Stocking!

Brian and I were trying to come up with a new fun idea for Christmas this year, the first year Maddie knows that everyone is Santa. Maddie has been having a joyful time taking part in being Santa for everyone else. She has moved Bob the Elf for the day care kids and just yesterday decided that everyone we met needed a "Merry Christmas!" and that's exactly what they got. However we thought a fun surprise was still needed for Christmas morning. That's when I read this post on Simple Homeschool. Maddie has a lot of backpacks and nature girl bags but most of them are big. When she got home from Camp Fowler she said she wished she had a smaller backpack for the early morning polar bear swim. Then I remembered that Camp Fowler would be at a gift sale at a local church that weekend and started e-mailing Brian. In the end we learned that Camp Fowler did not yet have an online store and wouldn't have backpacks at the church sale but Uncle Kent, the executive director for the camp, would bring a backpack to church for us! Yay and a big thank you!!!

So tonight, Christmas Eve, we went from this....

 

 

to this....

 

I love the little owl ornament peeking out.

 

We put a lot of nature girl and camp items in the pack like blank paper, colored pencils and watercolors for her nature journal, some new field guides, a s'mores kit, a new magnifying glass and a book about girls who became naturalists. Plus some of the usual Christmas stocking things like chocolate coins and tic tacs.

 

 

Brian got a new hat and t-shirt at the sale for Maddie as well. I had made her a small kit for camp with many of her nature girl tools and I put "The mountains are calling...." without realizing this was a quote often used for Camp Fowler so when Brian saw the t-shirt he knew that was the one.

 

 

And now we wait to see how Maddie will like it in the morning......................................................

 

Well, I think its safe to say she loved it!

This was a copy of Cobblestone magazine all about the Saratoga Battlefield. Maddie recognized it right away and dove in. Books and magazines are dangerous around here and should always be opened last!

 

Thanks so much to Simple Homeschool for the great idea and Uncle Kent for helping us!