Advent is coming!

Okay, so Thanksgiving is still officially 8 days away, but I am SO looking forward to Advent! Please don't get me wrong, I love Thanksgiving. We'll be hosting my side of the family (and maybe my brother-in-law's family, too), eating lots of turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and the pumpkin cheesecake I make every year, sitting around with full bellies, and listening to all the kids run around making memories. I love it!

But, every year I really can't wait for the day AFTER Thanksgiving. And no, I do not do Black Friday shopping. For our family, the Friday after Thanksgiving is the beginning of Advent. True, Advent formally begins on Sunday, December 1st, this year. For us, though, everything Christmas will begin on Friday, November 29th! That's when all the decorations come out. It's when I start playing Christmas music non-stop (although we did start listening to the all-Christmas radio station in the car earlier this month... the kids requested it and I figured, why not? Life is short). Starting that day, my children watch Christmas movies every chance they get (though Rudolph has already been viewed twice this month by my 3 year old). It is also the day I mail my Christmas cards, unless it's super early in November. The fact that Thanksgiving is so late this year makes me long for Advent all the more! It seems like the season will be too short.

My children know that our Advent calendar will be on our dining room buffet, filled not with treats, but with little slips of paper. Every morning during Advent, they take turns opening the little doors and reading the exciting news. I try to mix it up so we don't do all the same activities every year, but there are some standards that they know they can always expect. The years that find Thanksgiving much earlier, have more activities... We just put the November days' papers behind a door on the calendar that I mark with the specific date.

Below is my list of planned activities for this Advent. Of course, one must be flexible (just as we need to be with the ABC summer activities). Things come up, kids get sick, etc. I have everything saved on my computer in case I need to reprint a day's slip. And I never put the slips in the calendar ahead of time. I don't want to tempt anyone (I'm not naming names, but I may be referring to my oldest...) to look ahead at future dates. ;) Please feel free to steal or borrow my ideas! That's the point of this blog! (Yes, I do end all of these notes to the children with exclamation points - they love it)! Hee hee.

Nov. 29th - 26 days until Christmas - Today we'll be decorating the entire house! Later this afternoon, we'll be shopping for our first ever REAL Christmas tree!
Nov. 30th - 25 days until Christmas - Tonight we are going to the Spirit of the Season Kick-off at the Science Center of Iowa and watching The Polar Express in the IMAX theatre!
Dec. 1st - 24 days until Christmas - Today we will start the daily family devotions we got at Sunday School and this afternoon we will visit The Festival of Trees & Lights!
Dec. 2nd - 23 days until Christmas - After school today we will make treats for our neighbors!
Dec. 3rd - 22 days until Christmas - This afternoon between piano and drum lessons, we will go to the fire station to see Santa and watch the tree lighting!
Dec. 4th - 21 days until Christmas - Tonight we will watch the Rockefeller Tree Lighting on TV! (Note: this one is always extra special because our children are not usually allowed to watch TV after 5:30 on a school night)
Dec. 5th - 20 days until Christmas - Today we will deliver treats to our neighbors after school!
Dec. 6th - 19 days until Christmas - This afternoon we will make treats for Aunt Cindy's annual cookie party and make a few gingerbread boys & girls to keep here!
Dec. 7th - 18 days until Christmas - This morning is the dress rehearsal for the Christmas program and then we'll go to Aunt Cindy's for her annual cookie party!
Dec. 8th - 17 days until Christmas - Today is your Sunday School Christmas program at 2:00. Then we'll go to the uptown church for the Advent Festival and the family pizza dinner!
Dec. 9th - 16 days until Christmas - This afternoon we'll make treats for your teachers and then we'll go help set up the MOPS toy giveaway!
Dec. 10th - 15 days until Christmas - Today you will take the treats to your teachers and tonight is the MOPS toy giveaway!
Dec. 11th - 14 days until Christmas - Tonight we will drive through Jolly Holiday Lights!
Dec. 12th - 13 days until Christmas - Today after school we'll read a bunch of Christmas books and then it's Wendy's Night! (for those of you not in our school district, Wendy's Night is a school fundraiser)
Dec. 13th - 12 days until Christmas - Tonight we are going to watch a Christmas movie! (movie TBD... I think they've seen nearly every one there is...)
Dec. 14th - 11 days until Christmas - Today we will get out a new Christmas puzzle to work on over break!
Dec. 15th - 10 days until Christmas - We are going to make treats for tomorrow's Clover Kids/4-H cookie exchange and we'll call Nana to wish her a happy birthday!
Dec. 16th - 9 days until Christmas - This morning B & I will wrap some gifts and tonight is the Clover Kids/4-H caroling and cookie exchange!
Dec. 17th - 8 days until Christmas - After school today we'll play Christmas trivia and bingo!
Dec. 18th - 7 days until Christmas - Today you'll take your teachers their gifts and after school we'll each make an ornament for our trees!
Dec. 19th - 6 days until Christmas - This morning B gets to ride with a friend on the train at the mall and after school we'll all enjoy hot chocolate!
Dec. 20th - 5 days until Christmas - Today are the winter parties at school and we will wrap more gifts after school!
Dec. 21st - 4 days until Christmas - Tonight we will drive around town in our PJs looking at Christmas lights!
Dec. 22nd - 3 days until Christmas - If there is snow today, we will sled and build snowmen! (if not, there will be a Plan B still TBD...)
Dec. 23rd - 2 days until Christmas - Today we are going to see Frozen and enjoy some Christmas M&Ms in our popcorn!
Dec. 24th - 1 day until Christmas - Today we'll make cookies for Santa, read Twas the Night Before Christmas, and go to the Christmas Eve service at church!

Other ideas we've used in the past: ice skating, snow tubing, take treats or serve a meal at Trinity UMC, watch the National Tree Lighting, take toys to the fire station for Toys for Tots, make Christmas-y crafts (Santa beards, snowflakes, pretzel/gumdrop trees, etc.), visit big light displays like the one that used to be outside Pella or the one near Vinton, see Santa at the zoo, shop for an adopt-a-family, make snowman pancakes, etc. I'm sure you can think of many more!

It gets me so excited to get that all planned! Bring on the snow!

P.S. For those very few of you who follow this blog, my plan to "better" myself before Christmas is going pretty well. The first week was wonderful - time set aside to practice yoga for 7 straight days. Last week I drank well over half my body weight in ounces of water daily (I'm attempting to continue that one). This week I'm trying to cut back on the sugar. It's going okay, but I can do better. I'll really have to watch myself at MOPS this Friday as there are always so many yummy things to eat there! ;)

*For those new to my blog, check out the beginnings of ABC Summers here.*

Becoming a better me...

I've decided to spend these last few weeks leading up to Christmas attempting to better myself. I'm talking an all-out improvement of mind, body, & spirit. The last year has been a roller coaster of hopes and disappointments surrounding my husband's career. There is still a possibility that we will have to pick up our family and move to a larger city, but we are praying (selfishly, we admit) that we'll get to stay here in IA. Anyway, all of this stress has taken a toll on me physically, mentally, and emotionally. Though we still don't have any definite answers, I am needing to take control somehow. So, this is my plan.

Week of Nov. 4th (I did start this rather impulsively yesterday): Release tension, regain flexibility, and reduce physical stress. Sounds like a big goal, but for me it's really all about yoga. As a former yoga instructor, there have been times in the last decade that I spent anywhere from one hour to 8 hours a day (during trainings) practicing yoga. During those years, I rarely carried any stress in my neck or shoulders, and it was so easy for me to relax my body even during tense situations. I chose to stop teaching yoga last spring, and I have since spent more time doing strength training and cardio. That's all well and good, but my back, neck, and shoulders are paying the price. This week, I am dedicating time every day to yoga. I will still run too, but the yoga will be a bigger priority. I aim to let go of the tension in my neck and stand taller by the end of the week.

Week of Nov. 11th: Drink tons of water. Okay, maybe not tons, but I will drink at least half my body weight in water every day. I will start my day with 8 oz. of water with a drop of lemon essential oil in it. This helps to curb any non-healthy cravings I tend to have throughout the day. I have a 20 oz. glass water bottle that I'll attempt to fill and empty several times each day. I have already eliminated most pop from my diet, so I'll be fine drinking only water. I think I will allow myself one mocha sometime that week, as I realized for the first time in my life on our recent trip to WA that I do, in fact, like mocha. A lot. 

Week of Nov. 18th: Reduce sugar intake. You may recall reading a post a while back about how I was buying less sugary products for our family. That is still true. It's also true that when there is Halloween candy in our house, I have a difficult time resisting it. And when my husband picks up caramel dip along with our weekly purchase of Honeycrisp apples, I cannot resist that either. Frankly, I still have a huge sweet tooth. I really want to work on that so I can be a better role model for our children. Of course, I tend to save my sweets for when the kiddos are in bed, so they usually don't see me partaking in them, but still...

Week of Nov. 25th: Focus on gratitude. I know many people do this all through the month of November. I admit that even I participated in the "30 days of thankfulness" posts on Facebook a couple years ago. This year, I was thrilled to find this idea in our church's children's ministry newsletter. This is supposed to start a week before Thanksgiving, but we are going to do it Thanksgiving week instead. Each day, the family will take turns at dinner naming one of the following:

1. One gift you've received this year that you're thankful for.
2. Two things you've learned about God this year that have changed your life.
3. Three things you're thankful for about our family's faith.
4. Four things you're thankful for about our family.
5. Five experiences our family had this year that made you happy.
6. Six things in creation you couldn't live without.
7. Seven people outside our family who blessed you somehow.         

Week of Dec. 2nd: Begin a daily Bible reading. I used to be so good at staying in The Word daily. There were three or four years that I followed a calendar that had an Old Testament and New Testament reading for each day, so that by the end of the year, I had read through the entire Bible. I've also take a Disciple Bible study that read through the majority of the Bible. However, in the last year, the only time I've spent studying God's Word is with my children. Don't get me wrong, that has been great! It is a special time we have before I tuck them in at night. My daughter is still reading her Kindergarten Bible to me; she'll be done with it by the end of the year and I'll have to find her a good devotional. My son and I have been reading his 3rd grade Bible together since he received it in church last year. We read through one OT book, then one NT book, and then keep alternating. We're almost finished with Leviticus and I'm looking forward to getting into Luke during Advent. There are awesome little side notes in his Bible that have helped us both to understand Biblical times better. But, I still need to be doing my own study. I need quiet time with God. Getting started on this during Advent will help me to feel the peace and joy of the season. Also, our church gives out wonderful Advent devotionals that our family reads every day beginning on the 1st Sunday of Advent. This year's even includes some activities for the family to do together.

Week of Dec. 9th: Catch up on my writings to my children.  I began writing in a journal to my firstborn before he was even conceived. Every year, I have written to him in the journal around his birthday (and sometimes half birthdays). I began journals for my younger two when I was pregnant with them and have kept them current as well. That is, until this year. My oldest turned 10 in September and I have yet to update his journal. I can't even remember if I wrote in the other two back in March when they turned 3 and 6. This is weighing on my ever-tired, but crazy-with-consistency mind. During this week, I will catch up on their journals. I will also go through their baby books and school year books to make sure everything is filled in. I'm pretty sure there are some blank pages towards the back of my youngest's baby book...

Week of Dec. 16th: Write to friends with whom I have inadvertently lost touch. Sadly, I'm sure I am not the only one who just gets busy and falls out of favor with certain friends. Sometimes distance plays a role in this happening; sometimes it's just my own laziness. I know of several people I will be reaching out to during this week. I pray that they'll forgive me for not always being a good friend. I want them to know that I spend great amounts of time thinking about and praying for them even when it is not obvious.

That will take me up to the week of Christmas. I'm hoping by then that by spending a three weeks on my body, two weeks on my spirit (which will continue on indefinitely), and two weeks on my mind, I will be feeling refreshed and ready for the holiday. Actually, I plan to continue the yoga, water-drinking, less sugar-eating, AND daily readings indefinitely. If you would like to take this journey with me, please do so! If you have other suggestions for any of these areas of improvement, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

P.S. I did get pictures at our 90s themed murder mystery:

It was all that and a bag of chips! ;)

P.S.S. I also spend time before Advent planning something Christmas-y to do with the kids each day. Once I have our fun things all laid out, I'll post those for you too!

*For those new to my blog, check out the beginnings of ABC Summers here.*