advent

Just after Thanksgiving, we decorated our home and put up our tree. We hung an extra stocking for Phoebe, which was fun. The only crafty thing I've done for my kids has been making them each a stocking. Phoebe's is bright pink, with an angel beside her name. I enjoyed making it!


We are just beginning to figure out Christmas traditions at our house. During a brief black Friday shopping trip, I picked up $1 advent calendars for the boys at Trader Joe's that had a piece of chocolate for each of 24 days before Christmas. Lewis is kind of picky, but generally likes chocolate so I hoped they would enjoy opening the little door each night.

They both LOVED doing this. And honestly, it was a huge motivator for the whole month of December. Any ugly behavior and I threatened to take away the privilege of opening the #5 or whatever day it was. While there was nothing particularly spiritual behind the calendars, it was a nice way to countdown to Christmas. The doors were not in any order so they had to look for the numbers each day which is a good skill to learn. The chocolates were shaped with different holiday related objects and they were excited to see what they got each night. This might be the best $2 we spent all season!