Monday, December 24, 2012

2012 Christmas Advent

The kids always look forward to our different Advent traditions which we start on December 1st. Every morning the kids get to either

Turn on the Christmas tree lights:

 Light the Advent candles (this is the first year we've done this one):

Pick a sock and eat the candy inside (this is our new favorite):

Put a nativity character on the calendar:

Or wait with Pella:

I knew waiting a day would be hard to do, but I think it's important to learn to wait patiently and be happy for others and we can't learn it unless we practice, so I purposefully only made up four activities.

After everyone does their morning activity, we all gather on the couch for our Advent devotions and the child that lit the candles gets to blow them out before we pray for our day.



A little later there's always the chocolate calendars from Grandma and Grandpa that everyone gets to enjoy.
I love how these different things make December special and add extra excitement to counting down the days to celebrate Jesus' birthday!

3 comments:

Momacita said...

What fun, and Christ-centered activities, keeping the focus on the true meaning of the season. And I love the wisdom in purposefully teaching the kids to patiently wait - a lost art in our instant, microwave, quick, rush, want it now, pay for it later society. Keep up the good work. You're "rockin" this mom thing!!!
Love,
Momacita

Kathy in WA said...

I always forget to get an Advent wreath/candle going each December. I love the way you used simple candle sticks (w/cards attached) to serve as a wreath. Perfect!! I'm stealing that idea in case I never get an actual Advent wreath.

Tiffany Nevil said...

Oooh I like the waiting thing! Chase is struggling with this and tells me on a regular basis "I will not wait!". Hmph! Thanks for the idea. Hope you guys had a Merry Christmas!