Advent Calendar #1

So, I am playing catch-up.  My plan to do this once a week has failed.  Oh well.  As you will see, we have been busy after school lately! 

Every year for the past three years, I have put together an Advent calendar for the girls.  Each day they open up a little drawer that reveals an activity for the day.  Some days it is little stuff, sometimes it is planned events, and sometimes it is about giving and not receiving.  They look forward to each day, and it makes the preplanning worth it.  So, here is what we were up to for the first week or so. 

Let me preface this week by saying, it was tech week for the Nutcracker ballet they were both in.  That meant every single night we were in Wooster by 6:30 for 1-1/2 to 2 hours.  It was exhausting.  So, the events were fun, but I tried to keep it a little low-key.

Day 1 – Go to the Polar Express at the Orrville Library.  Nope, didn’t happen.  Last year, Madison had to stay home because she had strep throat.  This year, Ellie woke up with pink eye.  Madison opted to stay home with her.  We instead had a family movie night – watching The Polar Express and eating popcorn.  It was a good night together anyway.

Day 2 – Decorate the Christmas tree.  They could hardly wait a whole week after Thanksgiving to do this one.  But we held them off.  We have an artificial tree, and they love to sort the branches and help put it up.  They also love their ornaments. 

    

Day 3 – Live Nativity at Oak Grove Mennonite Church.  We went somewhere else in Canton last year, which was great, but far away.  This year, we didn’t have a conflict and could go to Oak Grove.  They do a really nice job walking you through the Christmas story as you journey to baby Jesus. 

Day 4 – Would you rather…? Christmas edition.  We used these – a Pinterest find!  They were fun to read in the car as we drove to dance.  Would YOU rather spend 11 hours untangling Christmas lights or find the one light that is out on a string of Christmas lights a mile long? 

Day 5 – Snowman Pancakes.  They wait all year for this one.  It is pretty easy to do.  This year, I think I was a little low on decorating supplies for the snowman, but they didn’t complain.  I mean, what kid complains if they still get to cover their pancake in candy?

    

Day 6 – Check out Christmas books at the library.  One of my favorite days because I love the library, and I like to read the selection of stories they bring home. 

Day 7 – Madison’s 2nd grade choir program, “The Littlest Christmas Tree.”  She was Christmas Tree #7, and she did a spectacular job with her one line: “My needles are so soft!”  She is a performer and thrives on stage.  Not only was she dramatic as she said her line, she also sang and danced as though she was in show choir.  It was a great performance by all the kids.  You will find Madison front and center in the picture below!  She also took a picture with her 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Thiel.

    

Day 8 – Choose a gift to donate.  Again, this was picked as something able to be done as we drove in the car.  I brought a selection of magazines – Heifer International, Compassion, World Vision – and they could select something to donate to help someone else out this year.  Ellie chose to donate vaccines through Compassion.  Madison chose to donate a flock of chicks through Heifer International.  I donated a well through Comapssion in honor of my 7th grade students who were studying about water scarcity, and I donated honeybees in honor of my 8th graders just because I thought it sounded cool!  I love these organizations and how tangible the gifts are.  I also enjoyed giving the cards with the gifts to my students and talking about giving and what it meant to others. 

Day 9 – Perform in the Nutrcracker.  This was not a cop-out.  They were super excited about this even though they knew about it.  I will post a whole blog to this one next.

Okay, that is one week down.  I am on a blogging spree right now … so onto the Nutcracker, then Advent #2….