Tag Archives: Tanya Harris Franklin

On the Tenth Day of Christmas, My Daughter Gave to Me, A Great Time Making Snowmen with Her Class

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On the tenth day of Christmas, my daughter gave to me, a great time making snowmen with her class. One of the benefits to teaching on the college level is having a winter break. An advantage to having a winter break is having the time to visit my daughter’s school.  I love crafting, so when I came across this cute sock snowman on Pinterest and saw that I already had most of the supplies, I know it was the perfect project for Quinn and her friends.

To streamline the process, I made sure to already have the snowmen (or snow women) ready for the children by purchasing white socks from the dollar tree and using Quinn’s clean socks that were way to small for her now. I filled the socks with rice down the bottom, tied them off with a rubber band and filled to stop with cotton stuffing. Then, I used sticker dots for the eyes and mouth and pom pom balls for the nose and little hat ball.

It was a quick yet fun project that all of the children enjoyed, as did I. Quinn and I even made some snowmen envelopes for their Christmas cards with snowmen stickers. I quickly printed out the pictures of  the class holding up their finished snow people, and enclosed them in the cards as well. We put them in a snowman bag containing holiday lollipops as a special treat for their hard work. I gave my daughter a bag with the same contents inside too. She and many of her friends were happily surprised thanked me for coming in to make snowmen with them.

Something I love about this time of the year is sharing joy and happiness with others. Seeing the smiles on the faces of the children in Quinn’s class and knowing that being there really made my daughter’s day is such an amazing feeling. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!

All the best,

Tanya

On the Ninth Day of Christmas, My Daughter Gave to Me…Fun Reading Christmas Books Right Before Sleep

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On the ninth day of Christmas, my daughter gave to me…fun reading Christmas books right before sleep. With the anticipation of Christmas building, Quinn and I decided that we’d check out some books about the holiday to read as her bedtime story everyday this week leading up to Christmas.

So far, we’ve read, Daddy Christmas and Hanukkah Mama which is a wonderful story that demonstrates how a family celebrates both religious traditions. This is perfect because my daughter goes to a Jewish school and learns about Hanukkah. Grace at Christmas is a great story too about a little girl who lived with her mother and nana who was used to a certain Christmas traditions that would change this Christmas as a result of some visitors staying with them. A Very McStuffins Christmas is fun story involving Doc McStuffins from the cartoon, and The Day Santa Stopped Believing in Harold is a funny reversal tale of Santa not believing that Harold is who he says he is and staking out his house to make sure he’s the one asking for certain gifts.

The books remaining are Santa Claus and the Three Bears, Are You Grumpy, Santa? and the classic, The Night Before Christmas. I truly enjoy reading the Christmas stories  to my four year old possibly more than she enjoys hearing them.She even counts down how many books we have remaining knowing that we only have a few more days left until Christmas.

All the best,

Tanya

On the Eighth Day of Christmas, My Daughter Gave to Me…A Gingerbread House Sweet Treat!

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On the eighth day of Christmas, my daughter gave to me…a gingerbread house sweet treat! “What do you want to make this year?” I asked my four year old. “A Shopkins gingerbread house just like last year!” For the past three years, one of our Christmas traditions and fun activities has been making a gingerbread house together.

This past weekend, we had a fun time working on it, and I was impressed with how much Quinn’s grown in her creativity and dexterity. We made a good team as I squirted on some of the frosting while she held the frame of the house together. Then she came up with her special color pattern of adding the candies after I helped with the design on the rooftop.

Of course, my sweet girl asked if she could have a few of the extra candy treats not used as part of her decoration. Then, it didn’t take long before she wanted to take a little bite to share with her daddy. With a chunk taken out of the rooftop, our Shopkins Gingerbread house is on display adding to our Christmas decorations and memories.

All the best,

Tanya

On the Seventh Day of Christmas, My Daughter Gave to Me…A Sweet Smile Seeing the Letter Santa Sent

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On the seventh day of Christmas, my daughter gave to me…a sweet smile seeing the letter Santa sent. For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been eagerly checking the mail looking for a special read envelope that contained a letter from Santa. Yesterday, it finally arrived! When we went on a train ride with Santa on the Strasburg Railroad, and one of the activities was writing and mailing a letter to be delivered to the North Pole for Santa. He would then mail back a response.

Though my four year old is still learning to read, she quickly recognized her name and then saw the name and picture at the bottom. “It’s a letter from Santa, Mommy! Can you read it to me?” As I read the letter to her, and looked at her facial expression, her eyes lit up, and she said, “I can’t wait to show Daddy my letter from Santa when he gets home from work!”

I really love how the letter ended, “Quinn, remember to treat others kindly, and always try to do your best…” As I read this part, she shook her head in agreement and said, “Santa said the same thing you always say, Mommy.” “He sure did,” I responded.

All the best,

Tanya

On the Sixth Day of Christmas, My Daughter Gave to Me…Festive Music By Charlie Brown and Friends

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On the sixth day of Christmas, my daughter gave to me…festive music by Charlie Brown and friends. “Close your eyes, Mommy!” my daughter signaled as she got ready to press the button of one of the characters. She then said, “You can now open your eyes, Mommy! Which character do you think is leading the band this time?” I thought for a few seconds and said, “Linus!” She shook her head, “Nope, but I’ll give you a glue. The person is next to Charlie Brown.” I then shouted, “Lucy!” Quinn smiled and said, “Yes, you got it right!”

Last year, I purchased a Mickey Mouse character musical set from Hallmark, and this year, I could not resist purchasing the Peanuts set with Charlie Brown, Lucy, Schroeder, Linus and Snoopy. This one even has the option of adding spotlights, which I just had to have and my four year old loves. Since the holiday season has been in full swing, not a day goes by that she doesn’t press a button or two to hear a Christmas tune by one of the characters. She even inquired if I thought Sally, Charlie Brown’s sister would be added at some point. It’s such a cute set, and I think it will become a collectible and one of the decorations Quinn will look forward to in the years to come.

 

All the best,

Tanya

On the Fifth Day of Christmas, My Daughter Gave to Me…Fun with Santa, Bert, Ernie and Abby

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On the fifth day of Christmas, my daughter gave to me…fun with Santa, Bert, Ernie and Abby. Since Quinn was one and a half, we started the tradition of going to Sesame Place to have some fun and enjoy the Christmas festivities,  and each year gets better and better. This makes our fourth year attending the Dine with Elmo and friends lunch, and there’s always a great selection of kid friendly food and tasty desserts that I surely couldn’t resist.

But what made this year extra special is that this is the first time that Santa, himself, joined the Sesame Place characters and went around to each table greeting the children and their families. He even invited Quinn to dance with him as the music played which really made her day. Even at my age, I would have loved to share the dance floor with Santa.

After lunch, we braved the cold and got on a few rides and the caught the Elmo the Musical Christmas show to warm up a little before ending our day with the Sesame Place Christmas parade. It was a fun-filled day, but what really made my day was when my little girl came running up to me smiling after getting off of a ride with her dad. Trying to catch her breath, she said, “Thank you, Mommy for taking me to Sesame Place for the Christmas lunch and activities!”

While I’m glad she demonstrated her gratitude, little did she know I really look forward to this even every year and am glad she’s been on her best behavior because I would have a hated to go without her…just kidding, of course!

All the best,

Tanya

 

 

On the fourth day of Christmas, My Daughter Gave to Me…A Train Ride with Santa Through the City

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On the fourth day of Christmas, my daughter gave to me…a train ride with Santa through the city. “Here he comes, Quinnie! He’s on his way!” I told my daughter as Santa made his way up the train aisle. How excited she was as Santa gave her a special Strasburg Railroad ornament for our tree and took a picture with our family. Not only did we see Santa on our forty-five minute train ride, but we were entertained by carolers and people playing Christmas songs with their instruments. There were even Christmas activities at the Strasburg Railroad, such as meeting Mrs. Claus and writing a letter to be delivered to Santa, taking in the beautiful sceneries and doing the different Christmas activities.

This was actually our first time having this experience, and I have feeling that it will become one of our many fun Christmas traditions. Maybe next time we’ll pay a little more to dine on the train while meeting Santa.

All the best,

Tanya

On the Third Day of Christmas, My Daughter Gave to Me a Meet and Greet with Santa, Her and Me (and Grover too)!

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Santa and Quinn 2017 3On the Third Day of Christmas, My Daughter Gave to Me a Meet and Greet with Santa, Her and Me (and Grover too)! When it was time for Quinn to talk with Santa and take a picture, she signaled for me to come too. I sat on “What’s your name?” With a nervous smile, she quietly said, “Quinn.” He then asked, “What would you like for Christmas, Quinn?” She paused and drew a blank reminiscent of the scene from “A Christmas Story” with Ralphie when Santa coached him into getting a football. My four year old, still drawing a blank, blurted out, “A cat!” “A cat,” Santa replied and smiled. “A cat, I thought to myself with a puzzled look.” I then asked, “Do you mean the robot cat, Quinn?” “Yes, that’s the one!” She confirmed.

When it was time to take the picture, Santa said, “Quinn, do you want to make sure Grover is facing the camera? I can tell he is well-loved.” I thought that was so nice and will be something she will remember.

Later on, she told me she was nervous and just couldn’t remember what she wanted. She even wanted to go back and talk to Santa some more and ask him how Mrs. Claus was doing. There’s something special about seeing Santa. Even as an adult it’s a nostalgic experience for me. I sense Quinn’s innocence and willingness to hope and believe, and I love the magical feeling that Santa gives. As you can see, I look even more excited to sit next to Santa than Quinn.

All the best,

Tanya

On the Second Day of Christmas, My Daughter Gave to Me…Too Much Fun Decorating

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On the second day of Christmas, my daughter gave to me…too much fun decorating and one great outing selecting our Christmas tree. Whether purchasing a real Christmas tree  or digging the artificial one out of the attic or basement, the hope is that it will be a fun time for all decorating the tree and that it will not be just one person doing all of the work.

Luckily, my four year old loves decorating and wanted to start putting ornaments on our tree as soon as it was erected in our dining room corner. We waited one day in the event that the tree expanded some after being tied up to our car and in the cold, and that Sunday after Thanksgiving we got to work.

Last year, Quinn wanted a rainbow tree and asked for the same this year. While she handled the lower colors: green, blue, purple and pink (I know pink is technically not in the rainbow, but Quinn loves the color), I handled the upper colors: red, orange and yellow. This was such a great activity because Quinn loves sorting the colors as she did last year. This year, she even asked if her doll’s could help. How could I refuse? “Sure, the more the merrier,” I told her.

After we finished decorating, she asked me, “Do you think Heavenly Brownie (That’s what she named our tree) likes the way we decorated him? Do you think he’s happy to be in our home?” I responded, “Absolutely!”

All the best,

Tanya

On the First Day of Christmas, My Daughter Gave to Me…Help Selecting Our Christmas Tree

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On the first day of Christmas, my daughter gave to me…help selecting our Christmas tree. Since Quinn was one year’s old, we started the tradition of getting our Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. Now that she’s four year’s old, there is no containing her excitement, and just like her Mommy, she wanted the biggest, widest and tallest tree available. Good thing her daddy was there to reign us both in as we had our eyes set on a nine foot tree that would’ve surely scrape our ceiling.

As simple as this task can be, having it as a tradition makes it so much more meaningful, especially now that my little girl not only helps to pick out the tree but has taken over with the naming of our Christmas tree: a fun tradition my husband and I started for her first Christmas. We’ve had BG, short for Big Green, BGJ, short for Big Green junior and BG3, short for Big Green the third. This year, Quinn picked a very interesting name: Heavenly Brownie! When I asked her what made her come up with that name, she said, “I just like it!” Who knows what we’ll call our tree next year, but I’m definitely looking forward to the experience.

Here’s to fond memories with our 2017 Christmas tree: Heavenly Brownie!

All the best,

Tanya