24 Simple Advent Activities

Fear not friends!

 While today is December 1st, if you have yet to fill 

your advent calendar, you are not alone.  

I am putting the finishing touches on ours this evening.  

I found that most of our activities fell within 6 categories:

craft

movie

event

silly

treat 

giving

{Craft}

tree trimming, ornament decorating,  snowglobe making 

{Movies}

check out ABC Family's 25 days of Christmas programming guide

{Event}

zoo lights, polar express train ride, holiday town celebration

{Silly}

one of our favorites...

and another.

{Treat}

baking Christmas cookies, making Jesus a birthday cake,

celebrating any half birthdays during advent

{Giving}

simple acts of kindness 

The organization of this list two dozen things just made it easier on me to add in our favorites and traditions, but also include some new things for the year.  

For us the events usually fall on the weekend and the rest during the week, movies often on Friday nights.  I also use the silly day on our busiest schedule day of the week, i.e. every Wednesday is silly day.    

1.   zoo holiday lights celebration

2.  mail letters to Santa 

3.   read about the candy cane and enjoy one as a special treat

4.  {movie night} jack frost and ice cream sundaes for dessert

5.   do something special for someone in our family to say "I love you"

6.  make and decorate ornaments

7.   town christmas celebration and tree lighting

8.  polar express to the north pole

9.  make snowglobes

10. spreed some cheer to our neighbors

11. find mom for a silly break 

12.  gaze at the same stars and moon as they did on the night of Jesus' birth

13.  make candy cane playdough

14.  holiday lights drive and slumber party by the christmas tree

15.  family bowling

16.  half birthday treat and church christmas pageant

17.  {movie night} gather all the Whos in Whoville to watch how the grinch stole christmas

18.  a silly surprise will appear before your very eyes, say frosty 3 times!

19.  {movie night} polar express and hot! hot! hot! chocolate bar

20. write down your gift to Jesus this year and place in our special box

21.  dinner by candlelight to mark the longest night of the year

22.  make your favorite cookie for santa

23.  bake Jesus' birthday cake

24.  Christmas Eve! open your WEAR present

In addition to this family focused advent calendar, 

we will have our Jesse Tree and devotionals to follow along with daily.  

We also do a Christmas book advent every night like this one.

While my boys are not quite ready for a full on 

charitable advent calendar I love these 25 ways to pay it forward.  

What are some of your family's favorite advent traditions?

peace,

:: michelle ::

Let them Play Ball {Inside}

Since we have been back from Disney I haven't felt well.  

Really it started before, but I just wanted to have this 

special vacation for us, and we did, it was magical.

I bet you thought this post was going to be about something else {grin}.

I woke up and headed to the ER this morning,

I will spare all of the details, but with my symptoms, 

the ER doctor told me {thankfully} later that he thought

I may have had a mass in my abdomen.

My CT came back clear.  

I still have yet to have all of the answers I need,

but I do know at that moment, Matt and I reaching for each other's hands,

that all that mattered was us and getting home to hug my loves.

Fastforward...

Tonight I read a Facebook post from a well known author 

{ahem, Mrs. Emily Giffin} and there are over one-thousand comments

about whether one should allow their children to play ball in the house.

Hot topic.

Overwhelmingly the answers were no, never, under no circumstance, 

something could be broken, someone could be hurt...even with a Nerf ball....

it's the absolute worst thing you could let your child do.

OK, made that last one up, but some were close.

I say let them play ball.  Nerf ok, whatever you decide.

Here no shoes inside, no baseballs indoors, 

but we hung a basketball  hoop {not talking the Nerf kind}

in our oldest's room and he is regularly found kicking his 

soccer ball {used indoors only} around.  

I might add his ball control skills have really improved.  

I am sure you get my point.

It's not one of respect or injury, it's one of letting the little 

stuff that doesn't matter go once in awhile.
Something I am reminded of often, like today,
most of you know our story.

Yes set boundaries, set rules, designate areas,

it isn't a free-for-all here.

Don't you love once you disagree with the majority they think you're

filming the next Animal House with your toddlers?  

{Griffin could totally pass for John Belushi}.

I guess what I am saying is lighten up once in awhile.

I say this to my rule-following self.

Live a little.  

Whatever is "the thing" ease up a bit.
It feels good, I promise.  And it's hard for me too.

Maybe I just don't have a home filled with super expensive stuff,

no china to destroy, no massive flat screen tv to ruin.

Our floors and walls are dinged by life.

Would I love to have it differently?

In my mind I think so, but not in my heart.

We LIVE here.

Go long I'm open! 

Night friends,

:: michelle ::

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes...

When You're Fast Asleep....

More Disney pics to come,

aren't these precious?!!

:: michelle ::

Almost Three...

In one short week, this little group of handsome men will be 

T H R E E

Crazy isn't it?!

:: megan kelly photography ::

We have some magical fun planned for their big day! 

For now, I am going to take in the last days of two

and relish the charms of the present.

{lovely reminder from Lay Baby Lay}

Wishing you all beautiful moments together 

squeezing out the last bits of summer before it bids us farewell!

:: michelle ::

I Love to Laugh

My girl Mary Poppins, we love her.

Today would have otherwise been a do-over-day

if it hand't been for her and the infamous

I Love to Laugh lyrics.

Ever since we did Mary Poppins in the 6th grade,

I can recall the words as well as I rattle off my own address.

The more I laugh
The more I fill with glee
And the more the glee
The more I'm a merrier me.

It's true isn't it, laughter just does it sometimes.

Aiden started laughing today for no good reason,

and Mary popped into my head,

so I joined him. 

We were laughing hysterically over absolutely nothing.

Ethan came in from school and asked what we were laughing about.

I told him we were just laughing to laugh.

So he starts in and well it was contagious.

I could definitely use to laugh more,

and as usual my boys reminded me

how good it is for the soul.

Laugh away!!

::michelle::

My Brother's Keeper

{via}

It may have had something to do with staying up way to late to 

watch The Hunger Games last night,

but the idea of protecting one another
and the lengths we will go to do so has been on my mind today.

If you haven't seen the movie

{I think I was probably the last on the planet},

there is this underlying theme of protection.

Heck, the main character takes the place of her sister

in the ultimate battle for survival.

I have watched my little guys bicker like crazy,

so frustrated at one another, thankfully briefly,

but loudly and madly all the same.

Yet, I have witnessed this consistent way in which they

protect one another, all five, seat, toy, food, the most random

of things, they protect in their brother's name.

I'm not sure if I really noticed it much before today,

and it's not something I ever really explained to them how to do.

It just seemed to happen.

As a mom, I am going to try hard not to come between it.

It's so pure and honest.

Looking out for the one who is the first to read your life's story,

who has many of the same pages in their own,

is right, it is noble, sweet, and it is 

just what you do. 

Grateful my boys got that memo.

Good Night Friends,

:: michelle ::

Leap Frog Touch Magic Rock n' Learn Party!

When the award winning maker of educational toys, LeapFrog, contacted me via MomSelect to host a Rock n' Learn party for their new Touch Magic line, I was excited!  My boys have all loved LeapFrog toys, and I appreciate when learning + fun are combined.  And if you know me, you know we love parties, so this was a great opportunity to invite our neighborhood friends over for some fun!

{keep reading to find out how you can have a chance at winning $500

toward LeapFrog products!}

In the spirit of LeapFrog toys, especially the new Touch Magic Line, I wanted to keep the party colorful and bright, so I created this tablescape to greet our guests.  

We had star shaped sandwiches, pretty rainbow swirl balloons, monogram rainbow {inside} cupcakes {with the initials of our guests}, a little treat bag with a Leap Frog coupon, ABC cookies, and rainbow fruit salad which all tied in lovely with

 Leap Frog's Rock n' Learn theme.  

Now for the real fun, this Rock n' Learn guitar was quite the hit!!  The boys wanted to play with it when it arrived, but we waited until the party so we could all play together.  

{Touch Magic Rockin' Guitar}

The photos speak for themselves!!  

Once they got this little guitar in their hands, rockstars were made!  

Learning through music is so fun and our boys are always singing songs.  

This guitar has some of their favorites like Itsy Bitsy Spider and If You're Happy and You Know It.  They quickly learned how to strum and add their own sounds too.  Despite how much all of our guests adored the guitars, they all took turns rather {to my surprise} nicely!

{dueling guitars}

When one plays the guitar, another can sing, tap, etc. and they formed their own little band.

Our homemade tambourines kept everyone in on the fun.  

I just had to include this photo, these two fair haired boys are not brothers, but they look so much alike and they are making the exact same face, too cute.  

They are starting their own neighborhood band!  

Even this little cutie pie got in on the action!! 

From my perspective and our parent guests, we really like how the guitars wipe clean.  I am big on being able to clean toys especially with four little boys in our home playing with the same toys.  So far the guitar seems quite durable too, we are hard on things.  The only caution would be to do what we always should and supervise your children with the guitar strap.  Mine had no problem with it, and it really is for preschoolers, 

even though little ones enjoy it too.  

Next up was this same new touch magic technology learning bus.  

{Touch Magic Learning Bus}

The learning bus was also adored.  The boys enjoyed finding their letters and the sounds they made.  I like how the pictures and words are well-known and common.  Some ABC toys use words that aren't as familiar and it makes it more difficult.  One of the songs is Wheels on the Bus, which my boys absolutely love, pretty much their all-time favorite.  The three modes learning, letter exploration, and music keep it interesting and fun.  

I also very much believe that it is never too early to introduce letters to your children, especially when it is done in an exciting, interactive way.  The learning bus is great to play with your kids, and for them to play together.  Early letter recognition, letter sounds, all play into reading skills.  I have really liked the LeapFrog range with letter recognition, and have used their toys with my oldest who is now seven and reading a few grades ahead.  There were a lot of factors that played into reading early of course, and creative tools like these are so helpful!  

Again, the bus is flat, easy to wipe off {as you can see they were playing during our lunch} and easy to use.  

Both the Touch Magic Rockin' Guitar and Learning bus are available at major retailers.  On a recent trip to one of our favorites, Target, we saw the new Touch Magic toys displayed which includes a Counting Train in it's lineup.  Take a peek the next time your out and see what your little learners think!!  

Thank you kindly Leap Frog and Mom Select, we are grateful for the opportunity!!  

{your chance to win a $500 LeapFrog giftcard}

Rockin' Guitar Contest

{1} Submit a video of your kid jamming and learning with Touch Magic Rockin' Guitar or your own play guitar that you've made out of your own materials. 

Here's an idea.  

{2} Share video. Promote via Facebook and email to have your family/friends view and vote.

{3} Win!  Each video will be judged by 50% highest number of votes, 30% originality/creativity, 20% relevance to theme.  

Click the Rockin' Guitar Contest link above to be taken to the official page with all of the rules.  Good luck and have fun!!  

We received 2 Touch Magic Rockin' Guitars and a Touch Magic Learning Bus in order to host the LeapFrog sponsored Rock n' Learn Party.  The opinions expressed here are purely our own.  

Keep on rockin' and learning!

:: michelle ::