here we go again!

i've done advent calendars the last two years for the girls, and last night (since december 1st is fast approaching!) thought it was about time to get ready for this years! 

hooray for husbands and last minute babysitters, because i had company!

this is photographic evidence of our complete lack of productivity. well, i will speak for myself. historically i somehow end up dreadfully behind when it comes to working alongside these two, and last night was no exception.

i think i got three words written all night.

my smart friends saved theirs from last year and recycled them: smart and environmental. i was wasteful and tossed mine, and who am i kidding? i like making new versions every year.

i managed to get most of mine written down...

next up? stamp the pile of envelopes i have with the dates 1-24...

and figure out a cute way to hang them in our house.

here are 2011 and 2010's versions, along with the list of our advent activities! there are some great diy advent calendars online, especially on pinterest. i think it's something great to incorporate into december whether you have kids or not! (oh happy day has a list that is less kid-centric) mine are usually fast to make (you could easily knock one out in 30 minutes to an hour), and easy to schedule into your month. of course you could make it much more elaborate if you wanted!

this year i added a few, including
* write a wish list for the upcoming year (experiential, not to acquire something. for example, "i want to learn how to go both ways on the monkey bars at school" or "make chocolate cake" or "learn to read" etc)
* have a "snowball" fight with balled up socks
* go to the nutcracker (m is doing this with matt's parents)
* help us decorate the tree! (we'll see how successful this is)

i feel like our biggest advent activity every year is the living nativity we have at our house with the kids acting out all of the roles. this is our third year doing it, and it is such a special (if completely chaotic) event.

finally, i try to make sure it's a doable list- as in, tiny moments that are already either part of our schedule or can easily be integrated so it doesn't become overwhelming. (i need that so i actually follow through on it!) i've found there is so much santa focus at this age, an aspect of christmas that we try to minimize, that it is nice to build small moments of counterpoint (to the santa and gift mania) each day. it makes the month feel more intentional and experience oriented rather than present based. it also is a good lesson in what the advent season is- a time of waiting!

i'll let you see the final product once i hang it on the first. any good, experiential advent activities i could add to my list?