The Grinch

Dinner with the Grinch at Ma Raffa's is a Christmas tradition for us.  He's a little creepy looking, but this man does a fantastic job.

All of the children gather around and listen to him tell his story.

The lighting in there is terrible for pictures.

On the way to the restaurant, Kate was crying; she had no desire at all to see the Grinch.  It didn't help that she was tired.  When she first saw him, she was nervous, but she did fine overall.  I told her she didn't have to take a picture with him or get too close.  She did enjoy listening to his story.  I think Reagan was three the first year we went to this dinner, and I remember her being very nervous too. Understandably so, the Grinch is scary!

Tyler and Collin were there, but they did not want their pictures taken.  Maybe next year.

I love the Grinch, so of course we did a few fun activities.

I gave the kids packs of "Grinch Pills".

Kate made a Grinch handprint.

I baked and decorated some Grinch inspired cookies.

And the girls made Grinch dust.  They scooped sugar into bags and added blue and yellow food coloring; then they mixed it all together.  On Christmas Eve, we will sprinkle it in the yard to keep the Grinch away.  

There were so many Grinch activities that I wanted to do, but we ran out of time.  That's okay though, I'm saving them for next year!

Dinner with the Grinch

We have been attending dinner with the Grinch for a few years now, and it is one of my favorite holiday activities.  The man in character is fantastic; his mannerisms and voice are spot on with the Jim Carrey Grinch.  He tells the entire story from memory as all the kids sit around to listen, and even I enjoy watching him perform.

I wish I thought to get video!  Next year!

I didn't get a great picture.  Kate was clinging to me.

When the Grinch walked into the restaurant, Kate took one look at him and hid behind me in the booth.  She gave out a bit of a scream too.  Most of the night, she enjoyed watching him from a distance, and she even gave him a high five at one point, but she did not want him near her.  As with the spooky Gauthiers' house on Halloween, and the Santa visit last week, Kate is still talking about the Grinch today.  Poor kid has these three scary things stuck in her head and brings them up regularly.

This is my attempt at a Grinch snack:

Collin and Reagan said I made his face too happy.

The Week Before Christmas!

I'm not sure where the time goes.  The weeks just keep flying by!

This week, our elf was busy

making red and green cereal necklaces,

covering our tree in toilet paper,

infecting the house with Christmas pox,

and setting up a scavenger hunt.

Unfortunately, too much arguing over the scavenger hunt made Cherry return to the North Pole for some rest and relaxation.  Maybe he will come back, we aren't sure yet.

Earlier this week, Collin and Reagan made perler bead ornaments.

Collin made the tree, gingerbread boy, and bell, and Reagan made the star and angel.  I love the way they came out.  We just tied string through them and hung them on the tree.

This morning, I spent an hour helping in Reagan's class.  They spent the day doing all things GRINCH, and I helped them make Grinch cookies.

I have been LOVING the 12 videos of Christmas over at Becky Higgins' blog.  So many of them have brought tears to my eyes.  I wish I knew how to edit videos and set them to music!  I should work on that.  Hmmmm, sounds like a resolution!  I do want to take more video of my kids.  If you haven't seen the videos, go watch them now -- click here to go there right away!  So far, video #1 (click here to see it) is my favorite.

The Grinch

A local restaurant has a Kids' Night every week.  The kids' meals that night include a meal (my kids usually get pasta), drink, and ice cream for $5.  There is a different character each week and there is also a free craft, face painting, and tattoos!  The kids love to go once in a while.  This week, the character was the Grinch.  C has been a huge fan of the Grinch from a young age.  Two years ago, he was sick with pneumonia around Christmas time and all he wanted to do was watch the live action How the Grinch Stole Christmas over and over again.  He loves the book and the cartoon movie too!  C and R were both happy as can be to have dinner with the Grinch!

Dinner with the Grinch

C and R enjoyed dinner with the Grinch tonight. T was there too, but he didn't want his picture taken. After dinner, we drove around town to look at Christmas lights. It was a great night.