Activity Advent

Last year I meant to do something fun and Christmas-like with the kids each day in December. It turned into a really busy month and we didn't even manage to get a tree up until the week before Christmas. To prevent that from happening again, I decided to make an advent calendar and attach a fun activity to each day so that I would be married to the idea, and therefore trapped into following through. On December 1st, I found an advent calendar half off at Hobby Lobby ($6). I figured I could just stuff an idea in each pocket and call it good. However, my kids reminded me that I promised to make one, so we went back to plan A. I made a cheesy calendar with scrapbook paper and poster board by cutting 4 1/2 inch squares and folding all the corners to the middle and closing with a sticker. Quick and easy. Each day they rip one open and we follow the instructions inside.

I know our calendar looks a little crumbled and finger printed by the end of five days. It had a rough week. One day Chloe tore all of the boxes open and I did my best to repair it.

I passed the idea on to my sister, and she made her own. She totally one-upped me. She made some fancy ornament mobile, numbered the ornaments, and put an idea inside each ornament. Each day Luke gets to smash one with a hammer and find out the activity for the day. I may copy that idea next year, but even my janky calendar has been a huge hit so far.

This is how the first five days played out.

December 1: Set up a Nativity

We decided to do the Nativity first, to keep the focus on the Savior this month. I printed all the parts of the Nativity a couple years ago. I put a scripture on the back of each one and laminated them so that we could build a nativity using the scriptures in Primary. I was going to use that one, but for a few years I have wanted the Little People Nativity, and since Chloe is currently into Little People, I decided to buy that and use it instead. We added the pieces as we read the Nativity. The kids had fun, and they have been playing with the Nativity all week. Baby Jesus has even visited our other little people toys and taken rides back to the Nativity in the Little People mini van. Most of the time though, Chloe just lines up all the people and animals and has them look at Jesus. Pretty cute.

December 2: Make a Christmas List

The kids made their Christmas Wish Lists. They also drew pictures to hang on the wall. Alex wants to turn his Halloween wall into a Christmas wall. We are still working on it.

December 3: Choose a Family Ornament

We headed to the mall for dinner at the Food Court and to choose our 2010 family ornament. While we were there we found that they have added a puppy store to the mall. Alyssa was shaking with excitement. We found an adorable little Yorkie that even my non-dog loving kids loved, marked down to ONLY $1299 since she is 3 months old. ONLY! All Alyssa wants is a dog, but holy cow they are expensive and I am still not sure I won't go nuts with a dog in the house. I don't know what to do!

December 4: Put Up a Christmas Tree

We bought a fake tree the year we got married and I have been more than happy to just keep using that. Last year Seth pushed for a real tree. I reminded him that we had a free tree. Free is better than real, right? This year he brought it up again and I agreed, but only if we could cut it ourselves since I had never done that before. Saturday morning we ventured out into the falling snow to find our tree. There is a Christmas tree farm down the street, with Santa and reindeer where you can cut your own tree. They have sleigh rides and a petting zoo and it sounded like just the place to go. When we got there we were less than impressed with the one reindeer and Santa that our kids wouldn't go near anyway. Plus, their trees were really pricey...not to mention the sleigh rides. We decided on a winter road trip to Lake Geneva since it is such a beautiful town and we had heard they had a nice tree farm.

We ate lunch on the way out, and then bundled up to our eyeballs for the big hunt. We picked through all the spruce trees and I decided I wanted a pine. We picked through all the pine trees and I decided I wanted a spruce. We all had different ideas about what makes a perfect Christmas tree. We walked all the way to the very back of the farm and finally found one we all agreed on. The kids were exhausted from all the walking so they collapsed to roll around in the snow while Seth cut the tree down. I had visions of hard labor and a sweat covered brow, so I was quite surprised when the tree was down 15 seconds later. Seth dragged out the tree while I dragged out Chloe. While Seth paid, the family that owns the tree farm offered us free cider and we played with their puppy, or at least the kids did. Once our tree was secured to the van, we hit the icy roads again. We stopped briefly in downtown Lake Geneva to get a goody from the candy store. We learned that they had an electric Christmas parade starting in one hour. The kids were tired and it was cold so we decided not to sit and wait for an hour, but I did make a mental note for next year. By the time we got back into town the kids were passed out. Seth stopped to get a tree stand and some Panera soup for dinner while me and the kids kicked up the heat and snoozed in the car.

Luckily our little cat naps gave us enough energy to decorate our Christmas tree when we got home.

It can sometimes be such a pain to go out in the snow, but I admit that on this particular occasion, it made the day so much more beautiful.

With that mustache, it looks like we hired a lumberjack to come along and assist in the tree cutting.

December 5: Start a Service Manger

My friend, Cara, gave me this idea last year. You start with an empty manger and each time you do a good deed for someone, you add a piece of straw. The goal is to make a soft, comfy bed for Jesus by Christmas morning, at which point you add him to the manger. I loved the idea. What a great way to focus on the Savior and to show love for Him by serving others all month. I decided to copy the idea this year, only instead of making a manger, I am just using a wicker basket. I know, I'm lazy.

What's funny is that this morning I grabbed the December Friend magazine to take to church. We were running late and I figured that after we got there and set up chairs in Primary, we would be too late to join Sacrament meeting. I thought I could sit in the Primary room and read the Friend with the kids. Alyssa had already read it. She always reads it the day it comes. Last month she even took a copy to give away to a friend at school because she wanted to share the great stories with her. What was funny today though, is that there was a story about a family who did this exact same service manger. When I came across it, Alyssa told me that she had loved that story, so I had her read it to all of us tonight and then we started our manger. We have a pretty big basket, so we decided that we will also add one piece of straw each time we say family prayer at night. For some reason, we have been forgetting that a lot lately, and we wanted to get back on track.

Another thing I found as we read this morning was a scripture advent tree. I wish I'd looked through the Friend sooner. It has a question for each day and a corresponding ornament with a scripture on it where you can find the answer to the question. We did days 1-5 tonight and we will add that to our nightly routine as well. If you don't get the Friend, you can print the tree and ornaments here. It is not denominationally specific either. There were lots of great stories and ideas in the Friend this month. I need to quit letting Alyssa snatch it up so quickly.

That is our Christmas month so far. We are having so much fun and I am excited to see what each new day brings, even though I already know since I am the captain of the calendar. My kids are so excited about every single day. I think it will make the long wait until Christmas morning so much more bearable for them. I hate when I finally have a good idea that I should have had years ago. Oh well, at least it finally came.