We didn’t follow through on our advent plans as well as we did in the previous years, simply for the fact that our lives are increasingly becoming busier, especially during the holidays. In addition, the kids are out playing with the neighbors nearly every day…which is great, but it also makes it more difficult to gather them together to do some of the advent activities. So instead of posting an entry per day, I decided to just make a list of all that we did for advent this year:
- Read the The Legend of the Christmas Stocking and put the stockings up
- Attend the tree lighting event at the girls’ school
- Go buy our Christmas tree (we got it from Lowe’s this year)
- Christmas movie & popcorn (I think they watched a Veggie Tales Christmas movie)
- New LED flickering candles to display at all the kids’ bedroom windows
- Elf comes out; write Christmas letters to sponsor sisters
- Open this year’s new Christmas ornaments
- Decorate the Christmas tree
- Write Thank You cards to YMCA staff and bring them to Parents Night Out
- Decorate Gingerbread house at friends’ house
- Buy school supplies for students in Ghana (to bring to the Giving chapel)
- Christmas caroling at a nursing home
- Pizza party with our Growth Group
- Drink hot chocolate and watch The Polar Express
- Help put Christmas gifts together for all the teachers
- Read The Legend of the Candy Cane while eating candy canes
- Make Christmas treats to hand out
- Make Christmas cards for people in prison
- Participate in 25 Day of Christmas Cheer (through our church)
- Open new family game
- Give away old toys and clothes
- Go to the Children’s Museum
- (We didn’t do whatever was planned for this day, and I honestly can’t remember what we did…)
- Christmas pajamas