So, once the Advent gets into full swing, I have realized I basically have no time to do anything else. So, here is a continuation of the last post and the rest of the Advent calendar activities….
Day 8 … Make a hot, fancy drink. Which turned into Let’s get Starbucks. Which turned into We don’t have time for that tonight. Which turned into Let’s do it later. Which happened in conjunction with Day 10.
Day 9… Attend a choir concert. Madison had her 6th grade choir concert – in the auditorium this year! It was nice. Mrs. Carr always does a good job preparing the students.
Day 10… Go see Christmas lights. We used to walk down to see the lights on Emerson which we enjoyed. But I looked for something a little different this year. I found that you could go to Stadium Park in Canton to see what Stark Parks had set up. It was pretty neat. You could drive through and see a variety of different light pictures – some of them “moving.” We grabbed some Starbucks hot chocolate, coffee, and vanilla steamers. Sorry, Starbucks, but we determined that we actually make better drinks at home on our own! However, we did enjoy the cake pops.
Day 11… Go to the Shudio Open House. There are some friends of ours that are artists in their “free” time. Tim Shue carves spoons out of a variety of woods. His brother, Terry, has taken up ceramics and makes a variety of different things. The girls had never been to the Shudio, so we went to the open house. Tim’s daughters also started a side business called “Dangle Designs” where they create earrings. It was fun to look around and see all the handiwork. We walked away with a few treasures as well.
Day 12… Eat Snowman Pancakes. This is always a favorite. Jeremy helped me gather the toppings this year. And then the art started to happen. Madison made the most elaborate design, but it was also determined that it was too much for her. So, she didn’t eat much of the actual pancake. It was fun anyway.
Day 13… Pick out teacher gifts. We donate in the teachers’ names to whatever the girls pick out from the variety of charitable magazines we get each year. This year Madison gifted Education for Girls. Ellie chose to donate where most needed. They then write in a card to their teacher and add some Christmas cookies to complete the gifts.
Day 14… Attend a band concert. This is one of a handful the girls know each year in the calendar. But it doesn't’ matter. Madison performed with her 6th grade band some fun songs. They sounded much better than at the end of last year. It was neat to hear their progress.
Day 15… Wrap presents. It is so nice to have helper elves. I wrapped some gifts, but the girls do a great job wrapping gifts for each other and their cousins.
Day 16… Help with Christmas cards. This didn’t happen until a week later. I ordered pictures that were delayed multiple times and weren’t ready for pickup until the 22nd. I also didn’t get the letter printed (although it was written) until later either. It was fine. The girls usually enjoy this, and as the years have gone on, they have become much more efficient with it.
Day 17… Family Game Night. Jeremy was actually still out of town in California, but we did it anyway. We played a vicious game of Sorry. It is a good game to learn what it means to be competitive (do what you need to win) without being mean (gloating and yelling). It was fun way to spend the evening. Pepper wanting to eat with us…
Day 18… Candy cane hunt. Think Easter egg hunt, but with candy canes. Jeremy was the hider; he did a good job hiding many of them in unreachable places, which made it fun for the retrieval process.
This was actually a really busy day. i went to watch Sam wrestle at a 16 team tournament. It was a 9-3 kind of day. But it was fun to see the kids compete. He ended up getting first in his weight class. Pretty cool. The Ashland cousins came (and so did Cale).
Then, in the evening we went to watch The Nutcracker performed by Ballet Wooster. Madison and Ellie wanted to go because Madison’s friend, Gretta, was in it, and our neighbor, Anabelle, was dancing too. It was not my choice of activity because we have been multiple times before, but it was well done and felt good to be able to support their friends.
Day 19… Ediger family Christmas. Post coming later on that one.
Day 20… Have friends over after school. I surprised the girls on this one. I invited Jaida and Gretta for Madison and Kennah and Kinslee for Ellie. There wasn’t really anything “special” about this – no games or meal or activity – just time with friends. And they loved it. It is loud, but easy to have kids over to play. I have started feeling less intimidated by the prospect if they just stay til about 5 or 5:30 rather than through a meal. I think it works out pretty well.
Day 21… Take donations to the Humane Society. This was a risky move since Madison was asking for a cat for Christmas and Ellie wanted a hamster/guinea pig. But Ellie had committed money from her summer bake sale to the shelter, and we had yet to donate it. So, we went after school. And it was hard. They both found cats they would have taken home. And they agreed on a dog to take home (Hank). And Katie, an English Mastiff, stole my heart. But in the end, we walked away with nothing but the idea of maybe trying to volunteer a day or two a month.
Day 22… Make indoor snowmen. I found this activity online and thought I would try it. it had a definite learning curve, but I think it worked in the end. The girls invited our out of state family over (Jen and Arturo) for this fun.
Day 23… Watch a Christmas movie. Jeremy found one called 8 Bit Christmas on HBOMax. It was similar to A Christmas Story, but the dad was telling his daughter about the Christmas when he wanted a Nintendo (the original). It was pretty funny with all the references to things we grew up with. The girls enjoyed it as well.
Day 24… Attend a Christmas Eve Service. It is always a special time to go to Salem for the candle lighting service. The kids choirs sing. The adult choir sings. There are violins that play. Organs and piano duets. And worship of our Lord and Savior’s birth.
We also did some other things. I'll post on that later.
Day 25… Christmas Day
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