25 Days: HH Style; Days 1,2, & 3

December is here!!  Wow, were did this year go! It's amazing how fast time flies when you're chasing a toddler and cooking a human for most of a year. In the midst of the craziness of bringing home baby, I somehow managed to get the Christmas tree up before December even started!! Granted, the tree and stockings are the ONLY Christmas decorations that will grace our house this year, but I'm still pretty proud of getting that much accomplished.  Here they are...

The other thing I'm pretty proud of is the fact that I made and stuffed our "25 Days of Christmas" Activity envelopes, again, all before December even started (only made that deadline by a few hours).

Granted, our first 3 days of activities haven't quite been the Norman Rockwell, picture perfect moments I dreamed of while cutting and gluing and choosing activities....our moments so far have been plagued with toddler tantrums and inclement weather. BUT, I'm determined that this holiday tradition will make for some great memories in the HH (Hupp House) for the many years to come.

My plan was to update you daily on this first annual "25 Days: HH Style," but I have obviously failed you in that goal so far. Here's a recap of the holiday fun we've had so far!

Day 1: Color Christmas Pictures
 I thought this would be a simple enough 'craft' to get us started. Who doesn't love to color?! Well, my family, apparently!  Mommy finished her picture....Daddy was on screaming baby duty so only colored about half of his picture....Boogie was more interested in taking the crayons and running and trying to put the crayon box in the trash...Here are our masterpieces:

Day 2: Go to Holiday Luminary Walk
This is an absolute 'must do' event if you're ever in Kansas City in early December.  It's held at the Overland Park Arboretum and Botanical Gardens the weekend after Thanksgiving and the following weekend.  There are paths and paths lined with candle luminaries, white Christmas lights, carolers, hot cider, Santa, and more! B-E-A-UTIFUL!  This had been on our calendar for weeks! We planned to meet up with other families from our playgroup and enjoy this event together...BUT after horrendous traffic and dark, cold, rainy weather...we ended up going at it alone. The wind across the lake and the rain in our faces made it a little uncomfortable and we cut the experience short.  It will definitely be a regular activity in our "25 Days" though!

Day Three: Make an Ornament
When I selected the ornament we would make this night, it was before I had realized my family's distaste for coloring...so, this activity was bound to be a disaster.
Mommy finished her ornament:

 Daddy got distracted by basketball and halfway completed his:

 Boogie decided that crayons were better used as swords and his paper made a better "bsket ball":

And Pumpkin, well she's pretty much slept through the whole thing...

Stay tuned for more crazy adventures of the 25 Days: HH Style...