Advent Calendar

This year I decided to try a new Christmas card display idea in our kitchen that I saw on Pinterest - attaching ribbon to cabinets and hanging the cards on the ribbon with clothespins.  I also came up with an Advent calendar idea to fill in the empty cabinets.  This is our first Advent calendar, so I used a couple different ideas and put them together. 

First, we assembled paper sacks to attach to the cabinets.

 

I typed up the nativity story (the two-year-old version) into 25 chunks, and we put one piece in each bag.  There is also something else in each bag - an object used to tell the nativity story, a craft that goes along with the story, or a fun family activity.  We use paper puppets and The Story of Christmas to reinforce the story piece for that day.

 

Last year Mara wasn't old enough to really grasp any Christmas concepts, so this year I've really enjoyed introducing her to the meaning of Christmas.  It's fun to see her anticipation of opening and dumping out her sack each day.  It warms my heart to watch her pick up the puppets and retell the story.  I laugh at the silly but innocent things that sometimes happen.  Like when Mary and the Angel were in a heavy kissing session!  She was trying to retell the part about Joseph and Mary being engaged to be married, but she forgot it was actually Joseph that should have been kissing Mary. 

Or when I asked Mara what Mary was doing in this picture......

She told me Mary was saying "please."  If Mary was using sign language, Mara would have been correct.  (She is totally digging the sign language we've been using with Micah!).

I hope you're enjoying this Christmas season and all of the joy it brings!