celebrating advent

I love the Christmas season - all of the lights, the smells, the yummy food.  I love the anticipation of Christmas morning, when we share gifts with each other that we have thoughtfully chosen for each person.  I especially love being together as a family to celebrate that we are part of Christ's family, and that He came as a sweet babe one night to change our entire lives for the better.  The beginning of our great rescue story began that night in Bethlehem and keeping that as our focus each holiday season (and every day!) is what makes Christmas time truly so special.  Every day we talk about what Christmas is about - yes, the parties are fun, and the presents are something to look forward to on Christmas morning - but the real reason is the gift of His son, and that is the greatest present we will ever receive.

One thing that I love to do with my girls each year is celebrate the countdown to Christmas with an advent calendar.  They love waking up each morning and reading the card that tells us what activity we are going to do that day.  I have incorporated some of the memorable things that I loved as a child (like taking a night drive in our PJs to look at Christmas lights, and decorating sugar cookies) as well as some fun things like going to visit Santa at the mall, and making reindeer dust.  I also enjoy doing some activities that remind us what this Season is for - celebrating Christ and being more like Him.  We make cookies to share with our neighbors, and we take some to our librarians before picking out some Christmas books.  We fill a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child and we pick out gifts for our teachers to thank them for helping us learn.  Seeing Christmas through my children's eyes is amazing - they really are so thoughtful and generous, and they challenge me to be the same.

I made the advent calendar from a Martha Stewart kit I bought at AC Moore a few years back: