Friday, December 5, 2008

Holiday Traditions: Advent Calendar

I'd been keeping an eye out for the perfect advent calendar, when I spied this a few years ago sitting on a shelf at Sam's Club.


The girls take turns opening up each day's tiny door, taking out an ornament, and hanging it on the knob. 


The secular and religious symbols provide lots of interesting topics for conversation—the toy soldier, for example, reminds us of The Nutcracker that we attended over Thanksgiving weekend, while the angel gets us discussing the role of heavenly messengers in the Christmas story. There's a Santa and a baby Jesus, which help us talk about who should get the most emphasis during this holiday season.


I also like the deep base, which is just right for storing the wonderful cards, letters, and pictures we receive from family and friends throughout December (hint, hint).

Last Christmas, we received a really cool advent calendar from Aunt Brenda: an old-fashioned delivery truck with 25 side drawers designed to bring a handful of Christmas candy each day! The twins objected to the "each day" part.







4 comments:

Michele said...

...The entire month's candy...

I don't know how old your twins are, but I can visualize our 23m twins doing the exact same thing. In fact, I don't have to visualize it, I can witness it live almost daily. I have mused that I should have named them "Silent" and "Deadly."

twinmamabee said...

Oh my gosh...I love advent calendars and have always wanted one. That one is really cool. I especially like how you talk about the symbols and what they mean.

My girls wouldn't wait to get the treats in the calendar either! If its there, why not devour it, right?

Ann On and On... said...

I am taking the afternoon to read new blogs. I hope you do not mind me stopping by. Feel free to check out my blog. I am having a give-a-way that will end on Monday. Three winners! :D

Advent calendars are a little treat for the days leading up to Christmas. I use to love opening the little flaps. Ia always wanted to look ahead. *Cute no front teeth photo.

glitzen said...

Oh, cool advent calendars! I will have to post a pic of ours. Ours is also wooden with drawers.
Salmon patties and cream peas. Yummy. Ya know, I get ideas from your dinners. I need to write them all down and take it grocery shopping. Just steal your meals and I'm set!