Cousins' Christmas Party

I talked last summer about how my mom is either amazing or totally crazy that she holds the cousins' campout each year with all the grandchildren. I recall that I decided she was just amazing. And that brings me to another tradition she does with them every year. My mom's favorite holiday is Christmas, hands down. She loves the decorations, the smells, the treats, the lights, the songs....everything about the season. In the past, she's been known to have the decorations up right after Thanksgiving dinner and not down until after new year's. Needless to say, she's carried that love of the holiday to her grandchildren with her annual Cousins' Christmas Party. This year's party included...

Decorating Cookies - red, white and green frosting and any sprinkles and decorations you could think of! A child's paradise. Joshua's frosting was twice as thick as any of his cookies!

Making Nativity Snow Globes - I got to help with this project. They were really cute. The little ones especially loved them.

Story Time - Grandma read one of her favorite books, "The Mitten", by Jan Bret. She gave each family an anniversary edition of this book to take home.

They also colored fuzzy poster style ornaments, glued together cheese and cracker candy trains, had lunch, and played together (always with Christmas music in the background, the obnoxious kind just for kids). Besides the book, she also gave each family a little nativity that the kids can touch all they want to! The kids had a ball, Grandma was wiped out, and it only took most of the afternoon to clean up the mess! What a saint my mom is for keeping these traditions alive. My kids have the greatest memories of these times with their cousins and Grandma. Hope I'm crazy enough to be such a good grandma!