Leading up to Christmas

This year, like last year, we had a special advent calendar where I tucked in a special activity or 2 for each day.

The things we did each day were:

Dec 1st:
- Set up the Nativity
- Get out xmas decorations
Dec 2nd:
- Make Xmas Cards
Dec 3rd:
- Write letters/email to Santa
Dec 4th:
- Make paper snowflakes
Dec 5th:
- Make hot chocolate, stir with candy canes
Dec 6th:
- Make popcorn and watch an Xmas movie
Dec 7th
- Visit Santa
Dec 8th:
- Make an Xmas craft (these are ornaments that smell like cinnamon... we gave some to family for Xmas):

Dec 9th:
- Make Christmas milkshakes





















Dec 10th:
- Go to bookstore and pick a special Christmas book to read together
(we went, but we didn't care for any of the books... so we bough hot chocolate, and went home and read one of our own, cuddling under a blanket in the sunroom)

Dec 11th:
- read a story about the Baby Jesus
Dec 12th:
- Make Xmas or winter art
Dec 13th:
- Make a Lego Xmas decoration
Dec 14th:
- Pick an ornament at 10,000 Villages
- Decorate the Xmas tree

Dec 15th
- Drive around and look at Xmas lights
Dec 16th:
- Call Grandma and Grandpa and sing an Xmas song
Dec 17th:
- Call Nana and Bop and sing and xmas song
Dec 18th:
- have a holiday treat
Dec 19th:
- wrap xmas gifts
Dec 20th
- Take gifts to teachers
Dec 21st:
- Winter Solstice and Daddy's birthday!
- Have a pajama party in front of the Xmas tree, game night!
















Dec 22nd:
- go ice skating
(we didn't end up doing this because it was SOOOOOO cold out!  However, we had an excellent alternative:  we had bought tickets to see Al Simmons at MTYP, which was SO FUNNY, and then afterwards they got a picture with him, and a cartoonist drew pictures of them which we are framing because they are pretty cute!)

Dec 23rd:
Discover new xmas music, or make your own
Dec 24th:
- Read "The Night Before Christmas" and open one Xmas gift!

We had done this last year, and they loved it... they asked about it this year which is a great sign... so I set it up again... Every day they were very excited to find out what the activity of the day would be... this can easily be kept going each year, by just changing some things here and there as they get older.

The little one in his costume as one of the 3 kings for the Christmas Eve family service pageant...