activites advent calendar days 1-5

man, it has been a really long time since i've posted anything. i'm not really sure why, except that i feel a little like i don't have much to say. which does not make any sense because i have been crafting up a storm and usually love posting about things i've made. 

i still don't feel like writing a post. but i figure if i just do it then maybe i'll get myself out of this rut. 

anyway.

now i'm going to share about the activities advent calendar i whipped up. i went to Target (shocker) and bought 13 pairs of baby socks and attached them to a string with clothes pins. i love it. 

i also snagged some chocolate coins, chapstick, and pens from the dollar bin to put a little treat in each sock for the kids. i think i spend $26 total. not bad. and next year i won't have to buy the socks again so it will be even cheaper.

then i wrote out the scripture verses from the story of the birth of Jesus on 25 little strips of paper. i used this link found on Pinterest as guidance. then i mapped out 25 mostly free activities we could do each day that were Christmasy. it's been fun seeing the kids get excited to check in the socks each morning after breakfast for the treat, scripture, and activity of the day.

Day No.1} two Candy Cane Joe Joe's and milk for an afternoon snack. this is a seriously special treat because we don't really let the kids have too much sugar. (although, little a is a little candy crazy after Halloween. anytime you ask her anything her answer is: CANDY!)

Day No.2} snuggling up with a Christmas movie for our weekly Family Movie Night. 

we also got our tree on Friday! and it was no small feat. we went pretty early in the day to Home Depot so we could get it before Big A went to school. i was planning on putting the lights on while he was at school and little a was napping, then we could all decorate after school. little did i know that Home Depot would have mostly ugly and dead trees. so we went to two other tree lots and discovered beautiful and really expensive trees. boo. we decided to grab lunch and send the boy to school and try again when he got home. after calling our friends to see where they all went, none of them were really close by so we decided to go back to Home Depot and see if they would let us cut open some wrapped up ones in the back. when we got there they had put a whole new bunch out of really nice fresh looking trees.

Big A thought this little 3 footer would be the best fit for our house, but we couldn't all seem to agree....he does look cute and manly holding it up though!

we decided on a mammoth 7 footer that weighted about 150lbs!!!! dang. we had to man handle that thing to get it in the car... then once we got it home we had issues getting it to stand up straight. i think my husband threw out his back lifting it so i could readjust the stand. it's still a little crooked, but at this point we don't care. i will not allow anyone else to get injured. after letting it rest overnight we decorated Saturday morning. 

Day No.3} bundle up for the Old Town Clovis Christmas Parade. where we're from the thing to do is called December Nights in Balboa Park... and like 50,000 people or something stupid like that show up to this thing. we are ALWAYS miserable. we stopped going several years ago and avoid all parades due to the anxiety parking and crowds gives us. but this year, i thought we could try again, on a smaller scale. and i'm so glad we did! it was such a good experience. super mellow and stress free. i made Chicken Tortilla Soup and hot cocoa in thermoses, we layered like crazy, found a great parking spot, met our neighbors and saw like 5656867945 of our friends, then stood back and waved at all the marching bands and random businesses and churches in trucks singing caroles. my favorite was spotting a little boy no older than 9 riding what looked like Li'l Sebastian from Parks and Recreation! we LOVE that show and it made seeing a tiny horse that much more hilarious. 

Day No.4} make gingerbread people. after watching my awkward Holiday Martha video i wanted to make some amazing gingerbread people... but unfortunately my recipe turned out too gooey and i couldn't even get the dough off the parchment paper. we had fun mixing the dough, and i still used it to make drop cookies (which were awesome)... but i still want to try again. 

Day No.5} write out your Christmas wish list. 

little a's list says:

1. drawing princess (i have no idea what this is.)

2. crown

3. dress up jewelry

Big A's list says:

1. two face

2. christmas calendar

3. skeleton gloves (?)

4. stuffed animal

hmmm.... i think we have other plans. is that bad? 

there it is people. activities. Christmas style. 

i still don't feel like i want to post. grrr. i'll try to squash the blog Grinch soon so i can share with you the awesome Holiday infinity scarves, stockings, and bunting i made and how we decorated the house. 

maybe. 

tara