Advent Activity Calendar

This year I am trying a new tradition, celebrating the season with a simple Christmas activity each day. I'm hoping these activities will be an opportunity for my family to STOP and enjoy each other and reflect on what this season is really about...the birth of our Lord and Savior.

I created a calendar of activities and made sure that the activity of the day fit into our schedule. For example I didn't plan on baking Christmas cookies on a school night after dance class. I want to enjoy this time!

Here is my list. I cut them into strips and placed one in each door of this great advent calendar my husband's Aunt gave us for Christmas last year.


1st Tuesday ~ Make Christmas tree ornaments
2nd Wednesday ~ Make Christmas train
3rd Thursday ~ Sing a Christmas carol
4th Friday ~ Make a popcorn chain
5th Saturday ~ Cut down Christmas tree, decorate & listen to Christmas music.
6th Sunday ~ St. Nicolas Day write a letter to Santa
7th Monday ~ Do a secret act of kindness
8th Tuesday ~ Read a Christmas story
9th Wednesday ~ Buy gift for Giving Tree
10th Thursday ~ Watch Grace in her Christmas program
11th Friday ~ Make Christmas gifts
12th Saturday ~ Take a drive at night and look at Christmas lights
13th Sunday ~ Bake Christmas cookies
14th Monday ~ Read the story of Jesus’ birth from Luke
15th Tuesday ~ Learn a Christmas poem
16th Wednesday ~ Watch a Charlie Brown Christmas
17th Thursday ~ Read a Christmas story
18th Friday ~ Build a ginger bread house
19th Saturday ~ Celebrate Christmas with extended family
20th Sunday ~ Go see the Nutcracker Ballet
21st Monday ~ Donate gently used stuff animals to hospital emergency room
22nd Tuesday ~ Learn new Danish tradition
23rd Wednesday ~ Bake Jesus a birthday cake
24th Thursday ~ Attend Christmas Eve service
25th Friday ~ Christmas Day! Honor Christ with prayer and thanksgiving

Black and White Dance Pictures

Each Fall the girls' dance studio takes black and white photos and they are awesome! Here are my favorites. :-)

Jilian started in a Leap and Learn class but she was getting board. The teacher suggested a class with three-year-olds that is half tap and half ballet, she LOVES it!






Grace is taking ballet and LOVES it! It is SO exciting for me (I danced growing up) to see her dance and enjoy it.

3 Things

I Copied this from Sarah's blog.

THREE NAMES I GO BY
1. Sarah
2. Mom
3. Honey

THREE JOBS I HAVE HAD IN MY LIFE
1. Wed designer
2. Preschool director
3. Mom

THREE PLACES I HAVE LIVED
1. Santa Rosa, California
2. Gardnerville, Nevada
3. Newberg, Oregon

THREE TV SHOWS THAT I WATCH (we don't have cable)

1. Gilmore Girls (before it was cancelled) :(
2. The Vampire Diaries (we watch it online)
3. LOST (sometimes)

THREE PLACES I HAVE BEEN
1. New York City
2. Boston
3. New Zealand

THREE PLACES I WANT TO GO
1. Ireland
2. On a cruise
3. Denmark

THREE OF MY FAVORITE FOOD
1. Sushi
2. Indian food
3. Salad

THREE THINGS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO
1. Christmas
2. Getting by next tattoo :-)
3. My best friend's (from high school) wedding

THREE ANIMALS I HAVE BEEN FRIENDS WITH
1. Tulip (my daughter's bunny)
2. Nate (my childhood dog, a Black Lab)
3. Nehemiah (our family dog, black Cocker Spaniel)

THREE THINGS I AM REALLY SCARED OF
1. Watching my kids die before me
2. Death
3. Failure

THREE FAVORITE BOOKS
1. The Bible
2. The Twilight Series
3. Passionate Housewives Desperate for God

THREE FAVORITE BANDS/SINGERS
1. Jennifer Knapps
2. Pink Floyd
3. U2

THREE FAVORITE MOVIES
1. Pride and Prejudice
2. Emma
3. How to Make an American Quilt

THREE FAVORITE DRINKS
1. Water with lemon
2. Ice tea
3. Nonfat Latte

THREE THINGS I FIND MOST ATTRACTIVE IN A GUY
1. Spirituality
2. Sense of humor
3. Honesty

THREE THINGS I COULDN'T LIVE WITHOUT
1. My relationship with Christ
2. My family
3. My friends

Scrapbooking Thanksgiving

I LOVE to scrapbook, it is my favorite hobby, it is my happy place! :-) But I seem to never scrapbook Thanksgiving. I think I have literally done two layouts for Thanksgiving. I don't seem to take many pictures because I'm not sure what to take pictures of. This year I am trying to focus more on this holiday and be Thankful for my blessings. I've come across some ideas of what to photograph (and scrapbook) on Thanksgiving, I thought I would share.

5 Things to Scrapbook for Thanksgiving

1. Create a layout about your favorite dish of the Thanksgiving meal, you could even include the recipe.
   
2. Have each person present write on paper what they are thankful for and snap a photo of them holding their paper (I've already warned the family we WILL be doing this one!)
   
3. Take pictures of meal prep and create a layout
   
4. Create a layout about your Thanksgiving traditions
   
5. Take a group picture of family and friends, create a layout and journal about the day or how each person pictured is a blessing to you/your family.
   

I'm excited to do some of these, now I just have to remember to take the pictures!

Vintage Thingies Thursday

Here I am again sharing for Vintage Thingies Thursday over at Colorado Lady's. This time I decided to share a set of blue and white trivets that I was given from my mom, they were originally my great-grand mother's. Since I love the blue and white combination, which is common amongst the Danish, my mom passed them on to me. I never use them as I would hate to break them so they hang on my kitchen wall (the two rectangle ones).





Taking this picture of the markings on the back inspired me to do a quick search online. I discovered that Villeroy and Boch was (is) a company from Dresden, Germany and that items with this marking were made between 1874-1909. Pretty cool!

Halloween Pictures

These are a little late, Jilian and I ended up getting sick right before and right after Halloween. We are all better now but I kind of lost my blogging groove, but I'm back!


Grace the Rose Flower Fairy


Grace trick or treating at a scray house...


Jilian the Sweet Pea Flower Fairy


Jilian trick or treating with daddy. She LOVED it! It was the first time she understood that she was getting CANDY! :-)


Me and my girls...I was Mother Nature


My family along with my sister's family and our mom