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Thursday, December 6, 2012

Our Christmas Advent

advent: a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. (good ole Wikipedia!)

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And that is just what we are doing here!

I don't remember doing advent much as a kid (not that we did not, I just don't remember).  And I think the growth of the internet, blogs, and pinterest may be helping in this area!  There are so many wonderful ideas floating around, it's sometimes hard to choose which one to do!

Of course- 3 weeks ago I had lots planned out....in my head.  And of course, most of those plans did not come to fruition.  But I am happy at what did come about.  And am excited to continue these traditions for years to come!

So this year we are doing the popular Christmas book advent.  Last year- when I packed up the Christmas stuff, I packed up the Christmas books so we wouldn't see them on our shelves.  This year- I pulled them out and wrapped them up before Parker could see them.  She knows they are our books and not new, but still fun to open each day to be like 'new' again.  Now- we do not have enough books for the whole season, but I ordered a couple on Amazon and then quite a few from Scholastic through Parker's school (which are great deals, I think).  My plan is to just add a couple each year...taking some away as we outgrow them.

I keep them in my Thirty-One small utility tote by the fireplace...


 





I made these numbers in Photoshop...


and then placed them in a Word document and printed on 2x4 labels...



We didn't start until the 3rd day, so our first day we opened and read 3.  Love Grace's face...she was acting so surprised and like it was what she'd always wanted.


 Love this ...




They get excited about opening a new one each day...



Parker even remembered this one saying it was her favorite book....(I really like this one, too!)


Awww....so sweet.....reading together....



Not really!  This next picture is what really went down...




And this next one I totally copied from Delia Creates and her Giant Advent Wall Calendar.  She had a friend cut out some numbers for her on their Cricut.  Well- my mom just got a Silhouette so I thought "Oh!  That'll be easy.  Just cut them out and put them on the wall."  


Yeh well- it is easy...but it took a lot longer than I thought.  But I do really like how it turned out because I like seeing the big numbers and actually counting down.  This is great practice for Parker...the counting...seeing the numbers....how many days we have left, etc.  I'm thinking about doing something like this again next year, but possibly making something a little more permanent to put up and take down each year.  We'll see....

We move the star each day...



I did add a picture of Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus to the 25...


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UPDATE: The girls are having so much fun wtih both of these and I'm so glad we decided to do them.  They are really pretty 'stress free' for parents in that I'm not having to worry about what gift or activity that we are going to do the next day like I did last year.  And because we do the same thing each day (just a different book), I think the girls are getting into it more, as well.  And we all love the big wall calendar, too!  Parker never forgets to move the star.  Will definitely continue these traditions next year!

2 comments:

bp said...

I saw the book idea on another blog or pinterest. It has been fun. I got some books from the library too to have variety!

Have a happy day!

Natasha said...

I love that wall countdown. I want to do an Advent calendar of some sort but not a chocolate one. I love the simplicity and focus of this one.

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