Advent 2012

we never did anything special for advent when i was a kid so i'm a bit new to this game but we're gonna try it this year. (also, i'm not complaining, ma, just stating this as fact. you did plenty of other awesome things with us, advent just wasn't on the list. i'm not bitter. at all. for reals.) i should probably google the whole meaning and whatnot but for now, all i know is that advent means you do something special every day for the 25 days leading up to christmas. also, it means you can waste time on pinterest looking for cute advent calendars to make. check. so this is what we made (sean helped me!):

they were made out of paint samples. or paint chips. or whatever they are called. =) and this is what we're gonna do: i found this idea on pinterest (love that site) called light em up. if you're interested check it out here: http://lillightomine.com/light-em-up-2012.php. basically this woman had the idea to teach her kids about helping and serving others for christmas instead of getting them so wrapped up in themselves and 'what am i gonna get.' so she has a list of ideas you can do to get your kids involved and get them thinking of others and most importantly to remind them of Jesus and that He is what this whole christmas shindig is all about and he said to love others. so on the back of each little tree, i have listed either an activity we can do together, a fun thing to do and on some days both. i guess traditionally advent calendars had a treat or a prize or something but since no one knows any better, we are doing it this way!

day one was to send out a text with a funny picture and a sweet message to 20 people. here is the picture we sent and blayne got to tell me what to type in the message and also he picked who we sent it to. day two was to make a phone call to someone you don't get to see or talk to a lot and really talk to them. epic fail on blayne's part since he has all the telephone skills of a bump on a log but whatever. he picked uncle jordan and aunt josie to call and we all chatted for a few minutes. well, sawyer hollered but the rest of us chatted. blayne less than me. also on day two, we made a fire in the fire pit and sat outside.

day three will be hiding one dollar bills all over the dollar store with cute notes. i'm so excited.

and lastly, here's a few pics of our christmas decor. pinterest strickes again (have i mentioned that i love that website?!).

i'm kinda into using old sheet music to make stuff this year. can you tell? anyhoo, we are ready for christmas!