I used to get overwhelmed with the amount we tried to do around Christmas. It always seemed to fall into a couple of packed days. It started to feel like a burden and often was stressful for everyone involved. Last year we started making a calendar with the activities we wanted to do. It worked great and we have done the same this year. Over the Thanksgiving weekend, we fill in the blocks for the month. We look at past calendars, local event guides, etc. to help with ideas. Here's this year's Advent Activities Calendar.
Many of them we do every year and I keep the materials in a file on my computer, like the poems for the advent chains and the snowflakes.
Making gingerbread houses (okay, I was doing most of the making and they were doing the licking)...
Playing with shaving cream "snow" (also works well in the bathtub for easier cleanup)...
We send a lot of Christmas cards. My little elves were a huge help this year with stuffing, stamping, and licking...
Decorating gingerbread cookies...
The kids really enjoyed the birthday party for Jesus at Awana this year. Here's Julia wearing her crown for the party. She wrote 'Julia, Jesus' on the front. She told me later she wants to be Jesus when she grows up. Not a bad thing to strive for :)
It was her turn to hold baby Jesus...
I hope you are all having a wonderful December celebrating this wonderful season. It's so easy to get caught up in the busyness and stress of it all. I want my children to remember this as a special time with lots of fun family traditions and a time to think of others.Yes, things still get crazy. We have had a few moments this week- one while baking- that were less than stellar. I try to always be real, but I confess there are no pictures of those moments this week. So I encourage you to take even a few minutes to do something memorable. If it doesn't go well, try again another day and take time to savor the moments. We have so much to celebrate.
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