The Christmas Coundown...

::singing Ba Ba Bam Bam Bam Bam Bam Bammm... The Final Countdown::

Ever since Kevin and I first met he has always talked about the Advent Calendar his family would use during Christmas to count down the days to Christmas.  Each time he would talk about it I would invision the 5 year old version of him race past his sister to the Advent Calendar and wait to see if today was his day to put the next ornament on the tree. 

I am not sure why when he tells this story I always picture him at the age of 5.  Maybe it's because of the family portrait Marcia has hanging on the living room wall.  It's of all 4 of them... Marcia, Kelley, Kevin... and Will.  I see an entire family so happy... not a care in the world...  I don't know if Kevin pictures his childhood this way.  But this is how I like to think of it.  

Anyway... a few years ago his mother asked if he wanted the Advent Calendar.  I don't think I have ever seen him jump so fast to say "YES" to anything his mom was trying to give him.  I have always liked the idea of an Advent Calendar to countdown the days to Christmas.  We never had one in my family growing up.  The idea of taking on a new family tradition (from Kevin's side) excited me.

Not a discussion about the Advent Calendar went by without Kevin remarking how he and his sister had to alternate days.  Every day they would alternate who got to decorate the tree.  His Mom would even pack it up and take it with them to Mass.  Kevin always talked about how he and Kelley had to alternate years so they had to share who put the "star" on the tree (the final day).  I could see he didn't like the idea of sharing the days.  And I couldn't blame him.  Who wanted to sit there and watch your sibling decorate a tree while you had to wait till the next day.  Not me!!!  And don't even get me started on the "Candy" advents.  I would never share.  I would be the kid in the corner eating all of the candy!  Maybe that's why we never had one.  They knew I had no will for sharing candy.  

So after we inherited this Advent I knew I wanted to do something the entire family could get excited about.  Not just that days lucky chosen one.  But I had no idea on what or how to start.  

You see... Our problem is very simple.  During this time of the year we are both very busy.  This is the money time at the restaurant.  Even when I wasn't working at Outback full time I always would come in and sell Gift Cards.  Every year we would make a list of things we like to do for the holidays.  (Great intentions)  But without fail we would but we get so wrapped up in work they never happen.  We work so hard during this time we forget to slow down and enjoy the season.  And before you know it... that season is gone. (Horrible Follow thru)     

Last year our tree went up on Christmas Eve.  Now I know that's ok for a couple but it hit me... we are no longer a couple. We are a family.  I don't want our kids to miss out on baking cookies, watching movies, caroling, or taking drives to see the christmas lights. 

From my earlier posts you might have seen I have a new addiction... Pinterest.  Well, today while I was bopping around looking at Holiday things I found my solution.  You could say that is when I saw the Christmas Light!  

I found this site The Petit Cadeau.  Here they have a whole segment on the Advent Calendar and all sorts of fun activities to do instead of the traditional  (and sibling frustrating) candy.  

Today marks the final 12 days to Christmas... so I figured I would start with 12 this year and see how well we do.  I picked out 12 (out of the 36 suggestions they provided) things that I would like to do as a family to get us in the holiday spirit.  Hopefully we can catch the spirit before work and the other stresses of life make the holiday season disappear.  

I printed out the pdf from The Petit Cadeau and picked my favorite 12.  Tonight I am going to go to pull out those gift tags that we haven't used in years and copy the ideas over.

I am not sure which one we are going to start with... I am kind of excited to share with Kevin our new tradition.  I hope he will be as excited as I am to experience the season with each passing day.

Here is the list of 12 that I picked for this year:  

1. Go for a drive to see the Christmas lights.
2. Bake Christmas cookies.
3. Random Act of Kindness.
4. Make an ornament or decoration.
5. Watch a special Christmas movie with treats.
6. Have breakfast in bed!
7. Write a letter to Santa.
8. Shop for New Christmas pyjamas.
9. Decorate the Christmas tree.
10. Let's go: Ice skating.
11. Turn off the lights in the house, light up the christmas tree, turn on Christmas music, sip hot chocolate, and just relax!
12. Have a picnic dinner in front of the tree.