Saturday, December 1, 2012

Advent Activity Calendar

So, every year we do an advent activity calendar. Once again, it has started today. YAY!!!

1: Every year we fill David's stocking with slips of paper that list acts of kindness or gratitude on them. So, we start that today (there are already a few in the stocking) and we made a gingerbread village. Here are some pics.
Building our village -- did I mention that we gave our table and chairs away to a family who needed them? Yeah, we did so now we do stuff on the floor. hehe! But, we are building a bar in our kitchen and the supplies have already been ordered so not much longer.... I hope. ;)

Our village! I put them all together then the kids each decorated 2 buildings and I decorated 1.

The post office --  by Ryanne.

The chalet -- by Collin.

A regular house --  by me (Linda).

Gabled House by Ryanne

Toy shop by Collin
2: First Presidency Christmas Devotional

3: Christmas Orange.... On Netflix Streaming is a movie called The Christmas Orange. It isn't the traditional story of it. The kids know that story and have heard it over and over again. Santa even brings them an orange every year because of that story but this one is a bit different.
"Anton Stingley was born on Christmas Day -- so he's entitled to double the amount of Christmas gifts that most kids get, right? Well, when he wakes up on Christmas morning, instead of the 600 toys that he asked Santa for, all he sees under the tree is one single orange! So he does what anyone in modern society would do -- he sues Santa! But through a series of touching and humorous events, Anton comes to learn and appreciate what Santa was trying to communicate to him with just that simple piece of citrus fruit."

4: Write letters to Santa

5: Dollar Store Shopping --- the kids have saved money for Christmas shopping from doing their chores around the house. This day, I will take them to the dollar store and they will buy gifts for each other and their parents. I like to do this each year so they aren't only receiving but giving as well.

6: Cup o'Sunshine -- This is something we do each year. This can be a gloomy time of year for some so we get flower pots, fill them with treats and then use suckers to stick out of them like candy. The kids then choose people to give them to. :)

7: Christmas party at our church

8: Snowglobes (can't tell much about this one b/c it's going to be a gift for some people who read this blog. I'll tell you more about it AFTER Christmas. ;)

9: Polar and Mini-Van Express -- We are going to watch The Polar Express. Then I'm going to have the kids get ready for bed while I make cocoa and popcorn. When the kids climb into bed they will find a golden ticket for 1 round trip on the mini-van express. So, we'll all load up in the van with hot cocoa and popcorn and ride around to look at the lights.

10: S'mores by the fire -- we are some of the fortunate people who still have a wood burning fire place in our home. ;)

11: Christmas Cards!!

12: We will watch the classic movie of Rudolph (also on Netflix Streaming)

13: This is Collin's birthday so we'll be going out to eat for his birthday

14: Ice Skating

15: Collin's birthday party

16: Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol movie night (on Netflix Streaming)

17: Christmas at the Gardens -- in our community there are Christmas lights set up at the local gardens. They decorate them with lights, have Christmas music playing and give our free hot cocoa and cookies to everyone. We love it and go every year!!!

18: Surprise soap -- this is a fun activity. You grate a bar or two of soap, add a tiny bit of warm water to it so you can shape it into balls. You get a small toy or something you picked out and put it in the center of the ball. Then you let it dry and it's a ball of soap but inside is a small toy. hehe! The kids give these out to friends and teachers b/c they are so easy for them to make themselves.

19: Veggie Tales: St. Nicholas movie night (again -- Netflix Streaming)

20: Craft Day at my sister's. We're getting together and making a bunch of little handmade crafts to pass on to extended family. We make gift bags of these things. The kids will also make handmade cards for each receiver.

21: Yule Log activity: This is the first day of winter and the longest night of the year. So we talk about how a long time ago people would get the yule log. They decorated it and then burned it all night. So, we go on a hike in search of a log we can use and stuff to put on it for decorations... holly branches and such... all from outside so it can burn in our fire. ;) (this is also our 10th wedding anniversary!!)

22: We will finalize our gift bags and deliver them to the appropriate homes so they can be given out to the families at Christmas.

23: Special Christmas Program at Church

24: We have a book with a story, song, and scripture to read/sing each night. On Christmas Eve it has a whole little program in it and we do it every year! YAY!!

25: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Why did you remove the "feminist pants to church on Sunday post"? :(

I was going to comment with the following link I think you will enjoy. :)