count down to christmas

So this is NOT my advent calendar above but the one that I got the idea from. You can go here to learn how to make your own from Jolly Allsorts blog...if you dare!! :) I would show you a picture of mine but my camera is not working. :( How can this be with the first day of December tomorrow. I may need one of my nearby friends to stop by daily and take pictures of our happenings until I can get mine fixed. OR, maybe I should change our first activity to "go buy a new camera." ha!! Well here is our final list that we hope to attempt this advent season. Would love to hear how you count down to Christmas! Special thanks to Carrie and Rachel for your ideas.

12/1 Read the Nativity story

12/2 Buy present for Angel Tree.

12/3 Watch Christmas movie of choice.

12/4 Go to Breakfast with Santa.

12/5 Make gingerbread house.

12/6 Make Christmas cookies.

12/7 Give cookies to trash men.

12/8 Make jingle bells and sing song.

12/9 Read a special Christmas book.

12/10 Give cookies to firemen.

12/11 Watch Christmas movie of choice.

12/12 Walk through Bethlehem.

12/13 Give cookies to mailman.

12/14 Take dinner to a needy family.

12/15 Donate winter coats.

12/16 Deliver gifts to Contributor vendors

12/17 Give cookies to policemen.

12/18 Clean out toys.

12/19 Learn a Christmas song

12/20 Go see Christmas train display

12/21 Watch Christmas movie of choice

12/22 Make a donation to non-profit of choice

12/23 Write letter to Santa.

12/24 Set out cookies for Santa.

12/25 Make donation to Heifer International.

If you are looking for a unique look at Advent this Christmas season, the Martha O'Bryan Center has created a weekly look into some of their families' lives and sharing their stories. Go here to learn more.

Hoping to post my finalized count down to Christmas activities tomorrow!! Please feel free to share any more ideas you may have for our family.

advent sneak peak

Here is a quick sneak peak of the advent calendar that I have been working on since LAST Christmas. I think it should be ready for December 1 of this year if I can get 5 more red buttons. The ones I went with were not what I had in mind but I gave up on it just to complete this already too long of a project. I still would like to solicit some of your help for this calendar. While I will go with the fun, traditional theme of filling each day with a special chocolate candy for us to enjoy, I also found a cute idea of including an activity for our family to do each day. Here is a sampling of things that I have come up with so far but would love any other ideas!!

-Give cookies to our trash men, mailman and local firemen and police men.
-Take dinner to a family in need.
-Make homemade decorations for the tree.
-Make cut-out sugar cookies and ice.
-Buy presents for an Angel Tree child.
-Make a gingerbread house.