Christmas Book Countdown

This year I decided on November 30th to do a Christmas countdown and Advent Activities! I know a little late, but better late than never, right?! I searched all my favorite blogs for ideas and came up with a ton of ideas all swirling in my brain! To be real honest I was overwhelmed. I wanted to do it all! They were all so creative and wonderful, but one theme that keeps ringing true for me as a mama to 3 now is: simplicity! I wanted to do so many ideas all at once and then I read an awesome blog post by Shauna at Fantastic Fun and Learning that resonated so much with my head and my heart. She encouraged me to keep it simple and manageable. She even encouraged me to use the activities that I already have planned as part of our Advent activities and to use my calendar to help. It was awesome and just what I needed to read at that exact moment! So I grabbed the December calendar from JP's preschool and planned away! I incorporated what we are already doing as our Advent activities. I loved all of her ideas to keep it simple! You can click on the link to hop over to her blog post to read what inspired me!

Some of the activities on our calendar are:
M &M Wreath
Sing Christmas Carols
Attend a Fun Reindeer Parent's Night Out at our church
Make Green playdoh
Make Christmas Tree Shapes
Make Christmas cards for friends and neighbors
Make Christmas cookies
Host a Happy Birthday Jesus party
Play Nativity Memory Together
Drive around and look at Christmas lights
Have breakfast with Santa at JP's preschool
Attend our church Christmas Eve service

I also found an awesome idea to read Christmas books daily as a countdown at Reading Confetti. Thank you, Lorie for the inspiration! I loved this idea and decided I could do this one! So I gathered all the books I own from my teaching days and then went to my local library's website and put a ton of books on hold! I LOVE our library! The boys have loved reading a new book each night!

We were so blessed to have my parents join us for JP's Preschool Program and then dinner at our house this week. I took this precious opportunity to allow them to read the 18th book in our countdown! I loved it! What sweet memories my boys will have with their grandparents!

Overall I want my boys to know the real meaning of CHRISTmas and so as we do so many of the fun activities I have planned I hope to continue to show them Jesus.

Happy Countdown to Christ's birthday, my friends!

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