but she enjoys it. Will gave his to me. I don't mind. I love it. =) After watching Frosty, we started The Grinch but didn't get to finish it because it was bed time.
On Day 22, Kenny made us go on a candy cane hunt. He hid 8 candy canes. Will found the first one right away and then Kenzie ticked off the next 6 on the list before I had to "find" the last one. They had fun doing it though.
Our activity of the day was to do a Christmas craft. When we first started doing this month advent thing, we did a lot of these crafts but as the kids get older and we can do more with them, this becomes a filler on days when we need a down day or can't schedule anything else. This year we purposely put on in because our kids (mainly Kenzie) love art so we wanted to have something in there. Plus, I wanted to make something with our family to display at Christmas. I took the kids to Hobby Lobby this morning where they picked out these suncatcher things you can paint. We did it together on the back patio after nap time and they seemed to enjoy it. I'm not 100% sure yet how I will hang them as they didn't come with any materials to do so but I will figure it out. For our family craft, I drew a light string on a canvas and we each used our thumbs to add the "lights". Kenzie chose to be red, Will chose green, I went with orange/yellow and Steven did blue. I love how it turned out.
On Day 23, Kenny decided that our family picture in the hall needed some embellishment. So, he drew mustaches, hats, bow ties, crazy hair, etc on us. Kenzie actually noticed him early but didn't say anything. Will woke up about 6:50 that morning which is about 10 minute before her clock turns green signaling that she can leave her room. She was awake though and peeked her head out when she heard me walk to his room. I couldn't leave her in there if I was pulling him out and it was close enough to 7 that I was going to take him to our bed for a bit so we all walked to our bedroom to snuggle for a few minutes until closer to 7. As we walked through the hallway, she glanced up and almost stopped in her tracks but she kept going. I think it is because she knows that she is supposed to go searching with Will. So, we went to the room for a bit and eventually I told them to go find Kenny. Kenzie ran right to the hallway and found him. The kids thought him drawing on our faces was hilarious though. Will kept saying, "Will? I have mustache?" after I told them that he drew mustaches on Daddy and Will. They laughed pretty hard so I think this was a pretty big win for Kenny.
Our activity of the day was to go walk through Kit Land Nelson Park to see the lights. This is a park near our house that decorates the area in lights every year. We have gone for about 4 years now and 3 years ago, we made it a normal tradition on the 23rd. The kids love to be able to run around and look at all the lights. Well, Kenzie has been running for a while. This was the first year that Will was truly walking while we were there but he is like a rocket and he loves to run and get involved just like his Sissy. We had a blast seeing all the lights. The kids barely stayed still. They did stop for just long enough for me to snap what has turned out to be my favorite picture all season.
Finally, Day 24 rolled around and Kenny made his final appearance. He decided to do what I think Kenzie has been waiting for him to do all month... hang from the fan. He had to hang out in an area out of the way and where Will couldn't reach him so this worked. He brought a few things. He brought "magic elf candy" which Kenzie immediately told us smelled like Skittles... And he brought our annual Christmas pjs from Santa. This is a tradition that will probably always remain one of my favorites. We all get new pjs (sometimes Christmas themed and sometimes not) to wear on Christmas Eve and opening gifts on Christmas morning. The kids loved theirs and were super excited to don them for Christmas Eve. Kenny didn't leave any activities for us because we have a few very specific traditions that we do every Christmas Eve. I'll be writing a whole post about Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this week sometime. He did leave a note saying that he would be leaving with Santa on Christmas Eve and would see us next year. Will seemed a bit disappointed on Christmas Day when he couldn't find him. He kept asking me about Kenny randomly. I'm glad he enjoyed having him this month.
And with that... Kenny left on Santa's sleigh and we will not see him until next year. I can't wait!
On Day 19, Kenny decided to hang on the light above our kitchen table. He thought this would be funny since Kenzie is obsessed with the fact that he was found hanging from the fan once last year. It wasn't as funny apparently, but still a pretty big hit.
Our activity for the day was to make reindeer food. We try to do this every year. It is super simple and can mostly be done with ingredients we already have on hand. It was easy enough that we were able to wait for Daddy to get home before we did it. We just mix some sprinkles in with uncooked oatmeal, put in bags, attach tags, and there you go. We dropped some off with some of our neighbors with kids. Kenzie was concerned that the reindeer would have enough but between our 3 houses, I think they should be good.
On Day 20, Kenny made himself a swing. The kids LOVED this. Though Kenzie was quick to point out that he had to tape himself to it so he wouldn't fall. Yep. That's why he did it.
Our activity of the day was to go on a light scavenger hunt. Before that though, we had to go to the Kids' Club at Chick Fil A. We did this for the first time in October and the kids loved it. We couldn't make it last month but this month we did. Kenzie finally got her face painted. She was sad to have to wipe it off because of school the next day but she loved it while it was done. Both kids made ornaments for our tree which were actually super cute. We donated gloves and a hat for the cold weather so Chick Fil A can donate them. Kenzie met Santa Cow. Will... wasn't having that. A 6+ foot cow dressed as Santa was not high on his "must see" list. He made it about 1/2 way across the restaurant to him and then about faced and hightailed it back to his seat. He made me walk him all the way around the restaurant once to get back to his seat so he wouldn't cross paths with the cow. Our neighbors and their little girl came too so we had dinner with them and then all the kids played outside on the play area. It was a lot of fun. After that, we headed out to see some lights. Kenny found this awesome sheet online ;) to use as a guide to give us a sense of purpose as we drove through lights. The kids loved it and called out everything they saw hoping that we could mark it off on the list. We did pretty well. We only missed about 5 things, I think.
Day 21 was apparently a day for crazy antics with the Bunny Sock Monkey. Kenny and her got into a snowball fight over the gingerbread houses. Kenzie and Will laughed hysterically at the snowball stuck to Kenny's hat. We must have caught them mid-fight.
Our activity of the day was to watch a Christmas movie and drink hot chocolate or chocolate milk. We elected to go the chocolate milk route. The kids picked Frosty the Snowman that we record on the DVR every year around this time and we settled in with chocolate milk and popcorn. Both kids enjoyed it. Will wasn't super excited about chocolate milk. Kenzie was like that her first year having it too but now she loves it. She doesn't drink a lot of it at once, but she enjoys it. Will gave his to me. I don't mind. I love it. =) After watching Frosty, we started The Grinch but didn't get to finish it because it was bed time.
On Day 22, Kenny made us go on a candy cane hunt. He hid 8 candy canes. Will found the first one right away and then Kenzie ticked off the next 6 on the list before I had to "find" the last one. They had fun doing it though.
Our activity of the day was to do a Christmas craft. When we first started doing this month advent thing, we did a lot of these crafts but as the kids get older and we can do more with them, this becomes a filler on days when we need a down day or can't schedule anything else. This year we purposely put on in because our kids (mainly Kenzie) love art so we wanted to have something in there. Plus, I wanted to make something with our family to display at Christmas. I took the kids to Hobby Lobby this morning where they picked out these suncatcher things you can paint. We did it together on the back patio after nap time and they seemed to enjoy it. I'm not 100% sure yet how I will hang them as they didn't come with any materials to do so but I will figure it out. For our family craft, I drew a light string on a canvas and we each used our thumbs to add the "lights". Kenzie chose to be red, Will chose green, I went with orange/yellow and Steven did blue. I love how it turned out.
On Day 23, Kenny decided that our family picture in the hall needed some embellishment. So, he drew mustaches, hats, bow ties, crazy hair, etc on us. Kenzie actually noticed him early but didn't say anything. Will woke up about 6:50 that morning which is about 10 minute before her clock turns green signaling that she can leave her room. She was awake though and peeked her head out when she heard me walk to his room. I couldn't leave her in there if I was pulling him out and it was close enough to 7 that I was going to take him to our bed for a bit so we all walked to our bedroom to snuggle for a few minutes until closer to 7. As we walked through the hallway, she glanced up and almost stopped in her tracks but she kept going. I think it is because she knows that she is supposed to go searching with Will. So, we went to the room for a bit and eventually I told them to go find Kenny. Kenzie ran right to the hallway and found him. The kids thought him drawing on our faces was hilarious though. Will kept saying, "Will? I have mustache?" after I told them that he drew mustaches on Daddy and Will. They laughed pretty hard so I think this was a pretty big win for Kenny.
Our activity of the day was to go walk through Kit Land Nelson Park to see the lights. This is a park near our house that decorates the area in lights every year. We have gone for about 4 years now and 3 years ago, we made it a normal tradition on the 23rd. The kids love to be able to run around and look at all the lights. Well, Kenzie has been running for a while. This was the first year that Will was truly walking while we were there but he is like a rocket and he loves to run and get involved just like his Sissy. We had a blast seeing all the lights. The kids barely stayed still. They did stop for just long enough for me to snap what has turned out to be my favorite picture all season.
Finally, Day 24 rolled around and Kenny made his final appearance. He decided to do what I think Kenzie has been waiting for him to do all month... hang from the fan. He had to hang out in an area out of the way and where Will couldn't reach him so this worked. He brought a few things. He brought "magic elf candy" which Kenzie immediately told us smelled like Skittles... And he brought our annual Christmas pjs from Santa. This is a tradition that will probably always remain one of my favorites. We all get new pjs (sometimes Christmas themed and sometimes not) to wear on Christmas Eve and opening gifts on Christmas morning. The kids loved theirs and were super excited to don them for Christmas Eve. Kenny didn't leave any activities for us because we have a few very specific traditions that we do every Christmas Eve. I'll be writing a whole post about Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this week sometime. He did leave a note saying that he would be leaving with Santa on Christmas Eve and would see us next year. Will seemed a bit disappointed on Christmas Day when he couldn't find him. He kept asking me about Kenny randomly. I'm glad he enjoyed having him this month.
And with that... Kenny left on Santa's sleigh and we will not see him until next year. I can't wait!
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