My Christmas Advent

I've been asked several times for this so here it goes.  It's really nothing special and like most things in my life I keep it pretty simple.  It's something I started a few years ago because I wanted to create special traditions with my kids and since we travel every year for Christmas I felt like my kids didn't have any Christmas traditions at home ..... and that started the fun crazy tradition of our advent.  

I take my list and then I print out a calendar and look at all the activities we have going on (Todd's travel schedule, Christmas parties, driving to California, etc) and then I write up a schedule that I think will work.  Keeping simple ones on days that we are really busy.  Gift from the Elves is a life saver - it can be socks, pjs, treats, anything from the dollar store.  

I buy most of the stuff at once - construction paper for the rings, cards for the missionaries, puzzle, socks, pj's etc.  

Here is a list of ideas I use:  

Christmas Advent

Decorate the tree

Acts of service

Write letters to Santa

Hot cocoa night

Read your favorite Christmas story and cuddle

Make treats and visit a neighbor

Go see Christmas lights

Make a big breakfast while listening to Christmas music

Read the Christmas story from the scriptures

Sing and Dance to Christmas music

Make Ornaments

Christmas Craft

Buy and donate toys

Draw Secret Santa names

Give out Christmas light awards

Family Game Night

Make and decorate cookies

Tell your favorite story of Jesus

Decorate Gingerbread houses

Backwards dinner.  Start with dessert first and wear your clothes backwards

Christmas Puzzle

Christmas Concert

Watch your favorite Christmas movie

Pictures with Santa

Kids Choice

Act out the Nativity

Make paper chains

Make paper snowflakes

Gift from the Elves

Gift from the Elves

Make cookies for Santa

Write Christmas Cards for Missionaries

Doorbell Ditch Treats

Christmas Photo Booth

Christmas Light Scavenger Hunt

Photo Scavenger Hunt

12 Days of Christmas Workout

Read the Grinch and eat grinchy treats

Christmas PJ’s

Christmas Socks

Invite a family over for dinner

Have a candlelight dinner

Make treats and doorbell ditch

Gift from the Elves

Make Reindeer Food

Read a Christmas Story by the Fireplace

Some pictures from last year's activities: 

My Crazy Fish Life

The story begins with a fish named Carl (that's me!) I was swimming along one day with my best friend Jonathan. We are teen fish of the fire fish kind and we were heading to "school" (a large herd of fish).  When out of the blue a large fisherman boat came and we saw the shadow and I don't know about Jonathan but I thought "Dang! That's a big rock!" So being the stupid fish we were, we went towards it and swam right into a net where we were lifted into the boat and shipped from the Great Atlantic Ocean to a fish store in Provo, Utah. I was there for about 10 months (actually 10 days...)

One day a man with a brown beard, white skin, brown hair, black shorts and a superman shirt stared at me for about 10 seconds. Then he gestured to the man who captured me and he came and captured me again with a small net along with my friend Jonathan.  We were thrown in a bag, scared and alone when we got to a giant landmark (house). The man with the beard stored us in a room in the bottom underground and it was quite the life! Free food that didn’t swim away, no sharks, octopi, Fishermen. Nothing bad. 

Until one day it happened. The man with the beard brought us up to a bigger tank and we were put in and named.  I was Poop and Jonathan was named Die. They called us the “poop or die” fish. We had the life! Rocks, sand and once again food and no predators.  Jonathan and I loved it.  We swam all day and slept all night and these weird big creatures would admire us! When the man with the beard would come by we were always fed.

One day a new thing came into our ocean, it was a plant like creature. Jonathan and I went to introduced ourselves to the snake like plant in a pipe but every time we got within about five inches it fled back into its pipe! So after that attempt we just went back to regular life for about two days.  Then Jonathan just sat their awkwardly laying on the rocks until I figured out he had no eyes, he was dead. I stayed there for maybe two hours mourning Jonathan's death. Then I dug a hole next to a rock and hid there for a long time only coming out to eat.

About 2 months later a strange white grey type fish came and started eating sand I named him Sandy and I introduced myself as Carl. He reminded me of Jonathan, he was nice and I had company again. I had the life again. We would swim around scare snake plant pipe thing, eat and sleep we had it good for a long time.  About two months later a new fish was dumped in our ocean, he was purple and had a nasty battle scar. His tail... was cut off! He is a crazy fish, he swims so fast and is always being funny.  Just after he came in I counted eight fish coming into the ocean. A giant fish we call Biggie. He's so much bigger than me! And the silver brothers, there are three of them and a little silver baby who follows them everywhere.  Goldie the orange fish. And there were also two striped fish. 

They all told me the same story. It was "The Toddler Attack" they all said in unison. "One day two toddlers attacked us in the small ocean underground and almost killed us all.  They threw things into the tank and tried to grab us!" Just then a face popped in front of the glass in my ocean. I got so scared that I flew into the sand and was in there for a bit.  

I needed to get out of this ocean, I tried to escape but I couldn't.  I swam so much until I finally gave up. So I laid on a rock as if I was dead for two days only eating food that fell into my mouth. Then one day I finally woke up and realized there wasn’t anything to be afraid of.  There are no sharks, or fishermen or even toddlers that can get me in my small ocean.  The man with the beard brings me food every day and now I have lots of friends to play with.  I guess my life isn’t so bad after all.