Believe it or not, Advent decorations and activities did begin on time in our house despite the late appearance here on the blog. Granted the decorating has been an ongoing process. We are finishing up school this week, and so next week I should be able to catch up a little at least.
This year we are reading Jotham's Journey, which is an ongoing story, read daily, to build anticipation for Jesus' birth. We are also doing the online Holy Heroes Advent Adventure which is free, by the way. They send you emails everyday with a link to the activities and mini videos to show your kids. One of the videos is the Jesse Tree ornament story. This has been great because for the past few years Advent evenings have grown too long. It is impossible to get the kids in bed by 7:30/8pm if the Advent stuff takes an hour, and you can forget about baths. :) This has been much more manageable for me. The other evening activity they do this year are the Advent calendars and boxes. The calendars are the store bought kind with the chocolate inside. The boxes were a gift from Aunt Cindy and Uncle Frank last Christmas. I filled them with random things, from candy to stickers, and even a few very small toys. The boxes are super tiny, so it was hard to even find candy small enough for some of the boxes.
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| Here are the three Advent boxes for Hannah, Genna, and Isaac. I'll be on the look out after Christmas for one on clearance for Drew next year. This year, he couldn't care less. He just likes to open and close the doors. |
Brian got the lights up yesterday while the kids were at soccer practice. We came home after dark and the kids were so excited to see our house all lit up. Best daddy ever! Today Brian came home early so we could get our tree before dark since our weekends are so full.
Brian loves to pick out and cut his own tree, so we went back to Butler's Orchard like the last two years. He is usually very decisive and picks a tree quickly. I veto occasionally, but mostly don't care too much which one we pick. This year we were much later in the season, and the field was a lot more picked over. We walked around for a long time in 40 degree weather while the sun started setting. I pushed for some tall thin trees, but he vetoed them and he finally settled on a very full, round tree. He realized later that is was insanely heavy and the trunk was very thick compared to our normal trees. I had to help him get it on the top of the car, not that I was much help. Then it wouldn't fit into our tree base that we have had for so many years. He ran to Walmart to get a bigger one, but...funny thing...the tree is too heavy and tips easily. That sounds like the kind of tree we need with Drewzilla around, right? No worries. Tomorrow the gates will be up keeping the littles (namely Drew) away until Brian comes home with a more sturdy base.
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| In the car warming up while Brian tied the tree on the van, we sang their German song for the Christmas program. |
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