day twenty two....

I would love to tell you that the reason I haven't blogged in three days is because I spent all weekend at the gym, but the truth is, here at the Sprinkel household, we have been furiously preparing for Thanksgiving. After a busy weekend of cleaning and doing what seemed like at least twenty loads of laundry, I think we are almost ready. The menu is planned, the table is set, and most of the shopping has been done. The carpet cleaners are coming in the morning. The first of the food preparation began tonight with some candied pecans, followed tomorrow night by the making of the cranberry sauce, Wednesday is pie day, and everything else gets done Thanksgiving morning.You would think after all that my only plans Friday would be to sit on the couch and eat left-overs, but no...in my classic over-achieving style, I have to work on the ten red and green tutus I volunteered to make for Ava's girl scout troop. Each girl gets a bear to dress and then the bears get donated to the Salvation Army to give to under-privileged children during the holidays. I also have to start making the advent calendar. Last year, I made a wall of 24 aluminum buckets filled with goodies, similar to this one from Garnet Hill:
The only downside to doing this again this year, is that filling 24 baskets with goodies for four kids gets pricey. Plus, I want them to appreciate the meaning of Christmas, not just the presents. So this year, I am looking for an advent calendar to fill with festive activities we can do together. Here's one I saw on Ohdeedoh:


I also found this one on flickr:



Seriously? How awesome is that?? So, I think I'm going to try to make some combination of the two. I think I'm going to cover a piece of cardboard with fabric and then attach my envelopes to it. I found some festive fabric on etsy. I ended up ordering this one:


I looked up some activities to put in the envelopes. I'm also going to mix in activities we had planned anyway, like Ava's school Christmas concert. Here are some of my favorites:

• go ice skating
• watch a holiday movie
• make Christmas cookies
• wrap presents
• decorate the tree
  
• make a gingerbread house
• make popcorn garland
• drive around and look at Christmas lights
• get your picture taken with Santa
• attend a tree lighting event
• sing Christmas songs
• drink hot cocoa and read a Christmas book
• buy gifts for Salvation Army Angel tree child
  
• make paper snowflakes
• put lights on the outside of the house
• write letters to Santa

I'm really excited and I think the kids will love it too! I'll be sure to post pictures of my advent calendar making process. If anyone has any activities I can add to the list, I'd love to hear them!