The Countdown - Bring It

Alright 24 days of Christmas - BRING. IT. ON.  I'm ready for ya. 

I like to talk like that sometimes because it makes me feel more gangsta.  But really, I'm sooo tired and feeling quite silly and lame that we worked on this advent calendar till past 11 last night.  Turns out peeling off 24 numbered labels and 24 sheets of velcro is damn hard work and flipping time consuming.  And then trying to line up 24 boxes in 6 neat pretty little rows?  Forget about it!  We had my yard stick out to get everything all precise, and at one point I just looked up at Mary and said "dude, we are crazy."  For reals yo.  

But seriously, I'm psyched to start the countdown tomorrow.  Are you?  Or are you freaking out?  Please don't say you're freaked out because then you're gonna freak me out.  And for heaven's sake please don't say that you "have all your Christmas shopping done!" in a sing-songy nasally voice because then I'll have to smack you.  I can't stand you people that do that.  Really, what's the fun of Christmas if you're not running around Target at 10 pm the day before Christmas Eve for stocking stuffers?

Come to think of it, I'm actually really psyched because if anything, I did think ahead for ONCE in my freaking life, and while at the coolest neighborhood toy store Knock Knock on Monday, gathering advent supplies, I bought the kids their stocking stuffers.  Hooray for me and not having to buy crap at Target in a heated last-minute panic.  I mean don't get me wrong, I still bought crap, but it's cool crap that I won't mind having around.  Like those lighted Rail Twirler things from when I was a kid.  Bomb diggity. 

In other gift giving news, Taylor wants this: a Barbie Carriage from 2006.  She plays with it at a friend's house and has been asking for it for months.  I started searching for carriages that matched the description she gave me and was coming up dry.  So I had her sit with me and scroll through Amazon so, you know, I could "tell Santa exactly which one she wanted" and we couldn't find it.  So then I got the idea to search You Tube for Barbie Carriage commercials because You Tube has everything, right?  Well I was RIGHT!  We watched a bunch of videos and on the 6th one she screams "That's it!".  The thing is from 2006 and Amazon has 1 left in stock and it's $69.95.  Guaranteed the thing originally sold for $34.  Do I get it though since it's the only thing she's asked for or is it a total waste of money?

And ladies, I'm sure you already have a wish list, but in case not, may I make a suggestion?  Add a Clarisonic to that list.  I got one for my birthday 8 months ago and for the most part it has been a gift that keeps on giving.  No more dry patches, cut down on little breakouts and pretty much eliminated the need or desire to get a facial.  Get it ladies.  Trust me, you won't be sorry.

Happy Festivus guys!  The countdown is officially ON!

Advent In Process

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I'm admittedly not very good at advent calendars.  Rather, I'm not very good at the routine of opening each envelope every day and so days may pass before I remind the kids.  And it might be because of their ages or the fact that mom hasn't made a big enough ritual out of the whole process, but the kids have been no better at reminding me in the past.  For the past couple of years I made a simple red and green paper chain advent calendar with 24 rings on it and a bible verse attached to each ring that tells the Story of Christmas, from the day Gabriel appeared before Mary to the birth of Jesus.  Even something as simple as a paper chain I wasn't very good at though.  

This year though I wanted to start over and give the advent calendar the good ol' college try.  I think Taylor is finally at the age now where she will hopefully remind me, plus, if I make a big enough calendar and put it in a prominent place, perhaps we would actually remember to joyfully anticipate the advent ritual and each passing day leading up to Christmas.  I found the above calendar on Pinterest and I fell in love.  The simplicity of it is just perfection.  My friend Mary fell in love with it too so we decided to make them together.  We ran around yesterday gathering supplies and we'll assemble them tonight.  She found a local place where we could buy the kraft jewelry boxes in bulk (100 for $24) and pick them up.  If I ever planned ahead I could have had them shipped, but as always, I like to do things the hard way and at the last minute ;)  The only adjustment we're making to the original is instead of attaching them with push pins, we're using small pieces of velcro so no tiny pins get lost around the house (Mary has 1 year old twins who still hunt around on the ground for small shiny things).  Brilliant idea right?      

I'm sure most of you are much better about this and more prepared than I, and if so, you certainly don't need my help.  But if by chance you are scrambling to get an advent calendar up in the next 2 days, I thought I'd share this idea.  And hey, even if you just want to make a simple paper chain with the Christmas Story countdown attached, you can download my format here on the site.  Simply click on the link below and you'll get all 24 verses.  They are formatted in a Word label document so you can print them on labels and stick them onto the paper chain, or just print them on pieces of paper and cut out, which is what we're planning to do, and stick them in each box.   

download labels here

I'll share the final results in a couple of days when we're done.  I'm really excited now and hope this is a firm start of a new tradition.  A reminder to stop, slow down and remember each day why we're really celebrating the season.  A good lesson in intentionality that's for sure.  

So are you guys good about an Advent calendar, or are you more like me?