Marley's 2nd Christmas

Christmas this year was one big crazy blur. We had lots of places to go and lots of people to see, and it makes me tired just thinking about it. 

First, we spent Christmas Eve day visiting with Jason's family. We drove to his parents house in the morning and had breakfast and opened presents. 

 Jason had to work in the afternoon, so we didn't get to stay long. Marley and I spent Christmas Eve hanging out at home and watched some movies. I was excited to give Marley her Christmas jammies, and miraculously got her to sit still for a picture...barely. 

Christmas morning we woke up around 8 and did presents with just our little family at home. Marley had no idea what was going on, but was glad to get some new toys and books. She had to cutest reactions to each present. 

We were also able to Skype with my parents and little brother in California. They watched us give Marley her Lego table, which they helped get supplies for.

Then after breakfast, our marathon Christmas began. We had parties to be at in Bountiful at 10:30 and then Centerville at 1. The first was with Jason's mom's side, then the second was with his dad's. We had a lot of fun visiting, it was just exhausting chasing Marley around 2 not baby proofed houses. Our day ended around 4 and this pretty much sums it up:

This was less than 5 minutes after we got in the car to drive home. Poor girl was exhausted!

We rounded Christmas out by getting together with my sisters and their families two days later. We had some yummy nachos and Marley had fun playing with her cousins! I was having too much fun visiting, this was the only picture I took:

We're grateful for all of the family we have close by to visit with, and for the chance we had to celebrate the birth of the Savior. This time of year is just the best. Hard to believe that next year we will have another little one, but it will be so much fun! 

Now bring on 2015. 

Toddler Christmas Crafts

Now that Marley is getting older, I've been wanting to try doing activities with her. Especially with it being the holiday season, I knew there were a lot of fun ideas out there. We invited one of Marley's little friends over and had a craft day.

Here are the three we decided to do:

Tape resist snowflake

What you need: 

Paper

Painters tape

Washable paint

Paint brush

Here's what you do:

Use the tape to make a snowflake design on the paper, then paint over it making sure all of the tape gets covered. Let the paint dry overnight and then remove the tape carefully. Pretty simple, and the end result is really cool! 

Melted Snowman

Here's what you need:

Construction paper for various shapes

 Googly eyes

White washable paint

Paint brush

Glue to apply shapes 

Here's what you do:

Cut out the shapes for your snowman parts. Arms, nose, hat, scarf, eyes. Have your little one go to town with the white paint, then have them apply the shapes with glue. The great part about this is that its supposed to look crazy and messy, so there's no wrong way to do it!

Paper Plate Rudolph

Here's what you need:

Paper plate

Brown crayons

Brown construction paper for antlers

Either a red pom pom or construction paper for nose

Googly eyes

Glue or tape for antlers

Here's what you do:

Have your little one color all over the paper plate with the brown crayons, then glue their traced hands on for antlers and apply the face. I trimmed the plate and put Marley's hands on the front because they're so small, and she didn't color on the whole plate.

This project was the best because it was quick, and virtually mess free. 

Tips for painting with Toddlers: 

-Tape down the paper they are painting. 
This way it doesn't move around and create extra mess.

-If they're tall enough, have your little one stand on a chair (with supervision) at the table while they paint. It really helped Marley to reach everything.

-If you're worried about their clothes, either strip them down or pull out an old shirt of yours for them to wear as a smock. 
I was bracing myself for the worst, and it really wasn't that messy. 

-Cover your table with newspaper if you're worried about stains. The washable paint came right off our table, I was worried the newspaper would be a distraction so I didn't use any.