Advent Week 2
This week had a different start with the snow/ice and difficulty getting anywhere on Sunday and Monday. So we tweaked what we could do and moved a few things around in our days to be sure we could still do something!
Week Two:
8 - Make ornaments for the tree
We ended up making ornaments on Saturday afternoon (a day early) because the girls were so ready to do something. We painted popsicle sticks and used foam crafts to create new ones. The girls loved it! Riley got the idea to use these puffy sticker letters and stuck them to paper to create words which she then cut the paper around. So our tree has the words "Hop" and "now" on it :)
We hot glued the sticks into shapes once the paint was dry and decorated with little poms, golden sequins and other fun items. The girls made some little minions using googly eyes. They turned out so cute!
9 - Family Day! Another day inside the house. We had the gift of more family time today!
10 - Donate to World Vision and choose an animal to give
Last night was getting late as I was putting Riley to bed and I remembered that we hadn't had time to do our kindness idea today. We went downstairs to look through the World Vision catalog to choose an animal to give to someone. This was a tough concept to get across and apparently I didn't do a very good job.
Riley loved looking through the catalog and we talked about what the people would do with the animals. I asked if she saw one that she wanted to give to someone, but she kept going until the page where you can donate bunnies. Her eyes lit up and she asked if we could donate one bunny for Julia and one bunny for her. When I told her that it would work, she got so excited. She asked when she would get them.
I explained that the bunnies weren't for her and Julia; they were for us to give to other children and families that need them. Riley burst out in tears. She asked if she would get to hold the bunny and see it before the families got it. I told her no, but that God knew who would get them and he would bless them and help their family. We prayed together that a special family would receive Riley's favorite animal in the catalog. We prayed that God would make it extra special since Riley was not receiving what she wanted, but that she would be giving up what she did want. We talked more about what would happen.
Then went downstairs to donate online. I let Riley click the button that put our 'order' through and thanked for her being thoughtful and helpful to kids we will never see, but God would.
11 - Bring a warm drink of coffee or cider with some donuts to our school crossing guard
This morning we brought them to him. The girls were so tired from being up late - gymnastics and my choir concert made it a late night. Got them excited to get going by getting some donuts. Julia's only words of wisdom were "Don't hit dat lady like you did last time, Mom."
When we got to the crossing guard, we rolled down our windows in the 25 degrees and yelled out "Merry Christmas!" Then handed him the hot coffee and a bag of donut holes. He looked taken aback and simply said thank you. When I got out on morning duty, I could see him going to the bag and eating some. So glad he enjoyed them!
12 - Make Christmas Cards or notes for the girls' teachers
It ended up being a long and hectic day. Didn't get this done, but will do it this weekend!
13 - Pay for someone's dinner at the Texas Legends Game
Before the game started, I went back to the concessions stand and told the person working that I would like to pay it forward and asked him to use the money for the next person in line. He just nodded and the next person walked up.
14 - Attend the Tarnell Christmas Party
We are all so very excited to do this tonight!!! The party was wonderful. Julia really wanted to be downstairs with us and kept coming downstairs. I spent about half the time playing upstairs with her which was totally fine. We had a great time as a family and it was so nice that the girls were able to do crafts, decorate cookies and play upstairs. After the party, we drove around their neighborhood to look at the lights on the houses.
Week Two:
8 - Make ornaments for the tree
We ended up making ornaments on Saturday afternoon (a day early) because the girls were so ready to do something. We painted popsicle sticks and used foam crafts to create new ones. The girls loved it! Riley got the idea to use these puffy sticker letters and stuck them to paper to create words which she then cut the paper around. So our tree has the words "Hop" and "now" on it :)
We hot glued the sticks into shapes once the paint was dry and decorated with little poms, golden sequins and other fun items. The girls made some little minions using googly eyes. They turned out so cute!
9 - Family Day! Another day inside the house. We had the gift of more family time today!
10 - Donate to World Vision and choose an animal to give
Last night was getting late as I was putting Riley to bed and I remembered that we hadn't had time to do our kindness idea today. We went downstairs to look through the World Vision catalog to choose an animal to give to someone. This was a tough concept to get across and apparently I didn't do a very good job.
Riley loved looking through the catalog and we talked about what the people would do with the animals. I asked if she saw one that she wanted to give to someone, but she kept going until the page where you can donate bunnies. Her eyes lit up and she asked if we could donate one bunny for Julia and one bunny for her. When I told her that it would work, she got so excited. She asked when she would get them.
I explained that the bunnies weren't for her and Julia; they were for us to give to other children and families that need them. Riley burst out in tears. She asked if she would get to hold the bunny and see it before the families got it. I told her no, but that God knew who would get them and he would bless them and help their family. We prayed together that a special family would receive Riley's favorite animal in the catalog. We prayed that God would make it extra special since Riley was not receiving what she wanted, but that she would be giving up what she did want. We talked more about what would happen.
Then went downstairs to donate online. I let Riley click the button that put our 'order' through and thanked for her being thoughtful and helpful to kids we will never see, but God would.
11 - Bring a warm drink of coffee or cider with some donuts to our school crossing guard
This morning we brought them to him. The girls were so tired from being up late - gymnastics and my choir concert made it a late night. Got them excited to get going by getting some donuts. Julia's only words of wisdom were "Don't hit dat lady like you did last time, Mom."
When we got to the crossing guard, we rolled down our windows in the 25 degrees and yelled out "Merry Christmas!" Then handed him the hot coffee and a bag of donut holes. He looked taken aback and simply said thank you. When I got out on morning duty, I could see him going to the bag and eating some. So glad he enjoyed them!
12 - Make Christmas Cards or notes for the girls' teachers
It ended up being a long and hectic day. Didn't get this done, but will do it this weekend!
13 - Pay for someone's dinner at the Texas Legends Game
Before the game started, I went back to the concessions stand and told the person working that I would like to pay it forward and asked him to use the money for the next person in line. He just nodded and the next person walked up.
14 - Attend the Tarnell Christmas Party
We are all so very excited to do this tonight!!! The party was wonderful. Julia really wanted to be downstairs with us and kept coming downstairs. I spent about half the time playing upstairs with her which was totally fine. We had a great time as a family and it was so nice that the girls were able to do crafts, decorate cookies and play upstairs. After the party, we drove around their neighborhood to look at the lights on the houses.
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