a couple of years ago I made a very simple advent calendar for her out of paper, crayons, string, and a handful of tiny clothespins. she adores it and looks forward to checking it each morning during advent and having us read the little card inside the envelope to her. usually there is a suggestion for something fun for us to do together, or perhaps a good deed. occasionally there is a little treat inside as well. I will admit she particularly likes those days. so far this year, this is what we've done:
12/1- let's go to the library and pick out some Christmas books
12/2- let's collect pine cones for our garland(s)
12/3- let's make hot cocoa and make the garlands and more swags
12/4- let's go shopping together for the food pantry and drop it off at the donation center
12/5- let's watch a Christmas movie and have popcorn- Nana and Pipop will be here!
12/6- (shoes filled with a few candies and dollars), coloring pages & a story about St. Nick
12/7- let's invite Nana and Pipop to go see the Winter Lights with us!
12/8- let's get out the rest of the Christmas decorations & take your bike out for a ride
there was also the town Christmas parade, complete with firetrucks and hot rods, a group with newfoundlands, a wolf-dog rescue group, greenway supporters on bikes, some horses, lots of interesting local business 'floats', (by which I mean various sized trucks pulling various sized trailers with varying degrees of Christmas decorations on them) and loads of candy being tossed out at the crowd. and even a pickle sample.
the following several photos are of the Winter Lights exhibit at the NC Arboretum. which was great, although in my opinion quite a bit overpriced. still, a very enjoyable time.
last year Claire started being really interested in nativity sets. I found a couple at the local thrift store and brought them home for her and she loves them. below are her acorn peg dolls, all surrounding Jesus "to keep him safe from the bears".
tonight we got our tree. trees, actually. we have been purchasing trees from the same organization that has a tree lot in town for the past several years. they are a nonprofit residency and counseling program for people with chronic addiction issues. a few local tree farms donate excess trees to them yearly for a tax write-off and they sell the trees (no matter the size) for $20. we got a reasonable 6 foot tall spruce this year, and the very nice guy sent Claire home with her own little 3 foot frasier fir at no cost. 'tis the season. tomorrow's envelope will definitely read 'today. let's decorate our tree!'
cheers~
Love your Advent activities, very similar to ours :) It is such a fun time of year. Enjoy decorating your tree!
ReplyDeleteAnd goodness the acorn peg people protecting Jesus from the bears...so sweet.
I always love decorating the tree. And of course then spending much of the following weeks just staring at it….
DeleteI walked in her room and saw that and thought it was just the sweetest thing- had to take a photo and ask her about it!
Great pictures of the lights! I was thinking of going, but with our crew, I think it would be too expensive.
ReplyDeleteI like your Advent calender. I love how it makes everything intentional. We are doing a lot of similar things, but much less planned, which then feels (to me) hectic. I am trying to make, and keep, my plans each week! Do you make up all the activities at the beginning of the month, or do you write them in the day, or week, before?
thanks, Molly! I bet they'll put out a Groupon eventually. I was going to wait and see about that but figured it'd be a special treat with grandparents in town. kids 5 and under are free but that only helps so much.
Deleteit can get so busy and hectic feeling this time of year even if you aren't adding anything extra to your days, I think. as though the air is just super-charged or something. which can feel great, but for me I find I need to be really mindful and choosy about where my energy goes. I made a list of ideas at the beginning of the month, to use as a guide of sorts, and I write something out on a little card and sneak it into the next day's pocket before I go to sleep. last night I wrote a suggestion that we go for a nice long hike and add something to the tree in Montreat (there's a tree on the Julia Woodward trail that is decorated for Christmas year-round- very sweet), but then I woke up feeling like I had a lot to do before work so I swapped it out for a card that read "let's watch Rudolph today!". ha.
Intentionality is so important, especially this time of year. I like your system!
DeleteI love your advent activities, such a wonderful idea. I am going to pass that idea on to my daughters. The lights were amazing. Have fun decorating the tree.
ReplyDeletethank you~
DeleteI always love decorating the tree! Nearly as much as I enjoy then staring at it for a few weeks straight! ;)
your advent is looking mighty nice :) I love how the acorn people are protecting the baby! I have many nativity sets and when the kids were little they would play with them. I remember playing with my mother's one when I was little as well.
ReplyDeletethanks, Karen. I know- isn't that sweet? I just had to take a picture and ask her about it.
Deletethis is so darling... i love your advent traditions :) and it is absolutely adorable!! that pinecone garland is really fantastic too! love love love.
ReplyDeletethanks, Jenny! I feel like we are taking and leaving certain things each year and slowly forming our little family's annual traditions.
DeleteLovely. Love that garland, great idea. Simple and beautiful. I do an activity calendar too, but with no treats. Mean mommie lol. Maybe I'll push the boat out and get the poor kid some colouring pages. I think the activities are so more meaningful than a chocolate or other gift type calendar, especially a mix of simple activities and thinking of others. It's a lovely tradition, though I find it a bit difficult to fit it in this year with her being at school now.
ReplyDeletethis is our third year with this calendar and I really like it's simplicity and that it is predominantly about doing things together and/or for others. and if I'm feeling overwhelmed or too busy for an outing or such, it is just as fitting to write on a card "let's snuggle by the fire with hot cocoa and read books".
DeleteI love your pinecone garland. And what a light show. That must be pretty impressive to see! I still think about that arboretum and how incredible it is! We do the same Advent idea however, last year her messages started arriving each morning via fairies. I was silly to think we could experiment with the concept, because goodness gracious me, those fairies, delivering a riddle or message to her each morning just thrills her to bits. There was no way the fairies couldn't visit again this year. And next year and the year after...
ReplyDeletethe Arboretum really is a great place. They have a young naturalist's program once or twice a week that I'd love to sign her up for, but it's a pretty good drive and so we stick with occasional visits instead.
Deleteooohhhhh, fairy-delivered advent messages? very cool. love that.