Advent To Do's

I don't think we have ever had this many little things to do to count down the days of Advent but I can tell that the children are really excited about each one so, here we go...

Advent wreath...check!

We decided to do a fresh wreath this year with beeswax candles. I set the candles on a tray and spread some tree clippings (a huge bundle cost $3 at the local Christmas tree stand) around it. It is very plain right now but will be transformed on Christmas Eve (note to self: hunt down some transformation doodads!).

Advent calendar...check!

This picture doesn't do this beautiful lighted calendar any justice. And they are still on sale!

Jesse Tree...check!

The kids asked if we could use our old Jesse Tree this year (last year we used the new one so I see a natural rotation developing here) but I wanted to use the stories from this Jesse Tree book so we compromised. Most of the symbols that Husband's sister made for us oh so many years ago fit in some way with the stories but I had to make a few extra. This picture shows them all up, but in reality, we will just put the first one on tonight.

Advent Books...check!

When I saw this on Cheryl's blog, I knew that we had to do it. Since the economy is what it is, I took all of our old Christmas themed books (adding only a few new ones to bring the count to 24) and wrapped them in pretty purple paper. Our Christmas books usually stay packed away for the rest of the year so even though these are books we have read before, I think the fun will be in getting to unwrap one each night along with the surprise of which title was chosen.

So that's what we are going to be up to. I would love to hear about your plans if you have them figured out, but if you haven't...take a deep breath. There is still plenty of time to jump in where you are.