Celebrating Advent

We are moving swiftly through December. Or is it just me who is feeling that way as I spend my days running rings around two little ones?

Our November and December has been full of activity and meet-ups, and I am very thankful for that. Meeting my friends in between doing things with my children keeps me going. And we're now looking forward to Christmas.

I started last year what I hope will be a tradition of celebrating Advent in our home. Anticipating the arrival of Christmas was always been one of the highlights of my year while growing up and it is something I hope to share with my children. To kick us off, I made this year's Advent Calendar.

Just a simple set of 24 pockets mounted on scrapping paper, which was mounted on some cardboard, which was mounted on the wall. I googled for printable numbers and got the ones I used from Living Locurto. I made little cards on which I scribbled activities for each day, and slotted this into the pockets. I like this because it allows me to make a quick switch when the weather or other factors affect the schedule. I made a bit more effort to make it look nice as I wanted the calendar to also be a form of decoration for our home and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

To start us off I wrote a short letter to the kids explaining what Advent was about and an introduction to what we would be doing. I *think* Noey got it.

I wanted to entice them into wanting to do this, so in the first pocket was a treat: Red & Green M&Ms! Noey was very enthusiastic about the chocs, though maybe somewhat less enthusiastic about me wanting to take pictures.

 

We've been working through our activities since. Having a countdown to Christmas has also been useful since Noey has received his first presents from friends and have since been asking me every other day when Christmas will arrive so that he can open them.

If you're interested, here's our planned list of activities. I'll update them with links if and when I do blog about any of the activities. (Notice I said "if". Am having a tremendously busy month!) I've also been working in some Bible readings, following a couple of e-books that I will be sharing more about in subsequent posts. Maybe next year I'll have something that combines everything together into a cohesive unit!

They have been enjoying the daily excitement pulling out a note on the day's activities from the pocket, so just don't tell Noey & Naomi what's on this list ok?

1: Let's have some Red & Green M&Ms (and learn about the Christmas colours)
2: Let's read the Christmas Story from the Children's Bible
3: Let's bake a Fruitcake
4: Let's go buy and donate some Food to People in Need
5: Let's make some Christmas cards
6: Let's go for a Concert
7: Let's pop some popcorn and watch "Mickey's A Christmas Carol"
8: Let's go deliver Food Packages to People in Need
9: Let's go see the Christmas light-up
10: Let's enjoy some Christmas candy
11: Let's make a Snowman
12: Let's go buy some Toys for Needy Children
13: Let's cut some Paper Snowflakes
14: Let's make Candy Cane Mice
15: Let's celebrate Christmas with Our Friends
16: Let's make a Christmas Wreath
17: Let's make Gingerbread Men and Star Pancakes for Breakfast
18: Let's bake and decorate some Christmas Cookies
19: Let's learn to play a Christmas Tune on the Piano 
20: Let's write cards for our Grandparents
21: Let's make 汤圆 and Celebrate 冬至
22: Let's go play in the Snow
23: Let's Celebrate Christmas with Our Cousins
24: Let's go listen to Carollers in the streets
25: BLESSED CHRISTMAS! (You can open your presents!)