December 6th

Today was St. Nicholas day so the girls woke to chocolate coins in their shoes. We also looked at this website: http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/for-kids/ and then we made bread (like we did last year)  http://crazycambridgemum.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/st-nicholas-day.html

except this year we coloured the dough for his hat.

We also read this story - a nice tale about being generous to all at Christmas. I love the detail in the illustrations. 

December 5th

Today's challenge was slightly messy one and we made bird food. We used  bird seed (bought from the market in central Cambridge), raisins, peanuts, lard, yogurt pot and string.

We made a small hole in the bottom of a yogurt pot and threaded string through the hole, leaving enough string it could be tied to a tree.  We let the lard to warm up to room temperature and then cut it up into small pieces in a mixing bowl. We added the other ingredients to the bowl and mixed them together with your finger tips until the fat held it all together. We filled the yogurt pots with bird cake mixture and put them in the fridge to set for an hour or so.

We also read this book which is about an owl who visits Jesus guided by a star.  I love the pictures which are beautifully clear and simple.

December 4th

Today's challenge was to set up our Playmobile Nativity scene.

We also read this story which a take on the Nativity story from the perspective of a donkey which has been left behind.

December 3rd

 Today the girls wrote letters to Father Christmas. On the lists were a beautiful dress, nail vanish, craft things, make up and music!

We also read this fab book. I love the grumpy take on Father Christmas. E hadn't come across a comic style book before and so it was good to discuss features of it.

December 2nd

 For our advent activity we made tissue paper lanterns by decorating jam jars with tissue paper, sequins and a tealight. We used PVA glue to stick the things on and then I also coated the outside with glue to make it shiny. The girls loved them and we ate tea to candlelight.

 We read this story. It is from a traditional Swedish story retold by Astrid Lindgren (of Pippi Longstocking fame). It is about a Tomten (like a gnome) who creeps round when humans are asleep talking to animals. It has lovely simple pictures and a repeating rhyme.

For snack I and E make pepparkakor (a yummy ginger Christmas biscuit in Scandinavia).

For the biscuits
60g (2oz) butter
75g (2¾oz) soft light-brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp finely grated orange zest
1 tbsp black treacle
2-4 tbsp milk
225g (8oz) plain flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

Cream the butter and sugar in a mixer. Add the spices, orange zest and treacle and beat again, then add 2 tbsp of the milk. With the beater on a low speed add the flour and bicarb. Now scrape the dough off your beaters and, using your hands, bring the dough together into a ball, using more milk if you need to; don't let the dough become sticky. Wrap in clingfilm and put in the fridge for an hour.

Lightly flour your surface and roll out the dough 3mm thick. Cut out your shapes and put them on to two lightly buttered baking-sheets. Gather the remaining dough into a ball, roll out again and keep cutting until it has all been used. Put the sheets in the fridge for about 45 minutes and heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Cook the biscuits for 12 minutes. They should start to feel hard round the edges as they cool and eventually become really hard – they need to have a nice 'snap'.  (recipe from the telegraph)

We decorated with simple icing.

Dec 1st - lights

 Today's story was the Tale of Three Trees - a story that links the birth, life and death of Jesus and also teaches that God's plan may be different to our own!

Then we took the girls to the Winter Lights at Anglesey Abbey - although I completely forgot how to shot in the dark :(. It was amazing - with trees light up with different coloured spot lights and magical candles on trees that reminded me of a fairy grotto. It is bookable so well worth looking at whether they have tickets left (NT members also need to pay).

Ready for advent.

We are all ready for Christmas. Playmobile advent calendar ready, 2 normal calendars ready, activity advent calendar ready and G made one at Brownies too full of things like lay the table and give someone a cuddle - fab!

Books too are wrapped which (slightly) tie in with the activities. G and I have a separate pile.