How have we already circled back around that sun to make it right back here again?!? (That is what we do, right? Orbit the sun for a year?) We are on the downhill slide of Christmas and I look forward to these 12 days every year as much as the kids! This year's countdown looks different - some of my favorite things are missing but I'm excited for some of the new things we'll get to do, too!
This year's countdown began a bit unusually since I was out of town. Typically the kids get their note first thing in the morning and have all day to look forward to their nightly activity. However, Landry woke up at Tia's and the bigs woke up at Uncle Petes - we TOTALLY could have called that a day and marked it off the list. Tuesday also happened to be Landry's Christmas program so we had a tiny surprise when they got home.
Only 12 days until Christmas... the countdown has officially begun, go unwrap a gift for something fun!
The day after Christmas, Gigi and I always venture to our favorite spot in Downtown Bryan to snatch up some extra ornaments and goodies on super discount so we grabbed this darling devotional that I had been eyeing.
The book is really tiny which I love and the stories are simple and easy to understand.
The ornaments are darling and accompany each devotional explaining the significance of that particular name.
We decided to go find a "tree" in the backyard and ended up with a couple of fallen branches and wouldn't you know, that they had 12 limbs exactly. He really is all-knowing.
I'm loving this new tradition already and so are the kids!
Only 11 days until Christmas .... spread some holiday cheer and wrap gifts!
This one makes an annual appearance on the list so I'm surprised that the kids enthusiasm remains high, but y'all... THEY LOVE THIS NIGHT. After school we made a quick trip to Target to stock up on supplies - they wanted to go back to popcorn and m&ms as their gift and counted a total of 18 teachers besides their corp group that they wanted to send warm wishes too.
The math nerd in me just had to use this as an opportunity so they had to figure out how many popcorn bags each of them got to lay in a row for a total of 18. They were pretty darn cute creating little jobs and sharing the work load. After we had them all stacked, they got to cut the ribbon and help me make bows.
How cute did these turn out?!?
Then each kiddo got to wrap their gifts to Ryan and their sibling gifts to eachother. I love the gifts they pick for each other every year and how proud they are at the choices they make. I'm also pretty proud that I let them choose paper and ribbon color and basically let them each wrap their own gifts.
Landry tying that bow was ridiculously precious - almost as cute as the incorrect way she holds a pencil. I should probably work with her on that...
So dang proud.
Next up was Radley and he really did wrap that gift by himself. I can't get over how big he is lately ... so thoughtful and always wanting to learn new things.
I mean, where did my baby go??
Finally it was Emersyn's turn and y'all... she is SO PUMPED about what's inside for Radley. Even more so now because on that trip to Target he actually picked up what she had already picked out for him and commented on how much he really really wanted that item. She was trying to play it super cool by yelling, "Oh Radley LOOK OVER THERE - PUT THAT DOWN NOW!!"
She's become an expert bow maker, too.
Move over Martha!
Only 10 days until Christmas ... let's read your favorite stories before you go to bed.
Okay, so not every night can be full of fun and excitement. Sometimes Momma needs a break! To spice up this regular activity, Alfie made sure to make the books fun to choose from. He even went in the closet and pulled all the extra Christmas books out!
The kids know that the notes are from us - we plan the activities, but Alfie can read those notes and help make them a bit more exciting. They were thrilled with this book Christmas tree he made for them.
The countdown is officially on and I can't wait for the next 10 days! Here's a peek at our countdowns from the past...
And since it's Friday and this is one of my FAVORITE Christmas traditions, I'm linking up with Andrea, Erika, and Narci today...
Such a fun tradition! Wish I was here on the day after Christmas...I always miss out on those day after sales.
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