My gift to you: December 2012

I can't believe it's December and I'm blogging outside in this humid 80 degree weather. While I'm posting I'm being entertained by this scooter ballet.

and a little hopscotch spelling

To say I LOVE Christmas is an understatement. I'm usually playing my music and start creating all my new decorations starting in August. Just listening to a Christmas carol makes me start weeping. My all time favorite part about Christmas is celebrating Jesus birth with a party!

Now, what is that rule about birthday's you get a week before and a week after to claim those free desserts at restaurants. Well since Jesus is extra special it makes since that we get to celebrate much longer then 2 weeks! Thats why we have multiple advents...there is just too much celebrating to fill the month.

Yesterday we started with our first "project" our

Countdown prayer chain.

yup, same old supplies!

I gave the girls the job of telling me the names of different people or places and I wrote their answers on the back of each strip of paper.

The TOP link!

We hung the chain next to our chair. Each night as I sing and pray with my children we will take a link off our chain and pray for the person or place that is written on our link.

We also have our advent under the tree

Each day we have one of our Christmas books wrapped up.

I also have a few activities wrapped up, like family movie night, gingerbread house, making Christmas cards, a nutcracker that we will paint and their aprons and cake mix so we can bake Jesus birthday cake.

making cookies

watching and meeting the Radio City Rockettes. (Coppelia has been saying that she wants to be a Rockette for 3 years now)

The Birthday Party!

Here is the advent calendar I made for my nieces and nephews a few years back.

each day they have a bag they open.

Some bags have a piece of paper with a number. That is for a gift that may be under the tree. Some of them have a simple activities like going caroling or driving around to see Christmas lights. I even have a special version of "The Night Before Christmas" that I have rewritten for their family.

Last year I embellished some stockings for my brothers family. There activity for the day was to decorate the fireplace mantal and they had a new gift to do that with.