Getting Ready For Christmas

We've been busy getting ready for Christmas this Thanksgiving Break.  The kids have both started a couple of weeks ago to work on chore charts to earn money for their cousins Christmas present, it is so fun to see, because they get so excited to take out the garbage, mop the floor, feed the animals, do the dishes, help with yard work, and other chores like help take shingles off another cousins house to prep it for roof repair.  It's been amazing to see them still so excited (I think we are 3 weeks into it and their charts are almost filled up) and then always saying that they almost have enough to buy so and so's gift.

We've also decided to do some new decorations at our house.

Here are snow globes we worked on yesterday. Jack's is the Santa with Christmas Trees and Annabelle made the 3 snowmen.

They also helped me choose the ribbon and make this fun new wreath for our front door.

 

 Today we were working on writing letters to Santa - a great way to utilize the new fully equipped pencil box Jack just got from Papa.

 The kids have really been looking forward to making these letters.  Jack has been carrying around the Target Toy Magazine since it came in the beginning of November.  Sophie kept patting the picture of the buggy (she loves to ride these at other people's houses) and Annabelle insisted we also ask for the tea set for her.  Yes, she has a plastic knife, I just got the pizza out of her mouth for a second and she grabbed this from behind her:)

 

 Annabelle had fun cutting out her pictures, and chopping up the pictures of the kids playing with the toys because she really doesn't like that they get to play with the toys and not her (issues!)

 I couldn't not post this, it's so funny!

 Annabelle's letter:

Dear Santa,

I would like a bow and arrow, a pink purse, play-doh, Turtles in a half shell game, Ninjago game, batman game. Thank you, Annabelle

She doesn't want to send Santa the letter with the pictures she made so she asked me to write it down (word for word like she said) and then she traced it all:)

 Jack's letter has a Ninjago lego set, Samurai Temple, few dinosaur toys, a Halo lego set, and everything the catalog had that had Skylanders on it, including a Wii U:) The only words:

To Santa From Jack Miche

 and Sophie's first letter to Santa, she had fun coloring the paper and patting and kissing the two pictures:)

Now we just have to go mail the letters off to dear old Santa:)