1. Downtown Christmas Parade
My favorite memory of the week was attending the Children’s Medical Center Christmas Parade in downtown Dallas. We went with two of my husband’s sisters and their families (8 cousins aged 7 and under!). 
The boys LOVED every second.
2. Octopus Stew
My 4 yr old brought home this “recipe” from his preschool and we had to try it for lunch one day. It was a big hit!
-Cut the hot dog in half. Make 4 cuts in the bottom 1 1/2 inch of each half…creating 8 legs.
-Put the hot dogs in boiling water for 5-7 minutes.
My boys thought these were great! They each ate 5 octopi…which equals 2 1/2 hot dogs apiece! It’s all in the presentation huh?
3. Stocking surprise
We were home the other day and decided to play a new game…stocking surprise!
The boys would take turns leaving the room while one put a little surprise in the other’s stocking. They started by choosing little toys they found around the house. Then one boy put a stick of cheese and a carrot in a stocking. They played this little game for a good 30-45 minutes!! Amazing!
That night my husband put some of our recycled trash in the stockings. Which they thought was hilarious. If you need a fun activity this next week…this one was a favorite for us.
4. Homemade stuffed animal
My oldest son stayed home from school one day this week while his brothers were at school. It was not exactly what I had planned for one of my only days without kids right before Christmas…but he made sure we made the best of it. 😉
I had pulled out my sewing machine to work on a Christmas present project. He decided this would be a great time to make him a stuffed longhorn animal (recent obsession with the UT Longhorns). After much begging on his part, I finally agreed.
I asked him to draw what he wanted to make. Then I cut it out and sewed it. He was in charge of stuffing and decorating it. Not exactly perfect, but he was thrilled. Here is the finished product:
This week Pandora (free radio) has been playing on my phone for hours! I discovered that there are lots of different Christmas stations available…traditional Christmas, Contemporary Christian Christmas, Rockin’ Christmas, etc. Check it out!
6. Christmas Story sinking in…
We are loving Truth in the Tinsel advent. Reading small portions of Scripture each day is helping the boys (and myself) grasp pieces of the Christmas story that we may have missed in years past. For example, the story of Zechariah and Gabriel. In his unbelief of Gabriel’s message that Elizabeth would have a son, Zechariah was struck mute until John’s birth. Here is my older two boys version of the story…
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUpp8hbZkPY]
What were some of your favorites this week?
Linking up with: 
Here are a few of my favorites:
– driving around the neighborhood to look at Christmas lights (we’re hoping to walk around if the weather gets a little wamer)
– going on a Girl’s Night Out and caroling around the neighborhood – so fun!
– working on a huge 300 piece puzzle as a family on our kitchen table
– Clark starting on a movie for Claire this week, so we’ve been watching lots of old video footage of all three kids, and it makes me very sad to see how much they’ve grown!
I literally laughed out loud at the “stocking surprise” — too cute.
I might have to try that!!
I love the Octopus stew. My kids are grown, but they just might like that! LOL Awesome post, glad I popped in from Friday Favorites. Blessings
The Octopus stew is a riot, must try!! Thank you for reminding me about Truth in the Tinsel!! I wrote it down and let it go…
So with you on Pandora Christmas music, it plays nonstop around here!! Thanks for sharing!