The first of our Christmas activities was mid November filling boxes for Operation Christmas Child. Zac and Lucy loved separating the items into boy/girl piles. To my surprise they loved looking at the fun things we put in the boxes and were excited when I told them they were going to kids who don’t have as many toys as we are blessed with.
Last year, the ladies in our small group made Advent calendars for our husbands. And it’s back! Each day he gets to open a card with an activity (family activities, date nights, and guys night), a way I can serve him (sleeping in and waking to a hot breakfast, clean car), and compliments with Bible verses. It has been especially fun to bless him during a time when it’s so easy to put the kids first. It has made this season so much more special to put our focus on Jesus and be intentional with our planning. He feels special every morning he wakes up and has a card waiting for him.
I added an advent for the kids with a fun daily activity as well.
December 1st was “Deck the Halls”. Jesus is the Light and we lit up our trees to celebrate Him!
This year we are spending the month at my moms. We put a small tree in the kid’s room, one in our room, and my mom’s is in the front room. There are lots of ornaments hanging on the very bottoms of our trees. Sweetly hung by the little’s.
Zac would get so excited after hanging his ornaments and jump and dance around yelling.
Lucy did more watching than decorating. She loves her little tiny nativity.
Special ornaments on my mom’s tree. The paper Santa’s were my Great Grandma Nellie’s that she gave my mom years ago. And the hummingbirds were hand carved by my Great Grandpa Lloyd.
Day 1 of Advent was full of lots of new things. Probably too much introduced at once. It got a little crazy, but we still had fun!
We got out our new Fisher Price Little People Nativity. All the pieces are out, except Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus. Each day Mary and Joseph move a little bit closer to Bethlehem. Jesus will be there on Christmas Day. Day 1, they were the furthest from Bethlehem in the downstairs bathroom. I got the idea from this Elf on the Shelf Alternative blog post. They have lots of fun ideas.
Lucy loves the kitty in her Bible that is by Jesus in the manger. I was happy to see a little kitty hiding in the hay in the nativity set.
Zac and Lucy take turns each day opening one Christmas book. They have loved this!
How I found her sleeping. My little Mary. :)
Zac gave Santa some new friends.
December 2nd we watched a Christmas Movie and ate popcorn. We LOVE VeggieTales The Little Drummer Boy!
I’m doing an online Advent Bible Study. This is my second year doing it and it has made Christmas simply magical! At breakfast, I read the kid’s Bible and then the study reading for the day. Last year I didn’t really do the candle lighting. This week, we have been reading about how Jesus is the light of the world. Lighting the candle has really helped the kids to put Jesus and the light together. They love when we light our candle.
Zac and Santa have a band. He was so excited. After I took his picture and made a video with my camera, he told me “Get your phone too!”
December 3rd Quinn and Tilly came to town and we got to show them our fun Christmas decorations!
December 4th Quinn got in on the candle lighting with us a couple of times.
Lucy opened a book that her Grandma Kelli and Grandpa Milan recorded for Zac’s first Christmas. They laugh and laugh while they listen to their recordable books. And so do we, especially because Milan adds his own words to the story.
December 5th Jumping on Grandma’s furniture.
Picnic by the Christmas Tree.
Christmas Stories
Making their travels.
This Navity set is my favorite! All the little characters are so cute!
I told Zac to walk the wise men to Bethlehem. This is what I saw. He had all the pieces lined up to see Baby Jesus. We talked about the excitement of waiting for Baby Jesus to come.
Getting ready to make gingerbread houses. I had never made a gingerbread house before and definitely learned some tips and tricks along the way. Next year will be better quality.
Candy! We laughed at how excited she was about the candy. She does not have a sweet tooth. Zac on the other hand would have eaten it all if we let him.
Our houses kept falling over. It took some work to keep them up. Quinn is wondering, “Why is my house falling over, Mom?”
Our stable with Joseph, Mary, and Jesus and a marshmallow sheep.
And Zac’s candy storehouse.
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