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Advent Weeks 1 & 2

Advent is in full-swing, and we are loving it.  Button asks multiple times a day to do the Advent Calendar (sorry, dude), and Buddy is still trying to figure out when we do the Advent Wreath.  Unfortunately, mama ran out of ink in her printer just prior to Advent so some of the things that required printing just had to be gone without.  But that doesn't mean we haven't had fun!  Here is a glimpse into some of the things that we've been doing so far.

Our Advent Wreath
We have been doing our Advent Wreath every Sunday.  The boys love the candles and the special time together even though they don't understand most of it.



Edmonds Tree Lighting
We thought it would be fun to go to the Edmonds Tree Lighting this year.  It started at 4:30 so we thought that would work great with the boys' eating/sleep schedule.  It was fun, but Button was extremely bored and not very happy through most of it.  We didn't realize that the event was an hour long, but we did make it to the end.

Eating his cookie

Before lighting


After lighting

Making Peppermint Bark
We like to make peppermint bark every year, and this year, I let the boys help out.  It was a really easy recipe, and it turned out great.  The boys loved that I let them "lick the bowl" once we were done.



Button so looks like a chocolate Guy Fawkes


Making Homeless Car Kits
I got the idea from the Seattle Union Gospel Mission's Action site.  We assembled 10 kits to pass out to homeless that we see when we are in the car.  Our kits included: water, kleenex, socks, granola bars, a candy cane, a Bible, Hotties hand warmers, and a sheet telling them about the resources available at the Gospel Mission.  It was a great sorting activity!



Swanson's Nursery
One morning we didn't have anything planned, so spontaneously the boys and I went to Swanson's Nursery for their reindeer festival.  There were reindeer, a camel, a model train exhibit, and a koi pond.  Ok, so a koi pond isn't very Christmasy, but I think it was one of their favorite parts!  Go figure!





Hanging Around the House
There's been a lot of just playing at home as well.  We've dressed ourselves up in Amazon packaging, read books by the Christmas tree, and enjoyed putting together our Nativity puzzle that Buddy always wants me to take a picture of each time they complete it.




R.I.P. Paper Snowflake
For a craft one day, we decided to make a 3D paper snowflake.  (Another one of those lovely craft ideas from Pinterest.)  It was pretty easy to do, and Buddy helped a fair bit with the cutting and taping.  I think it came out really nicely.

However, apparently candles and paper snowflakes don't mix very well.  Today, when we were starting to do our weekly Advent reading, it accidentally caught on fire from the Advent wreath candles.  It freaked all of us out, but no one was hurt.  Here is a picture of our snowflake remains:


Overall, though, it was a lot of fun to make and display.  Just maybe pick a place that isn't near fire.  =)
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