Countdown to Christmas

Before Kira was born, I bought a unique alternative to an advent calendar.  Instead of a calendar with drawers or windows you open,  this one is a string of hats and mittens that are numbered 1-24.  I didn't feel like I could use it the past two years because Kira was too little, so I was excited to finally open it this year.  My original idea was to fill the hats and mittens with little treats but I read an article in a magazine that inspired me to put a different twist on it.  Each mitten or hat will hold a piece of paper that tells Kira about a special activity we will do together that day as a family.  Some of the things will be fun activities like decorating a gingerbread house and visiting Santa at the mall, some activities will be service oriented where we will do nice things for our neighbors, and other activities will focus on the real reason we celebrate Christmas.

[caption id="attachment_2025" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Hasn't grasped the concept yet, but likes how they look!"][/caption]

For the first day of December, we decorated our Christmas tree and introduced Kira to a tradition from my childhood.  When I was growing up we always went to our elderly neighbors' house to help them decorate their tree and they always watched the movie, "White Christmas" while we worked.  After they passed away, I was the only one in our family that fought to keep that tradition alive.  I am definitely the most sentimental person in my family!

Kira had fun playing with the beads and exploring all of the ornaments as I pulled them out of the box.  As I expected, there were many parts of the movie that didn't hold her interest, but I was excited to see that she liked my favorite part (the "Sisters" song) and she even tried to dance like some of the women during the fast songs.

[caption id="attachment_2029" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="These are Fun!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2027" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption=""Sisters""][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2030" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="Finished Product"][/caption]