advent

absolutely my favorite thing this christmas was i actually finished an advent calendar that works for our family right now.

it will be no surprise to anyone that knows me that i first went through a few models that were... complicated and tedious and easy to break and destroy but amazing and gorgeous at the same time. but reality. REALITY. i do not live in a magazine. i live with grayson. and a baby who chews on things. so... i came up with this really simple idea that incorporated the things i wanted our advent to be about. so.. if you want to copy me that's cool.. or if you live in a magazine and want to make 3 dimensional origami reversible boxes suspended as a mobile... i have a plan for that too. ;)


i started with a christmas pack of paper i got on a major clearance last year...

 i cut each piece of paper into four rectangles and then folded the top part over... you then hot glue ONE short side and the long side of your tab-- so that you have a pocket to slip your paper in and out of it.

then you and your helper get out your stamps and start brainstorming topics you want on your cards. these could be anything you want to focus on during the advent season. we started with the 'fruits of the spirit' and then added things we were passionate about as well...

i printed a free numbers stencil  online and then traced and cut out the days from black card stock. a little paper adhesive later and they were ready to hang. :)

so you hang them numbers out, then each day that you do you turn them around and hang them word out. that way you can see how many days are left till christmas and also see the words you have already done.

i really wanted advent to be a time of quiet and reflection. prayer. singing. candles.... sounds like a normal night with 3 kids 5 and under, right? umm. no.

but it is SO easy to get caught up in the craziness. i can bustle with the best of them. i can hustle myself right into a funk if i'm not careful. i realized this truth a couple of years ago and have to remind myself every year... if i am stressed. if i am crabby. if i am thinking this is so not worth it. then i have only myself to blame.

i am in charge of how much i let in and how much i give out. if my heart is so tired it can't feel the quiet peace of christmas..the growing anticipation of a baby in the manger...the joy of being in. in side. in love. in time. if i am too tired to feel those things. than christmas.. a REAL christmas is just what i need.

advent brings me there... 

so this is how our advent works....
we would spend some time singing christmas carols and songs that daddy could think of that had to do with our word for the night.

we would spend a little time talking about how we see that word in God, our world and how we can become better representations of that word. we would end with some family prayer time and then the kids took turns pulling the slip of paper out.

on it would be a little rhyme about a special activity that has a tie in to the word, or a clue to a treat treasure hunt etc. a few times it was a retroactive rhyme about something we already did that day. like the day ice skating was the special treat for the day... i wasn't going to put anything in there and arianna had tears well up-- you mean i don't get to pull the paper?? um but we already did the activity... "but pulling the paper is my favorite part!!" wow. good. so next year i know-- she has some pretty easy to meet expectations. ;)

most nights i was barely one step ahead of the pulling of the paper. that is one of the good things about the fact they can't see inside there. they can't see the fact that i have no idea what it will say tomorrow. most of the time it was something we were going to do anyway or something that didn't take too much work and stress... we went out for ice cream one night, made cookies, had a movie night...etc.

when nights were late sometimes we had to do it over dinner...

sometimes we had special guests...

grayson always thought his cars enjoyed a little special christmas family time...

the night we did peace the special activity was 'practicing peace'. to receive their dessert they had to get through an entire song that daddy played without knocking off one of the wooden blocks i had placed on their arms and legs. they actually did it! and it was probably the most peace i saw all day. :)

the night we did JOY was maybe the best night. that was the night that we practiced 'giving joy'.

our family doesn't give presents to each other for christmas... we take the money we would have done presents with and we donate it to charities that are important to us that could bring joy to others.

this year we went through the samaritan's purse website and we all picked out different things to give.
i did maternity care for mothers and babies...
ari did school supplies for girls...
grayson did sports equipment for a school...
luci 'picked' fresh milk for children for a week... 
and nate donated a starter flock of chickens to a family.

so precious. seeing my babies get excited for what they can give... starting to recognize how much blessing has been heaped upon us and the small ways we can be a blessing to others.
that is when it really starts to feel like christmas to me.

how we have explained it to our kids is that birthdays are a big deal! on your birthday-- we get crazy celebrating you. people bring you gifts and make the day all about what you like to do, to eat, to wear... everything!!! it is perfectly wonderful to celebrate your life and the gift that you are to the people around you..

christmas is Jesus's birthday.

and on HIS birthday we get crazy doing what He loves. and HE loves peace, and joy and sacrifice and love... all these things we draw close to our heart during advent.

and i wouldn't trade it in for any extra hustle and bustle.

it is my most favorite christmas thing. :)