Advent Calendar

Get ready for this post. It's a doosey! So this is the first Christmas Season I got inspired to make it really special. Maybe it was Pinterest or maybe it was the fact that boys (especially Luke) are really getting into activities and surprises. Either way I wanted to start some traditions. I give you the Advent Calendar:

I put a lot of work (and money) into this baby, but I wanted something that could be used ever year. I made envelopes that velcro onto the poster board so that each day the boys could remove one (counting down to Christmas). Each envelope has a card with a special Christmas Activity on it. More about those in a second. 

Next I made a Grinch to put on the wall. I wanted our Christmas Season to be filled with random acts of kindness, so every time one of the boys would do something nice for someone, I would write what they did on a little heart and they would stick the heart on the Grinch, so his heart could grow!

I also wanted to make sure the hubby new I cared about making things special for him so I through in a special calendar for him too! (I think he was just as excited as the boys).

The first activity was "Christmas Movie Night!" This was a hit, since we have never really done a movie night as a family. There were several more of those throughout the month.

Another activity we did was making Christmas cards for the great grandparents. I was so impressed with how well the boys did with this. Nate even did great glueing the tiny colored pieces of paper onto the card.

Once we decorated the cards, I asked the boys what they wanted to say. Here is what they came up with!

Another activity was to decorate "Christmas Trees". We invited their friends Owen and Maddy over to join in the fun.

We made "surprise stockings" for our neighbors. Each boy got to choose who they would bless with their stocking and then we delivered them. (If you can't tell, the RAK's didn't go over as well as the other activites, but I know as they get older they will realize how fun it is to bless others!)

Decorating Christmas Cookies.

This one was really fun! We had the boys watch Polar Express one day and then put them to bed early that night (luckily they can't tell time). We then stood outside their door and Chance yelled "All ABOARD!" We presented them with tickets to the Polar Express and whisked them away to the "Polar Express"and took them for a drive to look at Christmas light. They were so surprised and excited! I will cherish this memory. Unfortunately, Bradley was not all that impressed with the Polar Express and driving around in the dark, so we had to bring him and I back home and let the boys enjoy their ride without Bradley's wailing!

Here was one of Chance's daily surprises. "50's Night". This is how he was greeted when he got home from work. That is grape juice on the rocks by the way. I did my best to June Cleaver it up. Can I just say, I loved wearing and apron! I'm going to have to do that more often!

I am not much for pomp and circumstance, but I loved doing these calendars for my family and I am so excited to continue this tradition!