Sprinkles of Christmas

Slowly, but surely...we are sprinkling our home with the decorations and traditions of Christmas. With each new addition, I get a little more into the spirit! Last night we finished stringing our tree with lights and adding the decorations.

The other day I was surprised with a wonderful treat from my {super sweet & creative} sister-in-law, Kim. It was a handmade Advent calendar! She made it by altering the back of an old cookie sheet and creating adorable little magnetic numbers.

Each day we take one of the days off and put it in a little glass jar...
counting down the days till Christmas.

I have always loved advent calendars. Growing up, my mom had one that hung on the wall and held tiny trinkets inside little pockets. Each morning in December, my brothers and I couldn't wait to get up and pull out the days' trinket. Above the rows of pockets was a felt Christmas tree with gold balls to hang the trinkets on. We would take turns...there were instruments, angels, Disney characters and more! On the 25th, it was always a sparkly gold star for the top of the tree!

The tradition of the Advent calendar will always be special to me. A couple years ago Mamo bought us our own felt advent calendar with little pockets and trinkets. I've kept it packed away, waiting for our children to use. I can't wait to see the same excitement in my own children, as they count down the days to Christmas and the birth of Jesus.

Advent (from the Latin word adventus, meaning "coming") is a season of the Christian Church, the period of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus.

We're also having another countdown at our house this season. We're trying to save a little money this Christmas. So, instead of buying gifts for each other this year, Justin and I are going to try something a little different. More meaningful. More creative.

We saw this idea on tv the other day. We're going to have...
The 12 dates of Christmas

Starting on the 14th of December, we'll take turns planning "dates" for the two of us. So we'll each be planning six dates. I can't tell you my ideas, because Justin does read my blog! But some of the examples we thought of were: making cookies together after we put Barrett to bed; playing a game of Uno & drinking hot chocolate; dropping Barrett off with family, and driving around town to see the lights. We both have some thinking and planning to do. Not all of the dates will be completely free, but we're going to try to keep them as inexpensive as possible. I'll have to share some of our dates with you later! Maybe you will want to start this new tradition too.

p.s. I have Christmas music in the cd player in the kitchen, on the tv (Music Choice, Sounds of the Season), and in the car...so I thought I'd have it here too! Breath of Heaven -Amy Grant and Mary, Did you Know -Clay Aiken, are two of my favorite Christmas songs. I sung Breath of Heaven at church with the youth choir when I was in middle school, and still think of that every time I hear it. No, I can't sing...but somehow I was in the church choir for several years. We thought we were pretty good, huh Amber?!?