Our Christmas Countdown

We’ve had a lovely weekend here. Yesterday was my mum’s birthday, so we spent the day with her and my brother and his wife. And then last night, after the children went to bed, we set about making the house festive, and getting a few surprises ready for them to wake up to…

They were VERY excited going into the living room!

And then they spotted our newest family member..

Boo was very happy with the advent calendars, and she loved their new cute Snowdogs..

And after all of this excitement, Boo and Daddy spent a little time painting, while Little Man napped (Boo always prefers painting with Daddy to Mummy, as Daddy can actually do it! I wonder what, or should I say ‘who’, inspired them?

This was followed by a spot of shopping, and then a visit to my in-laws, where they had put up their beautiful Christmas villages, which we ooh’d and aah’d over! Then the short journey home was all about spotting Christmas lights and trees – fabulous!

I don’t know about you, but since we’ve had children, Christmas fun starts on the 1st December. It’ll be 24 days of fun activities, and counting down to the big day, though for me at least, the day is just the icing on the cake. The big, fat, delicious cake are those 24 days. So what’ll we get up to?

Elf on the Shelf #ElfTakeover
You may have heard me mention this?! Our elf is now in residence, and is going to be busying himself getting into fun poses!
Advent Calendars
I sell these so am a little biased, but I do love ours. We have had the Children’s Nativity one since Boo was one, and she loves popping the people into the slots each day. This year we also have the Gingerbread House for Little Man
Snowdogs
My mum has knitted the children their own Snowdog. I absolutely adore them and they’ve been given them today as part of their advent fun. Boo has named them, so they are now Ruby Snowdog and Danny Snowdog. We will, of course, be watching The Snowman and the Snowdog repeatedly!
Christmas tree and decorations
Well, obviously! The tree is up and we’ve bought some new baubles for it this year, which the kids helped choose. We’ve also plenty of Santas, snowmen and reindeer sprinkled all over the house.
Making Mince pies
We’ve never done this before. My mum makes them every year, so can supply us! But this year, I really want to make some myself, with Boo’s able assistance and Little Man’s dubious help!
Christmas art
I’ve see some great projects on blogs and Pinterest, so we’ll all be getting creative – I’ll report back!
Muppet Christmas Carol day
Best day of the year! You can read more about it here, and I’m definitely looking forward to it this year.
Visiting Santa
We’ve decided to visit him in a local forest this year, as he’ll be in his log cabin with reindeer grazing outside. Sounds lovely, and it’ll be good to see them both there, as Little Man was just a baby this time last year.
Colouring in our Christmas tablecloth
Such a simple thing, but the plan is we’ll do a bit every few days and it’ll be a little festive relaxation time
Watching Christmas movies
Elf is top of my list, and then The Grinch, The Santa Clause, Miracle on 34th Street – we’ll watch as many as we can that they show on TV.
Making a festive table centrepiece
I am hoping this’ll be an enjoyable activity for us all. Not attempted it before, and doubt it’ll be pretty as I’ll give Boo free rein, but I think it’ll be fun.
Playing Christmas music
This has already begun, too 🙂

And I’m sure there will be more. I’m going to be regularly popping over to PinkOddy’s Christmas Collection to grab any ideas I think the children will enjoy, and do feel free to share your own favourite ways of getting into the season…

Are you warming up to this, or is it still at the back of your mind?!

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