Yesterday Olivia had a lot of homework to work on since we were gone Saturday and Friday was crazy. While she was working away, the boys and I made a paper chain counting down the days until Christmas. Liam was given paper, scissors, and a glue stick to "play" while Braeden and I made the actual chain. This was a first for us (shock, I know!) and it went really well. I drew lines on the construction paper for Braeden to cut out the strips, then we glued away. After we were finished we wrote some special events on some of the slips: November 26 - Thanksgiving, November 27 - Traveling to my hometown to visit and show kids the area again, November 28 - going to our family's town, November 29 - Christmas with my dad's side of the family, December 3 and 4 - Olivia dancing as a bon bon in the Nutcracker, December 18 - Traveling to Florida, December 22 - Special trip with Grandparents (They got the kids Polar Express tickets for a ride on an actual train with hot cocoa and carols), and of course December 25 - Jesus' Birthday! They are excited to take turns tearing off a link each day and to watch as our chain diminishes as the holidays progress. We've talked about why we celebrate Christmas, and reminded ourselves to think of others in this season especially. We're counting down...