The Countdown Is On / DIY Xmas Advent

Thanks to Patience Brewster, an artist/illustrator of books, greeting cards, and designer of Christmas ornaments and gifts,  I was inspired to share one of our favourite little traditions to help spread the excitement of the season that is upon us! Every December, since we (Sevio & I) were itty bitty kids we've started the month with a good ol' traditional advent calendar!

This year we are kicking the Christmas season off a little bit different! And I'm SO excited! Why we always cheap out with the plastic chocolate filled ones I don't know (because they're cheap!), but, it's not about the chocolate, its about the countdown! The excitement it brings for the holidays and Christmas is magic!

So as I said we're doing things differently, we still have an advent calendar, but this year and this December forth its made by yours truly! Thanks to the free printable from, Yellow Bliss Road, I was able to (with the help of my sister in law and Rylee) easily put together a new form of advent. Instead of gross chocolate we will have an experience or event to do together as a family! Given this takes a little planning, as some things need to coincide with work/school/regular life. So for the busier days we'll do something simple (like read a Chistmas Story or watch a classic Christmas movie), and on days off we can do something more exciting like Christmas markets, skating, or bake cookies for the neighbours.

It's so perfect and so family building! We have crazy lives with me working and Sevio a full time student so this is a great way for us to slow down and enjoy life with our kids. And bonus we can change it up every year and even make certain events traditions for our family, we can even focus on teaching our kids the true meaning of Christmas (the birth of Jesus), and/or we can focus on celebrating Christmas differently (like giving to those in need, rather than recieving). It's so fun and I said it before but I'm going to say it again, I'm SOOOO excited!

Here's a little glimpse of what it looks like! Conveniently our event for Dec.1st was to "decorate the house", which Rylee was so thrilled to help with! She picked her stocking and we realized we need to get one for Zach! She helped Sevio hang the lights and held my nails as I hung the string for the advent calendar. And then she proceeded to take out every christmas bulb from its packaging and use them as soccer balls.... this is the only time you'll hear me say this... thank goodness for plastic! Without a tree our decorations are minimal, but enough to change the atmosphere, and who knows maybe there's a day for "tree hunting" coming soon! (question is do we stick with the real deal... or invest in a fake? hard decision and I know, I know a very much first world problem!)

Day 2 (today) is to "Read a Christmas story with Daddy", because mommy is at work, but thanks to my mom getting us a "record a story" book a few years back I get to record my voice to read The Night Before Christmas...so it's almost like I'm there, almost...