1st: the spiritual side. We went to a nearby church Sunday night that had a huge assortment of nativity displays. Literally every room in the church was full of them. Then they played the Christmas Devotional broadcast from SLC. Great start to the season, as always.
2nd: a strategic move. Abbey's already unwrapped one of the Christmas presents from Grandma. She's getting very frustrated that we won't let her dig in to the rest of them, so...I'm wrapping her old toys and books today. Decoy gifts. (FYI, tonight she opened the first one--a toy she rarely notices--and said 'No Way!'. Success.)
2nd: christmas letters in the mail. I wrote one last week and it ended up being like two pages long. In 5 pt font. So I like to talk about myself, what about it? The revised one is ready to go, just need to print, stuff, stamp, and mail. Done. Mostly.3rd: figure out some traditions. Every time I think of ways to make it special, I always return to food ideas. I need you! What do you do as a family to bring the Christmas spirit to your home?
Tomorrow: the Christmas projects...
8 comments:
Because I'm a genius (and I stole this idea) I will share with you. I made one of those paper chain countdown to Christmas deals for the kids and on each day I wrote something fun for us to do to get ready for Christmas (like wrap presents for cousins and send them, make gingerbread cookies, take treats to neighbors, watch a kid's Christmas movie.) So far, it's going well and they're less snotty.
I love that Abbey said, "No way!" Does she really say stuff like that?! The best part is - I can totally hear her saying it because that is ALWAYS what we're saying... it would only be more perfect if she said, "nu-uh." Cord and Adelle? Nu-uh.
We bought this little advent calendar at Target that has little cubbies for each day leading up to Christmas. Every morning the first thing the boys want to do is see their surprise behind the door.
We also do the 12 days of Christmas to a family each year. That is their favorite thing about Christmas. We dress like spies and take walkie-talkie's and everything.
That is awesome! I can totally see your little boys going incognito. And Allison...what? Are you saying Cord and Adelle would say nu-uh or that pondering how in the world they ended up together makes you think 'nu-uh'. I'm guessing the latter. I think they're a cute couple despite the 'wha...' that came to mind when I found out they were engaged.
I love these ideas, keep em' coming.
Oh gosh - I hope Cord and Adelle don't read this blog - because now I sound like I am making fun of them. Yes, yes ... I truly believe they are a cute couple. But don't you remember the infamous "nu-uh" story? Justin relentlessly made fun of you, me and Tiffany for it.
Traditions for us? We do the advent calendar, make goodies to share with friends (and a little for ourselves, of course!), and read Christmas stories every evening. I know that we have more, but I can't think of them right now!! :) Have you seen Valerie's blog? She has a super cute idea for a home-made advent. You should check that out! Oh, and making homemade Christmas decorations (i.e., the garland paper rings, coloring pictures of Santa, the cotton ball Santas, etc.). Can you tell that we love Christmas around here and want to make it last as long as possible? :)
Ha! I love your idea of decoy gifts. So smart.
I know - we are going to have to come up with some of our own family traditions this year since we'll be spending it by ourselves in Michigan. I'm actually looking forward to making some fun traditions.
My family is trying a new tradition this year. The book of Luke has 24 chapters, and each night we read one starting December first so it is easy to remember where you are! It's great as an adult, because I feel like I buy myself whatever I really want whenever I really want. I can never wait until Christmas:) Ha, ha, I love being an adult! So its nice focusing on Christ for Christmas, another thing I never did as a child:)
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