Aidan's Advent, Day 1

I blame Facebook for the death of my blog. For some reason, though, Christmastime always brings me back.

We now have a five-year-old kindergartener(!) who reads, wears glasses, and pretty much rocks our world on a daily basis. Here's what we're up to this Advent season...

Sally the Elf arrived this morning, nestled inside our Advent Calendar. After taking a year off (we did the Lego Advent Calendar last year), we're excited to get back to fun little activities each day. 

Holy Leaves! On this 65-degree December day, we raked up about 20 bags of leaves. Neighbor Brayden came over to help too. 

Today's Advent activity was to put up our Christmas trees - one in our family room and one in Aidan's room. It was so fun to look at each ornament that Aidan has picked out each year and talk about them. In other news, I don't remember giving Aidan permission to grow as tall as his tree!?

Aidan's Advent, Day 23

That Sally! How did she ever attach herself to our pendant lights in the kitchen?

We finished up our Christmas shopping today, and also finished our Christmas wrapping. Hooray, we're finally ready for Christmas! It wasn't without a bit of difficulty though - testy shoppers, unhelpful store employees, and a head-strong preschooler made me lose my patience on more than one occasion:( Luckily, Aidan and I snuck in a cuddly two-hour nap and balance was restored! I heart naps!!!

Aidan's advent activity today was to go look at Christmas lights. We started by stopping at Starbucks, one of Aidan's favorite treats. He always orders the same thing - chocolate milk and a birthday cake pop. Yum!

We went to three houses tonight - the creepy one on Falmouth in Prairie Village, the Kryger home at 133rd & Roe, and the "Ultimate Holiday Tree" house on the 6600 block of 131st Street. It was the first time we visited the last house, and we loved it! The LED lights reminded us of the downtown Marriott light display. We didn't take many pictures, but you can learn more about the light displays all over JoCo here.

Tonight's book was one of my favorites - the Golden Book Christmas Story. It's important to me that Aidan knows the true meaning of Christmas, and the Golden Book illustrations are so timeless and wonderful.

See you tomorrow!

Aidan's Advent, Day 22

I woke up this morning feeling well-rested...no wonder, it was 8:45! Aidan was sound asleep. I checked on him again at 9:30 and he pulled the covers over his head (exactly the way his daddy does when I try to wake him up). Finally at 10am, he called for me. Are you kidding?? I went to his room to get him up and commented that he slept a long time. His reply was, "Mom, I just want to stay in bed until Christmas." Sounds like a dream come true to me!

While he was sleeping, I was able to finish up our Christmas cards. Finally!

Once Aidan got up and around, he found Sally hiding in his Christmas book basket. It was the first time Sally hid within Aidan's reach, and he did a great job not touching her. It probably helps that we'd just watched the Elf on the Shelf TV special and Aidan saw what happened when one of the characters touched the elf and took his magic away.

Because we were so slow to get up and around, we missed our friend Emily's Baby Jesus Birthday Party, and we were really bummed about that. Aidan's advent activity today was to buy a stocking stuffer for his daddy. We can't show you a picture yet, but we had fun finding something! We also picked out a new pair of shoes for Aidan - rockin' black Sauconys with crazy bright neon green, and a North Face jacket. He dresses better than his parents do!

We got a glimpse of snow today and the first thing Aidan wanted to do was get a cup and catch the snow:

Aaron and Aidan wrapped the first present for our family tonight, and Aidan was so proud!

Aidan opened two books tonight. I think I wrapped too many! He opened Counting Christmas, a Karen Katz counting book, and Olive the Other Reindeer, about a dog who hears the line in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer "All of the other reindeer" and thinks it's about her! It's a darling book and Aidan has liked it since last year.

In other news, I AM ON VACATION NOW! Hooray, hooray, hooray! See you tomorrow:)

Aidan's Advent, Day 21

We found Sally atop the range hood today. She was cookin' up a storm!

Aidan was excited to find out that his activity today was a surprise Christmas Playdate with his friends Emily & Connor, Christopher, and Olivia & Elliot. We made homemade gingerbread Play-Doh for our friends and munched on fresh berries and s'mores snack mix (Golden Grahams cereal, chocolate chips, and mini marshmallows)! Aidan loved having his friends over, and I loved having their mommies over, who are dear friends of mine!

Tonight I had the rare chance to go to MyGym with Aidan and Aaron. It's their standing Wednesday date, but I didn't have any evening piano lessons so I was excited to go!



Tonight's book was Jan Brett's Gingerbread Baby, which we snuggled up in bed to read. Super cute story!

See you tomorrow!

Aidan's Advent, Day 20

Sally just felt like hanging out today...

Aidan had a big morning - his very first Preschool Christmas Program!! He did an awesome job. Ms. Annye told us that he never sang any of the songs during music class, but he belted out every one of them this morning! Here's the video. It's long (about 9 minutes), but I thought our out-of-town family might like to see it.

We loved our front row seating, and we also loved that Grammy & Granddaddy could come and watch!

Aidan's Advent Activity today was to eat a "snowman treat" which I found on Pinterest. He was SO excited - we never eat doughnuts - and he ate both of them in about 2.5 seconds:)

Aidan's book tonight was a The Little Engine That Could Christmas story. See you tomorrow!

Aidan's Advent, Day 19

Today we found Sally on my nightstand. Aidan thought it was pretty funny - this was the first time she ever showed up in our room!

It's important to us that Aidan learns about giving to others, so I was excited for today's activity - to donate money to a Salvation Army bell ringer. I overheard Aaron talking to Aidan about people who are less fortunate than we are, and how we have to help them out. It filled my heart with so much love for them both. I am so proud to have Aaron as the father of my child and my partner in life. What a blessing he is!

Aidan and Aaron came to LUMC tonight for our Kindermusik Christmas Party. Aidan had a lot of fun, and I was excited to introduce both of them to my Kindermusik families.

Our book tonight was How the Grinch Stole Christmas, one of my personal favorites. "What if Christmas - gasp - was something MORE?"

It is, indeed.
See you tomorrow.

Aidan's Advent, Day 18

Sally was perched atop the "tamometer" (thermostat) today. Perhaps she was protesting the temperature at which we keep the house?

We had breakfast with family this morning. Nothing beats Grammy's pancakes with bacon and sausage! After breakfast, we split up - some went to Cabela's & the Legends, and some went to Archivers; some, including Aidan and Aaron, stayed at Grammy's house. When we came home, this is what we found:

For the first time in 3 weeks, Young Pennington napped. For two hours. Right on the floor. Ahhhhhhhhhh.

Our advent activity tonight was to visit the Plaza Lights. It's such a magical place in my opinion. We're not sure how much Aidan enjoyed it, but it was fun for us - and with unseasonably warm weather, we were able to drive with the windows down!

After dinner, all three of us played with a huge container of hand-me-down Play-Doh and accessories from Aidan's cousin, Emily. He loved it!
Our book tonight was The 12 Bugs of Christmas, a super cute pop-up book. He laughed a lot and enjoyed counting the bugs on each page.

See you tomorrow!

Aidan's Advent, Day 17

Was there an emergency we didn't know about? Sally was driving Aidan's fire truck this morning!

Today we had a very special Advent surprise - Aidan's aunts, uncles, and cousins on the Ludwig side came to visit, and we celebrated Christmas! He LOVES seeing them, and since it is such a rare occasion that we're all together, it was a special time for all of us.

Aidan LOVED his gift from Grammy and Granddaddy, a cool new tool bench!

The No-Napper was wired for sound tonight - he ran non-stop, most of the time without any pants on (no surprise here). When we got home, we thought he'd go straight to bed, but he reminded us he needed to unwrap a new book. He opened Under My Hood, I Have a Hat, which was a gift from Ms. Annye and Ms. Nancy at Parents Day Out two hears ago. It was fun to revisit a book that Aidan loved so much when he was so little.

Aidan ended his night by going to bed in his clothes and sleeping with the steamroller that Aunt Neece, Uncle JR, Adam, and Emily gave him. A great day for everyone!

See you tomorrow!

Aidan's Advent, Day 16

Sally must have been thirsty today - we found her drinking from one of our Tervis Tumblers!

Aidan's advent activity today was to buy his mommy a stocking stuffer with Dad. For some reason;) I wasn't given a picture of this activity. Aidan has tried to tell me several times what he bought, but I just cover my ears and go "LALALALALALALALALALA" really loudly until he starts talking. I'll find out in about a week what he chose!

Aidan's book tonight was one of my personal favorites, Uncle Mugsy and the Terrible Twins of Christmas. I met the illustrator at Holiday Mart many years ago and have always loved this book. It's about a selfish old bulldog, Uncle Mugsy, whose twin niece and nephew come to visit and pretty much ruin everything, but also put Uncle Mugsy in the Christmas spirit for the first time. The illustrations are amazing!

See you tomorrow!

Aidan's Advent, Day 15

Sally hid E.T. style this morning, among the stuffed animals on his dresser. She was snuggled up between Buzz Lightyear and a Jayhawk - not a bad place to spend the day!

Aidan's activity today was to take Christmas gifts to his teachers at preschool. We made these cute Reindeer Nose crafts and attached gift cards to the backs of them. He thought they were really funny, and was very excited to pass them out!

Tonight's book was Santa Mouse. Later, He Who Throws Huge Tantrums at the Mention of Naps wanted "quiet time in his room with the light on and door open" at bedtime. Within about 2.5 seconds, he was snoozing away. Poor little guy, he NEEDS to nap and is so exhausted in the afternoons and evenings. :(
See you tomorrow!

Aidan's Advent, Day 14

This morning, Sally was found wrapping her arms around a bottle of olive oil on the stove! Aidan thought that was pretty hilarious.

Today's advent activity was to make a reindeer out of Aidan's feet and hands, which is an annual tradition. I'll update with pictures later.

Tonight's book was a favorite: Snowmen at Night. A little boy notices that his snowman doesn't look the same as he did the night before, so he starts to wonder what exactly they do at night while we're sleeping! Aidan's favorite things the snowman did at night were having a snowball fight and playing baseball.

See you tomorrow!

Aidan's Advent, Day 13

That Sally. We found her hanging from the ceiling fan today. Can you believe it?

Aidan's advent activity today was a special treat: Hot chocolate and marshmallows after school! Can't you see the excitement in his eyes??

After Kindermusik and before bed, Aidan opened the book The Crippled Lamb. WOW what a great message - my friend Rachel recommended this book, and it was wonderful! It's about a little lamb named Joshua who looks different than the others and can't walk or run as well as them. He gets left behind when they migrate to a new meadow, but Joshua finds himself in the barn where Jesus was born, and is able to keep baby Jesus warm with his wooly coat - showing that we all have purpose in God's Kingdom. SO sweet!

In other news, it seems that Aidan is never wearing pants in any of his advent pictures. Rest assured, the child does own pants. He just chooses not to wear them:) See you tomorrow!

Aidan's Advent, Day 12

Sally was hanging on our Christmas artwork in the living room today - silly elf! Aidan talks to Sally quite a bit, telling her when he makes good decisions (and bad decisions too!). It's really cute.

We pulled double-duty on the advent activities today, going to Crown Center to see Santa (to make up for Day 4), then visiting the Hallmark store there to pick out Aidan's annual Christmas ornament. We buy him one ornament each year - he can choose the ornament all on his own - and when he grows up, he'll have a good start to his own Christmas tree.

It was wonderful seeing Santa with NO LINE this morning. Aidan had a lot to tell Santa, including all about his Poppy working for the railroad, what he wanted for Christmas (not a short list), all about the Crayola playground leading up to Santa...you name it. Luckily, Santa was up for the conversation!

Aidan chose this ornament, a police car driven by penguins that sounds alarms anytime you get close to the presents in the trunk:

Aidan's book tonight was The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree. I think he was tired of having his picture taken by then!

See you tomorrow!

Aidan's Advent, Day 11

I'm a day late posting this one - Aaron and I had a *DATE* Sunday night! Yahoo!

Aidan found Sally in his advent calendar today, pointing to his card of the day. It read "decorate Christmas cookies"! Aidan loved baking the cookies and decorating them. It was very hard for him to wait until they were cooled down enough to frost them, and to EAT them!

Aidan's babysitter (and my piano student) Amelia came over while Aaron and I went out, so they unwrapped his storybook together: Mater Saves Christmas!

Aidan's Advent, Day 10

We found Sally inside my piano today! What was she doing in there?

Today's "advent-ure" was a Christmas Music Dance Party! It was lots of fun - we love to be silly together, and we are fully aware that none of us can dance! :)



After a yummy dinner with our friends the Bergmans, we came home to unwrap a new Christmas book: The Polar Express! Since Aidan loved the movie so much, it was no surprise that he loved the book too. I have a feeling we'll be reading it quite a bit this Christmas season.

See you tomorrow!

Aidan's Advent, Day 9

Traveling to the North Pole every night can be a dirty job, so it was no surprise that Sally showed up in the bathtub today!

Aidan woke up asking to play with "the activity" - we couldn't figure out what he was talking about until he ran to the NATIVITY and played with "the characters." That Jesus fellow, he was definitely a character;)

Today's Advent activity was a fun one - watch a Christmas movie! Aidan's love of trains made it a no-brainer: we chose The Polar Express! None of us had seen it before, so it was a treat for the whole family. AND...what an awesome movie! I can't wait to watch it again. Do you hear the bells ringing? I do!

We made popcorn on the stove and sprinkled it with two different toppings. Aidan was in heaven.

Tonight's book was Merry Christmas, Big Hungry Bear. It's about a mouse who is brave enough to take presents to a bear in a cave, and finds a present for himself along the way.

See you tomorrow!

Aidan's Advent, Day 8

When Aidan awoke this morning, he discovered that Sally the Elf had indeed flown out of his room last night and visited Santa. Sally reappeared on our kitchen table, driving Santa's sleigh! Oh my! Does Sally have a license for that thing?

Aidan's advent calendar listed another charitable activity today: take gloves and hats to the Christmas tree at school. This is an annual service project, and we were excited to participate!

Aidan opened Who is Coming To Our House tonight - a story about how the barn animals prepared for Jesus' arrival. Super cute:)

In other news, Aidan is on day six of no nap. He *needs* to take a nap, but is refusing, so our days have been pretty long this week. Because he hasn't been sleeping in the afternoons, we started leaving him at school for the full day today, which is only about 90 minutes longer than before, but it gives me a chance to get some work done...much needed!

See you tomorrow!

Aidan's Advent, Day 7

We're not sure how it happened, but Sally the Elf snuck into Aidan's room this morning before he woke up. She was hanging from the hooks above his Christmas tree! Sneaky!

Today's advent calendar read "write a letter to Santa." I let him answer all of the questions, and it turned out pretty funny:

After Aidan and Daddy got home from MyGym and Chick-fil-A (their weekly Wednesday date), He Who Still Hasn't Napped was pretty tired, but awake enough to open another Christmas book. Though this photo doesn't show it, Aidan was very excited to read about his favorite monkey!

See you tomorrow!

Aidan's Advent, Day 6

Aidan found Sally the Elf poking out of his stocking today. Silly Sally! Where will she be tomorrow?

At Aidan's school today, they made lists of what they wanted for Christmas. It was no surprise that Aidan asked for a cement mixer. I wonder if Santa has heard?

Our advent calendar let Aidan know that he would be shopping for a toy for Toys for Tots today and donating it to the collection site at my Kindermusik studio. Each semester I put on a service project for the 200+ families who are enrolled at InJoy Music, because I feel strongly that you're never too young to learn about charity and generosity. Anyway, Toys for Tots is our fall service project, and here's what Aidan chose for a very lucky boy or girl:

Aidan recently discovered Chutes & Ladders, and though he doesn't quite understand the concept of losing:), he loves to play!

Aidan's book of the day was If You Take a Mouse to the Movies. We love the "If You..." books, and this was no exception!

In case you're wondering what Aidan's mommy and daddy would like for Christmas, that's easy. We would like for AIDAN TO TAKE A NAP. It looks like he may be giving up his nap, much to our chagrin. So, if you happen to see Santa and have a chance to put in a good word for us, we'd really appreciate it! I think we've been pretty nice this year!

See you tomorrow!