Counting Down!

It's so much fun beginning family Christmas traditions and this year I began something new with Camille - - the advent calendar. We have done the countdown calendars before, and last year we added marked the days by adding a cotton ball to Santa's beard and cap until he was all fluffy white and Christmas was here.

I really wanted to do something more - - and those advent boxes are Target were so calling to me!! So, I picked one up and we've been having the most fun! Camille excitedly runs downstairs every morning to see what the day brings for her - - a fun surprise and one day closer to Christmas :)

And, just because I want to remember.....I'm going to list all the things we've done for this advent season:

1) "Let's make something together" note from Mom - - We made glittery snowglobes.

2) A clue leading to the cookie jar where Camille found a Build-a-Bear notepad.

3) A little teensy-weensy duck that grows when you put him in water.

4) A birthday candle - - a reminder of Jesus' birthday that we are celebrating. The candle also represents light - the light of Jesus in our hearts!

5) A popcorn kernel & a red bead. We popped popcorn, watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, then made a cute Rudolph craft.

6) Two beads - one red, one white.....another fun craft day making candy cane ornaments.

7) A sweet note reminding Camille about how precious a gift she and Lily are to us. Family is a wonderful blessing from the Lord. She got to choose a way that we could all spend time together today. As it turned out, we made the candy cane ornaments from the day before!!

8) mmmmm.....My Little Pony lip balm! Perfect for those wintry chapped lips!

9) Crafty clues: a foam snowflake and a mitten. We made a cool snowman scene!

10) Today Dad got a surprise! The clue in the box was for him, and led him to his stocking where Camille had hidden the movie Christmas Vacation.

11) Yet another crafty day - - are we sensing a pattern here?!?! Today we made a felt penguin door hanger.

I'll be popping in to update this list as the month goes on :)
We have seriously had so much fun! It's been a great way to really focus on spending time together and making the holidays super-fun for my sweet girl!