He is coming!

We are anxiously awaiting the birthday of Jesus and doing the best we can to prepare our hearts and our house. I am so excited about several new traditions that we have started in our house this year to celebrate Christmas. I hope you don't mind if I share.

The first is our family Advent wreath...

We say a short prayer and light our candle each evening after dinner. Hannah helps to light the candle and looks forward to this moment each night. The wreath has so much symbolism behind it and is really a beautiful tradition. I was so happy to find a wreath made of various evergreens to emphasize the wreath as a symbol of continuous life...

The candles represent the four weeks of Advent and Christ as the Light of the world. Here is an website for anyone interested in more on the symbolism of the wreath. When Christmas arrives we will change the candles to white and light them for the next 12 days.

Next is our homemade Advent calendar...

I saw this idea on a fellow bloggers page only it was for a Thankful calendar for the month of November. I decided to turn her idea into an Advent calendar for the month of December. I took a cork board covered it with black paper and placed garland around the wood frame. I then numbered shipping tags for my days and attached them with clear push pins...

There are actually two shipping tags for each day - one on top of the other. Each day we remove the tag in the back to discover what activity that day of Advent holds for us. I am really trying to focus on making this Advent season a time of reflection and family and that is what each daily activity is centered around. For instance, last night we had hot cocoa and read Christmas stories in front of the fire in our pajamas. Today we will bless and put out our manger scene. For those of you interested I will list all of the daily activities at the bottom of this post.

Finally I want to mention our Jesse tree...

"A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse - from his roots a Branch will bear fruit" Isaiah 11:1  This is actually a tradition that my wonderful friend and Hannah's godmother, Melissa Franklin, started with our family last year.   This is a great way to talk about Jesus' family tree and the important Biblical figures that paved the way for the birth of Christ.  I found my ornaments here and I am using both this site and Melissa's Jesse tree blog for devotions and talking points.  So with these meager branches we will trace the lineage of our Lord until His birth.  What a great thing to share with your child!  It's not too late to start your own Jesse tree for your little ones.  Hannah loves coloring her ornament and hanging it on our tree each day.

I wish you all a wonderful and fulfilling Advent season!

For those of you interested here is the list of our Advent calendar activities. They are not fancy and all are quick and easy with a little preparation...

Dec. 1 Jesse tree
Dec. 2 Hot cocoa and Christmas stories by the fire
Dec. 3 Bless and put up manger scene
Dec. 4 Make Christmas soap
Dec. 5 Put out shoes for Feast of St. Nicholas
Dec. 6 Bless and decorate Christmas tree
Dec. 7 Make clothespin angel ornaments
Dec. 8 Watch Christmas movie
Dec. 9 Look at Christmas lights in our pajamas
Dec. 10 Make special Christmas gift
Dec. 11 Zoolight Safari
Dec. 12 Christmas shopping
Dec. 13 Happy Birthday Jesus party with friends
Dec. 14 Star of Bethlehem show at Samford planetarium
Dec. 15 Sing Christmas carols
Dec. 16 Wrap presents
Dec. 17 Mail Christmas cards (we say a prayer before we mail them for the recepients)
Dec. 18 Bake gingerbread men
Dec. 19 Christmas with the Brown's
Dec. 20 Live nativity at St. Mark's
Dec. 21 Church cookie swap
Dec. 22 Make snow globe
Dec. 23 Christmas with the Raney's
Dec. 24 Christmas Children's Mass
Dec. 25 Christmas Day!  Jesus is born!