Happy Christmas Month

The girls began the month of Christmas with great joy. I brought out the Advent calendar that my Aunt Connie (a frequent reader of this blog!) made for me when I was little. We have used this calendar for ages in it's traditional format. We've reached into a pocket each day, hanging a minature ornament on each tiny golden ball.

This year, I have achieved records in the Christmas shopping category. I think because one of my good friends is Jewish and began shopping early for Hannukah, I joined in the early shopping rush. My shopping is nearly all done and my wrapping is close to complete. I have never gone into December with quite so little on my list. As a result, I've felt able to do some things that I have hoped to do for years.

I read many blogs each day and have always admired the women who put together activity calendars for their children. Each day their girls and boys will discover in their calendars a fun, holiday related activity to be done that day. With my extra time, I decided that I didn't need to be jealous of these women but could in fact join them. So with the inspiration that I've taken from TeachMama, The Artful Parent and Pink and Green Mama, the girls will be choosing little slips of paper from their calendar each day.

And in case you think I have gone off the deep end, this activity is actually a lesson in simplicity.

It is truly amazing how the littlest of things bring the greatest joy to the girls. Yesterday's activity read, "Enjoy our meals on our reindeer plates." Now, this was something we would have done anyway. I always bring out our holiday plates at the beginning of Decemeber. But because this message was written on a tiny slip of paper that was discovered behind the number one on our Advent calendar, the girls were beyond excited.

They actually said, "Really!? We can eat breakfast on our reindeer plates?!"

Yes, you really can and wait until you see what tomorrow will bring!