Advent Days 1-7

We've been having so much fun with our daily advent activities. The very first thing Corbyn wants to do when he wakes up is see what ornament and activity are waiting in the advent calendar. Most of the activities are things we would have done anyway or fun, easy things that don't take a lot of effort.

December 1: Pick our Christmas Tree. 

December 2: Decorate our Tree.

December 3: Write Letters to Santa. I found the Santa letter template here. I also tried this method of getting a letter back from Santa. We'll see if it works... I figure they will be thrilled if they get a letter back, but if they don't, it only cost me a couple stamps and they'll never know the difference.

December 4: Make a Gingerbread Man for Corbyn and a Necklace for Peyton. I got these kits from the dollar bins at JoAnn. I tried to be sneaky, but Corbyn saw me buying them and was dying to do this activity! He insisted we do it on the 4th because he is 4.

December 5: Cookie Party with Friends. Roger's mom always did a cookie party for the neighborhood kids and we decided this year our kids are finally old enough to do it with their friends. We did it when it was our turn to watch the kids for our date night exchange and it was a little crazy, but mostly fun.

December 6: Pick out this Year's Ornaments. Corbyn picked Spider-man and Peyton picked Doc McStuffins. 

December 7: Watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. We want to keep our Sunday activities focused on Christ as much as possible - even though the kids didn't do a whole lot of watching or listening, they knew the prophets were talking about Christ and Christmas. I made Stove Top Kettle Corn to snack on while we watched. 

Other highlights from the week:

Christmas Pajamas!

We went to Cheesecake Factory to celebrate Cailey's birthday. Their Peppermint Bark Cheesecake is a holiday must and I enjoyed every last bite!

I hit the 24 week mark in my pregnancy. Not much to report - enjoying the 2nd trimester, feeling good (for the most part), and dreading the 3rd trimester (when I will have to be serious about no carbs or sweets if I want to avoid another 10 pound boy).

I got our Christmas cards mailed out.

I finished reading Landline by Rainbow Rowell. It was an easy, fun read and the perfect book to read at Christmastime (because it takes place the week before Christmas).

We went to our ward Christmas party. It wasn't a dinner, just a fun activity with a little program, glazed donuts (that seriously hit the spot for this pregnant lady!), Santa, and some games for the kids - perfect for our ward with a million little kids!

The Primary kids were supposed to dress up as shepherds or angels for the song they sang as a part of the program. I threw Corbyn's costume together in 10 minutes or less using a couple old towels we had. He didn't know the song, but looked completely adorable!

Peyton would have nothing to do with Santa, but Corbyn was so into sitting on his lap and telling him what he wants for Christmas.

Fishing for treats was much more Peyton's style.

And that was the first week of December!