Homemade snowglobes

Here's another idea I stole from "Our Best Bites".

I am not ashamed to declare that 70 percent of my creative parenting is Google based.

My kids love snow globes, but I'm pretty picky about what kind of snow globes I am willing to part with my money over. No Disney characters allowed. We've already discussed my need for therapy when it comes to Santa. No princesses. No year dates.

That is why we have 2 snow globes.

Then I saw a tutorial on how to make homemade globes with pictures of your kids!

We loved it!

Just take photos of your kids in their snow gear:

Then print, cut out, and laminate. Glue the photo and anything else you want in there to the inside of the lid. 

Then fill the jar with water, sprinkle in some glitter and lower the lid in and close up tight!

These were so fun to do, but next year I will make the photos alot smaller in proportion to the size of the jar. And I think the smaller jars are much better because they are easier for little hands to shake. 

All I have to do is eat 5 jars of maraschino cherries between now and December 2012.

Piece of cake.

Maraschino cake. 

Scenes from Christmas Day

I love the tree in the early morning when it's full of small gifts and cards and the big boxes are sitting there all fat and impressive. There's so much anticipation!

Fat, bumpy stockings.

Early morning oatmeal with strawberries for my two little girls.

Look...but don't touch!

Hey! I said don't touch!

The kids sort through their stockings...

While Mark works on bacon and eggs.

Mathew takes his turn at the calendar. The star finally goes up!

A tube of pure chocolate joy. All to herself.

Even Anna knows that the contents are to be guarded.

Wrappers will be eaten if necessary.

Anna loves a good "Touch and Feel" book. She especially likes to lick anything furry.

Mathew will never disappoint when you need a good "I love it!" photo.

Ethan's collection of pegasus toys expands.

Everybody is interested in what kind of piggy bank Laney is going to get. Megan has grown wings...a Christmas miracle and a deep desire of her heart. Thank you, dollar store.

One of the favorite toys of the day: plastic fishing pole from the dollar store.

Large sunglasses....from the dollar store.

An "American Girl" doll! Not from the dollar store, but not from the American Girl store either! Hooray!

After presents and before I can scrape together enough energy to clean up the explosion in the living room.

Anna's future magnetic play area, to be mounted to a wall. Do you know how devastated I was to discover that stainless steal fridges are not magnetic? wah?

The "you'll get creative and share and play nice all together" gift (complete with LED tea lights to light the dungeon....ooooooh): 

Our gift to each other: a framed photo of the Manti Temple. Married there over 12 years ago!

The wait is finally over. 

Now we countdown to trash day. 

Christmas Eve...a drama

Christmas Eve.

1 pm.

I realize for the first time in our 12 years of marriage that if we want to have a roast for dinner, it will have to go in before dinnertime. 

6 pm.

Just because it is Christmas Eve, it does not mean we don't get to use our fancy plastic lunchroom plates. 

One more time...this time with Mom....and the top half of Anna.

Dinner dishes get cleared and kids get ready to go on our yearly "covert operation".

Details are classified.

The promise of covert operations do not make it easier to take a group photo.

Good enough.

Back to the house to open the jammies. This year we go "oldest" to youngest. Why am I only oldest when its time to do the dishes?

I start to see a pattern developing in the way we as a family behave when the camera is rolling.

See what I mean?

Ohp! There it is! The excited mommy face!  "Whatever could this be?"

Ethan goes for the slow, painful "I'd like to save this lovely wrapping paper" method.

He starts to whistle. Just to pass the time. Then gets threatened with doing the dishes by himself if he doesn't get a moveon.

Mathew fancies himself a bullfighter.

Meggy finds out that shaking a box full of soft jammies is not at all satisfying.

So she whips out her opposable toes.

Laney is surprisingly still happy, considering she is second to last.

She is mightily reward with wiener dog jamies. (That is, jammies with wiener dogs on them...not jammies for the wiener dog.) (Are you starting to feel like I have said "wiener" and unnecessary amount of times?)

Anna takes a look.

Assesses what will be required to open this thing.

Realizes four teeth aren't going to cut it.

And does what any self-respecting baby would do.

"Open this, Daddy."

And...off to bed!