Expected Stockings

I just finished watching the kids playing with their Christmas stockings. They kept filling the stockings up with their toys from the toy box. Then they would leave the room for a second and run back into the room acting like it was Christmas morning. As they opened their stockings they found the exact toys they had placed inside just moments before. But shouts of "ooh!" and "aah!" and "Oh! It's just what I wanted!" filled the room. They couldn't have been happier.

It made me think. (I started to feel a "TEACH" moment coming on.) So often, we put together our own "stockings" of all the things we think we need to be happy - our wish list, some might call it. We tell others about it. If we are feeling spiritual, we might even pray about it. But even our prayers come across more like a wish list we are sending to Santa in the North Pole. We hang up our stockings and leave the room. When we come back in to check the stocking, we often find it full of exactly what we expected. We pat ourselves on the back and act all excited. We shout an occasional "ooh!" or "aah!" But, all in all, we take credit for getting exactly what we wanted. After all, we put our stockings together, didn't we?

But every once in a while, a rock gets thrown into our little game. What if we leave the room and come back to find a lump of coal in our stocking? That is usually not something we expected. Then what about our response? Sometimes we get mad. Sometimes we cry. Sometimes we blame "Santa." We might even think we've been put on the naughty list. Do we ever take our lump of coal with gratitude and thankfulness? Rarely, if ever.

This is where I start to feel sheepish. It sounds so childish and immature, but I reacted this way just two weeks ago. I had asked for one thing from my husband for Christmas. I wanted a DVD burner for our computer. I wanted to burn DVDs of all our videos and pictures. Then two weeks ago, I woke up to a fried computer. Gone. Kaput. Even the Geek Squad couldn't fix it. I thought I had been given a lump of coal. Not only did I not get the DVD burner, but now all those videos and pictures I desperately wanted to save were presumably lost.

You want to know my response? Yep. You guessed it -- anger, frustration and tears. Lots of tears. (In fact, I hope the parking lot of Geek Squad is not video monitored, because I made a fool of myself crying in my car the day I got the bad news.) Oh sure, I offered the occasional "God is still in control" line when talking about it, but deep down I was frustrated at my lump of coal.

Little did I know my lump of coal would turn out to be a diamond. You see, my Lord knew what he was doing. He took my old computer, but He opened the door for a new and improved computer. He even surprised me with the money to purchase it. He allowed the Geeks to find almost all my videos and pictures and now they are imported and organized quicker and easier than I could have ever imagined. I've already burned a few DVDs. I am sitting in front of my lump of coal right now and it even took this picture:

Oh how my stocking runneth over!

Blessings in disguise.

Lumps of coal that turn into diamonds.

Now may I only learn my lesson for good this time. May I never respond with anger, frustration or tears when my stocking is filled with something other than the expected. May I quickly respond to even the lump of coal with gratitude and thankfulness, no matter what. Even if it never turns into a diamond. God is Good...All the Time...

ABC's of a Computerless few weeks

I am without a computer. Ours crashed over a week ago and we are currently in the shopping phase of finding a new one. There have been a few "teach and tickle" moments over the past week or so. I have organized them into the ABC's of the past few weeks.

A - Absurd. It is Absurd how many times during the day that I think about getting on the computer...but can't.

B - Brussels sprouts. Hannah has decided they are her favorite vegetable. Hannah is weird. Mimi made them for us a while back and Hannah ate 4 helpings. So last time we went to the grocery store I asked Hannah if she wanted me to get brussels sprouts. She shouted "YES! Get BRUSSELS SPROUTS mommy! I LOVE brussels sprouts!" I resisted the urge to ask her who she was and what she had done with my real daughter. Instead, I checked to see if anyone around me heard because I was pretty sure they would give me the "best mom of the year" award for her little outburst of excitement over brussels sprouts.

C - Cancellations. School was cancelled due to the layer of ice that fell over northeast Oklahoma.

D - Dirt Cheap. Computers are the opposite of Dirt Cheap. I know. I have been shopping for one.

E - Energy. The kids have a lot of it (especially when they are cooped up in the house all day due to the ice).

F - Funny. I just asked Hannah for a word that starts with "F" and she said "Alligator." Funny.

G - God is good. All the time. Computer or no computer.

H - Hip Hip Hooray! Christmas is almost here!

I - iEnvy. It is totally back. My husband's iPhone is the only access I have to the outside world right now. I have a serious case of iEnvy.

J - Jesus. When I told Jonah our computer had crashed, he quickly noticed my sadness. Then he responded with, "it's okay Mom. We've still got the birth of Jesus and that is the most important thing." (You gotta love that boy!)

K - Kill me. The things my kids say kill me sometimes. Especially that last one. It tickled.

L - Lost. 4 years of my life...lost. Maybe. They tell me I might be able to pull my pictures, videos and music off the old computer, but I will believe that when I see it.

M - My Man. He still rocks.

N - News. I am COMPLETELY out of the loop. No computer for me equals no news. For example, I had no idea that President Bush got a shoe thrown at him until yesterday.

O - Out of time. Sorry. My ABC's must end here. I'm on borrowed time at Joey's office and it is time for me to go pick up Jonah from school.

Cousin Christmas

We got together with all the cousins today to let the kids dress up and act out the Christmas story. This was the result. Hope you enjoy! (I am considering this video the second installment of our Super Fun Crazy Family Videos that I started a few weeks ago. Click HERE to see the first video in the installment)

Our Christmas ADVENTure

Advent is celebrated in many different ways. Our church does the traditional Advent readings and lighting of candles the four Sundays leading up to Christmas. The word Advent comes from the Latin word that means "coming." One could easily celebrate Advent in a number of different ways as they wait for the coming of the celebration of Christ's birth.

Last year I started an Advent tradition with our family. I thought I was pretty creative until I realized that there are about a thousand variations on what I had planned. In fact, this year I have heard and read of even more variations on Advent possibilities. I realized my creativity is not actually that creative. Ecclesiastes 1:9 came to mind. ("What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.") Regardless of how many other people do similar things, I still feel like what I created for our household last year was a great idea and I plan on keeping it up every year.

This is what I did last year: I bought a little house with 25 doors on it. I bought ornaments that would fit inside those doors. I thought of verses that could go along with those ornaments. Then finally, I came up with a fun or creative "mission" for each day that went along with both the ornament and verse. Some days require more explaining than others. Each day that we open a door, we spend a great deal of time talking about the verses we read and how it ties in with our "mission" for that day. It was a big success with the kids last year. Each year, I will tweak it a bit for that year. This year is very similar to last year, but I did change things up a bit and I bought a few more ornaments.

So here it is. Our Family Christmas ADVENTure for 2008

Monday, Dec 1st
Ornament- baby Jesus and cross (two ornaments)
Verses - Colossians 1:15-20 (in him all things hold together...)
Mission - write a letter to Jesus
(Notes: I wanted the kids to start the season realizing the awesomeness of what we celebrate when we celebrate Jesus' birth. The purpose of his birth was so that he could someday die for us. The verses I chose in Colossians talks about Jesus being the image of the invisible God, the firstborn and the one who holds all things together. Then the end talks about how God was pleased to make peace with us by shedding Jesus' blood on the cross ~ hence the reason I chose two ornaments for day one.)

Tuesday, Dec 2nd
Ornament - Christmas tree lights
Verses - Matt 5:14-16 (let your light shine before men...)
Mission - go to Rhema and walk through the light display
(Notes: we talked to the kids about how they can "let their lights shine before men.")

Wednesday, Dec 3rd
Ornament - heart
Verse - Psalm 119:11 (I have hidden your word in my heart...)
Mission - memorize your AWANA verses for tonight

Thursday, Dec 4th
Ornament - Joy
Verse - Psalm 170:22b (tell of his works with songs of joy)
Mission - be joyful as you sing in the school Christmas program tonight

Friday, Dec 5th
Ornament - Peace
Verse - Matt 5:9 (blessed are the peacemakers...)
Mission - be a peacemaker at school and with your cousins today

Saturday, Dec 6th
Ornament - Noel
Verse - Matt 2:1-12
Mission - watch "The Very First Noel" movie
(Note: The Very First Noel is just about the cutest cartoon version of the Christmas story I have ever seen.)

Sunday, Dec 7th
Ornament - sheep
Verse - Psalm 100:3
Mission - play the shepherding game
(Note: we talk to the kids about being God's sheep. The "shepherding game" is a game where you blow cotton balls ("sheep") into a sheep pen using straws.)

Monday, Dec 8th
Ornament - paints
Verse- Romans 6:23
Mission - read the "wordless book" (colors only) and paint a picture using those colors

Tuesday, Dec 9th
Ornament - suckers
Verse - Psalm 34:8 and Psalm 119:103
Mission - talk about God's "sweet" word and go to a candy store (or help mom bake cookies to give away)

Wednesday, Dec 10th
Ornament - trumpet and french horn
Verse- Psalm 150:3 (praise him with trumpet...)
Mission - listen to praise music and play along with your instruments

Thursday - Dec 11th
Ornament - wise men
Verse - Matt 2:9-11
Mission - think of a gift you can give Jesus this year (write it down and wrap it up in a box)

Friday, Dec 12th
Ornament - airplane
Verse - Mark 16:15 (go into all the world...)
Mission - look at a map and talk about the parts of the world where people don't know about Jesus - 10/40 window

Saturday, Dec 13th
Ornament - Mary, Joseph and Angel
Verses - Luke 2:1-20
Mission - act out the Christmas story with your cousins in costume today

Sunday, Dec 14th
Ornament- harp and violin
Verse- Psalm 150:4
Mission - sit near the orchestra at the Christmas program tonight, listen as they play to God

Monday, Dec 15th
Ornament - books
Verse - I Chronicles 16:8-12
Mission - start a family "Thankfulness" book and begin recording all the things you are thankful for
(Note: I stole this idea from my friend Amy. See her blog here.)

Tuesday, Dec 16th
Ornament - plates and silverware
Verses - Ephesians 6:7-8 (serve wholeheartedly...)
Mission - help mom set a fancy table for dinner tonight and practice "serving" by cleaning the dishes after dinner

Wednesday, Dec 17th
Ornament - hands
Verse- Psalm 24:4-5
Mission - wash hands with Christmas soap and talk about having a clean heart

Thursday, Dec 18th
Ornament - train
Verse - Proverbs 22:6 (Train up a child...)
Mission - go ride the Christmas Train at Dry Gulch, USA

Friday, Dec 19th
Ornament - Love
Verses - I John 4:7-12
Mission - tell people you love them today and show them by giving hugs and handing out gifts to your teachers at school

Saturday, Dec 20th
Ornament - tools
Verse - Psalm 127:1 (unless the Lord builds the house...)
Mission - build something together as a family

Sunday, Dec 21st
Ornament - hope
Verse - Romans 15:4
Mission - talk about how the Bible gives us hope and take your Bible to church today.

Monday, Dec 22nd
Ornament - Believe
Verse - Romans 10:9
Mission - recall salvation and belief without sight then watch The Polar Express

Tuesday, Dec 23rd
Ornament - heart
Verse - Deut 15:10 (give generously from the heart...)
Mission - wrap presents for others

Wednesday, Dec 24th
Ornament - star
Verse - Matt 2:1-2
Mission - make stars with glitter and paper and talk about the star of Bethlehem

Thursday, Dec 25th
Ornament - angel tree topper
Verse - Luke 2:8-14
Mission - sing like the angels today as you celebrate Jesus' birth

I don't have pictures of this year yet, but check out last year HERE to see photos.

Teach and Tickle MUSIC Year in Review (2008)

I thought it would be fun to look back over the year and burn a CD of some of the music I have mentioned or used in my posts over the past year. Timely, due to the fact that 1) it is the end of the year and 2) the husband and I are taking a quick (kid free!) road trip this weekend. All of these songs happen to be some of my very favorite songs. If I can convince Joey to turn off the Christmas music for a few minutes (which, by the way, has been playing non-stop at our house since...well, October---husband loves Christmas music), we might actually be able to listen to this CD once or twice on our road trip this weekend. (Boy, the incorrect grammar in that last sentence makes me want to change it...but I have to pack for a trip.) :)

So. Here goes...

THE 2008 TEACH AND TICKLE

MUSICAL YEAR IN REVIEW

.

JANUARY

Okay, so this is lame. I looked back over my January posts and could not find a single mention of a song. SO...I decided to start the year off with my favorite song mentioned in a post in 2007. Starting the day with this song seems to put my heart in the right place and my day on the right path. Starting my "Year in Review" CD with this song will do the same.

SONG: O Praise Him

ARTIST: David Crowder Band

ALBUM: Best of Passion

Click HERE to see the post (with the video)

.

FEBRUARY

In Feb 2008, I recorded a video of the kids dancing with our new Flip video. It was my first attempt at putting together a video and adding music to the background. I chose one of my favorite songs from Alison Kraus.

SONG: Evermore

ARTIST: Alison Kraus

ALBUM: Dog Train

Click HERE to see the post

.

MARCH

The song I chose for March is one that I mentioned as one of Jonah's favorite songs in the post linked to below. He calls it the "Falling" song.

SONG: I've Just Seen A Face

Artist: Jim Sturgess

Album: Across the Universe Soundtrack

Click HERE to see the post where this song is mentioned

.

APRIL

Looking back over the posts I wrote for the month of April, I didn't find any mention of a song. So...I decided to share a song that fits about this time in my life. You see, I decided around April of this past year that I would not be able to continue doing Jazzercise much longer. I loved doing Jazzercise, but the cost each month was a bit high when compared to the number of times that I was actually able to go exercise. Even today, when I hear one of the songs I used to dance to while walking in a store or some other place, I am VERY tempted to break out into my Jazzercise dance that goes along with that song. (Don't worry, I don't do it.) When I left, however, I had one very favorite song that I loved doing Jazzercise to. I will share it with you as my APRIL selection.

SONG: Here (In Your Arms)

ARTIST: Hellogoodbye

ALBUM: Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!

Click HERE to see an old post from 2007 where I talked about Jazzercise

.

MAY

May was the month that we found out our pastor at church would be leaving. He had taken a position at a church in Michigan. The song I mentioned in the post I wrote as a tribute to him has nothing to do with him, it just happened to be my favorite song on Sufjan Stevens MICHIGAN album.

SONG: For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti

ARTIST: Sufjan Stevens

ALBUM: Michigan

Click HERE to read the post in which this song is mentioned

.

JUNE

This past June, Joey and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary. We take pictures holding up fingers for the number of years we have been married each year and I put together a video of our "numbered" days. This song is one of my favorites from Iron and Wine

SONG: Passing Afternoon

ARTIST: Iron and Wine

ALBUM: Our Endless Numbered Days

Click HERE to see the post and see a link to watch our "Endless Numbered Days" Video

.

JULY

July was (I think), the month we found out that my father-in-law's movie, Treasure Blind, would be purchased and distributed. It looks like it will have a Feb 2009 release date (yippee!). It will be distributed by the same people who distributed the Left Behind movies. Anyway, I chose a song from the movie that has also become one of my favorites.

SONG: 2 Dollar Shoes

ARTIST: Rosie Thomas

ALBUM: When We Were Small

Click HERE to see the trailer for the movie (which may change again before distribution, I don't know)

.

AUGUST

August. Who could forget August. The month my little boy started his first day of Kindergarten. I made a video of footage of his drop-off and combined it with pictures of his growing up years. I still cry every time I see that video. The song I chose for the background of the video is the song I chose for the month of August.

SONG: The Call

ARTIST: Regina Spektor

ALBUM: Prince Caspian (Narnia) Soundtrack

Click HERE to see the post and video of Jonah's first day of school

.

SEPTEMBER

September was a reflective month when I got down for some reason and I needed the Lord to pull me up. He did so with this song.

SONG: God of This City

ARTIST: Chris Tomlin

ALBUM: God of This City

Click HERE to read about the God of MY City

.

OCTOBER

I don't believe I mentioned any songs in my October posts. But the song I chose for October is a song I know that the kids and I listened to a lot that month. They called it the "Alligator Song" for a while. Hey, any song that does not come from a Children's CD and grabs my kids attention, I am all for it. This one also taught my kids that Abraham Lincoln was the great emancipator. There you go. This song wins the prize for October.

SONG: Decator

ARTIST: Sufjan Stevens

ALBUM: Come On Feel the Illinoise

Click HERE to see random posts from October

.

NOVEMBER

Joey downloaded my November choice for a song during the month of November. (Does that count?) Anyway, I didn't really mention any songs in my November posts, so I get to pick this month. Ben Folds won my attention with his song, The Luckiest, a few years back. Come to think of it, I remember that being a favorite song from another road trip the husband and I took about 6 years ago. But that is not the song for this year. It is a different Ben Folds song. (Note: Ben Folds has a great voice, but a potty mouth at times. I have to turn the volume down during the one cuss word he says in this song. Ugh.)

SONG: You Don't Know Me

ARTIST: Ben Folds (with Regina Spektor)

ALBUM: Way to Normal

Click HERE to read my favorite November post (that has nothing to do with the song)

.

DECEMBER

Naturally, December's song must be a Christmas song. My favorite new Christmas song this year is from Rosie's new Christmas album. My very talented brother-in-law actually wrote it too, so that makes it extra special. (HEY! Follow the link on the song title and you can download it for free from Amazon! Awesome!)

SONG: Why Can't It Be Christmastime All Year

ARTIST: Rosie Thomas

ALBUM: A Very Rosie Christmas

Click HERE to see the post about my excitement about the release of this album

.

Well, there you have it. I thought about putting one of those music player things on my sidebar with each of these songs on the songlist, but I haven't figured out how to do that and (again), I have a road trip to pack for. I did, however, link each of the song titles to the amazon site which allows you to hear a sample of the song.

The Beginning of Advent

I just finished planning out our 25 days of Advent for this year. I will eventually post them, but it is 11:04 p.m. right now and I am too tired to type it all out.

However, I do want to share how the first days have gone so far.

In case you are wondering, our Advent revolves around an Advent House with 25 doors to open. Inside each door is an ornament. Each ornament prompts us to read a verse or passage in the Bible. Then we have a "mission" for the day that correlates with that ornament and verse. Last year was the first year that we did this sort of thing. This year is similar, but I have made a few changes and improvements. I will post them later. Today, I just wanted to write about day one.

Day One of Advent
It is so easy to fall into the "Christmas spirit" and get excited about the season without actually taking time to realize the utter awesomeness of what we are really celebrating. Christmas is a big deal at our house because it is the time to celebrate Jesus' birth. But when we look at the big picture, we realize that his birth was simply a necessary step in completing God's ultimate plan. His ultimate plan culminated in Jesus' death and resurrection. This is exciting stuff.

So this year I chose to start our Advent Festivities with two ornaments inside door number one. Opening door number one, the kids found a Jesus in the manger ornament as well as a cross ornament. We read Colossians 1:15-20 which talks about Jesus being the image of the invisible God, the firstborn, and the one who holds all things together. The end of the passage talks about how God was pleased to reconcile us to himself by Christ's blood shed on the cross. We talked to the kids about how super important Jesus is and how EVERYTHING we do during this season is a reflection of our excitement not only of his birth and his coming to earth, but also his death on the cross for our sins. For our Day One Advent "mission" we had the kids write letters to Jesus. We talked about how sometimes people write letters to Santa at Christmas and that is fine, but we were going to write letters to Jesus too. We told the kids they could say whatever they wanted to say in their letters.

The kids each colored nice pictures on the front of their cards. The we asked them to tell us what they would like to write in their letters. I transcribed Hannah's words as she spoke them. These were her exact words that she wanted me to write for her in her letter:

Dear God,
I love you God. I so love you. Thank you for Jesus dying on the cross. God, I love you so much I really really really just want to fly. I show I love you God with all my kisses. I want my sins to go away. Do you remember your parents Mary and Joseph? I really really hope that I love you so much.
~ Love, Hannah

Joey wrote down Jonah's words as he spoke what he wanted his letter to say. This is what he said:

Dear God,
I love you God and I sometimes obey and sometimes I don't. But I still try my hardest and thank you for dying on the cross for us and shedding your blood and I like Jesus because he is strong and he is gooder than anyone.
To: God
(then Jonah signed it) "fum Jonah"


That was a fun "mission" and I think the kids enjoyed it. This morning as we prayed on the way to school, I heard Jonah say in the middle of his prayer "did you see the letter I made for you?" Then when Hannah prayed, she said "did you see my letter? I drew a picture of your whole family on it."

Cute. I can tell this is going to be a fun month.

Welcome Winter! (I've been waiting for you!)

It is December 1st. And guess what? I saw snow falling this morning. It's true. I even took a picture to prove it.

Whoo Hoo! Snow! (Note: In Oklahoma, it is not all that weird to see snow on the ground even while there are bits of the yard that still look a little green. It's Oklahoma, what else can I say?)

December. Snow. The smell of my "Sparkling Cinnamon" Yankee candle. Christmas decorations. Christmas music. All of these things are exciting and warm. I love them. I can't wait to write about them.

But I don't want to write about Christmas without recounting a bit of the Thanksgiving who-ha that happened over the past week. This year, we celebrated Thanksgiving first at Aunt Beth's house with that side of the family. Always a treat to go to Aunt Beth's. Then we hopped in the car and drove to Dallas to celebrate with my side of the family. I don't think I had been to Dallas for Thanksgiving since before being married. It was nice to see my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Way too much time goes by between our visits with them. My mom and my grandma were in full "serve" mode. (Okay, to be truthful, I have never seem my grandmother not in "serve" mode. She has made a life habit of serving others. I admire her so much for that example.) They pretty much did everything to prepare for our (Friday) Thanksgiving feast. All the while, they were taking care of the rest of us. My mom even prepared most the meals while simultaneously holding one (or sometimes two) of her grandchildren. Servants with a happy heart, I tell you. I witnessed it.

This is a picture of my grandparents and the great-grandchildren (and April).

I think my favorite quote at our Thanksgiving meal this year would have to be my grandpa saying, "I wrote a letter to a girl in Arkansas and look what happened." (He, of course, was referring to the letter that began he and my grandma's courtship so many years ago.) My husband was quick to respond "And I'm so glad you wrote that letter!" Sweet.

On Saturday, before heading home to Oklahoma, we (Tom and April (+5), Joey and I (+2) ) decided it would be fun to visit the Galleria Mall and IKEA. The Galleria Mall has an ice rink, a massive four story tall Christmas tree, and (get this) an ice-skating Santa who wore pyrotechnic skates. (Okay, seriously. Just typing that last sentence makes me feel like I have totally fallen prey to the commercialization of Christmas.) Would you please insert a Charlie Brown *sigh* and "ugh!" from me here. I can't stand it!

This is the picture I took of the tree and ice rink. Not to worry, the pyrotechnic Santa did not show up while we were watching, much to the kids disappointment. We managed not to enter many stores at the mall since we spent most our time intermittently visiting the restroom with one, two or sometimes three kids in tow. It was fun, nonetheless. The girls of our group (April, Anna (8), Abigail (6), Hannah (4) and myself) decided to step into the "American Girl" store before leaving the mall. (Correction: the American Girl "Bistro and Boutique.") That American Girl stuff is a whole new world to me. Thankfully, Hannah and I have not been exposed to much of it. The store itself had all the dolls and doll accessories. The "Bistro" was a little restaurant where you could go and order food and sit at a table with your doll in her very own "American Girl" high chair. The "boutique" is where you take your doll and let her sit in a beauty salon chair while getting her hair done. Cute. Again, I am thankful that Hannah and I are not "American Girl" savy...yet. I am sure that day is coming, since I think "American Girl" dolls are for this generation what Cabbage Patch dolls were for my generation. At least for now though, Hannah was happy to just look at the "museum" of dolls in the store. (It helped too that very few of the dolls had "long to the floor" dresses - which is pretty much what Hannah looks for everywhere she goes now days.)

After our visit to the Galleria, we decided to "drop" in to IKEA. "IKEA," I have decided, is the Swedish word for "uber cool." Okay, so maybe I just made that up. But IKEA seriously has to be one of the coolest places in the world. It was much bigger than I expected. And get this - they offer childcare while you shop! No kidding. Very family friendly place. We didn't get to take advantage of that childcare, but it would have been cool if we could have. There are a couple of things that make my kids super excited: 1)large spaces with lots of color and 2)cousins. This store on this night, had both. When my kids get excited they become rather loud and (I fear) annoying to people (including me). Because of the layout of IKEA, we pretty much had to walk through the entire store which took something like two hours. It was a whirlwind two hours with lots of "oohhs" and "aahhs" slipping out of my mouth. By the end of the journey through IKEA, Joey and I decided we deserved to be given t-shirts that said "I survived IKEA." We did survive. They didn't offer t-shirts. Stink. That would have been funny.

Finally, being that today is December 1st, we started our family Advent tradition. I will write more about that later, but this year should be very similar to last year. Click HERE if you would like to get an idea of what we do from last year's family Advent festivities. This year should be pretty similar, but I am working on a few changes/improvements.