One of our favorite traditions has always been to have Advent Calendars. We love that first day of December, when you can begin the official countdown to Christmas Day, by opening one door each morning on the calendar.
When I was a child, we had Advent Calendars with chocolate inside. My grandparents would send one for each of us kids, in the mail. I remember my joy and delight at how each chocolate was shaped like a Christmas toy, such as a drum, a sled, or a rocking horse. How we loved to see what we got each morning! It was such fun.
So now my children always get an Advent Calendar each December 1st. We have had candy calendars (although never quite as special as I remember mine being!), tiny toy calendars, Playmobile calendars (a favorite), and more.
But one year Grandma Pat gave us a very special Advent Calendar.One we can use over and over. It is made of wood, and has a box for each day, with a tiny handle. Each day when the girls open the little door, they find a tiny ornament. To make it even more wonderful, the scene at the top of the calendar is a manger scene, not a Santa scene. And each ornament is designed to create the story of Jesus' birth, day by day.
They carefully take out each day's ornament and hang it up in its place. We all love watching as the scene slowly takes shape, and we talk about the meaning of each ornament as we hang it.
I'm glad we have quite a few more days to enjoy it. Thank you Grandma!
9 comments:
How sweet is that?!?! We had a paper manger one growing up. I think it literally fell apart.
Oh I too love Advent Calendars! Yours is so special, and it will be one of those memories the girls will treasure when they are grown! It doesn't matter how old you are either, Baby Jesus on the 24th is always the best! :-)
Oh that is beautiful!!! I SO want one! I don't do advent calendars with candy, or Disney, or Santa, or anything else. Finding "nice" ones that depict the nativity story is HARD (even at our family owned "Bible store"). I'll have to see if I can find one like it. SO special!
Now that is the perfect advent calendar. I absolutely love how the manger scene is created day by day. Very cool!
Hi there! I have been meaning to tell you some fun news...our son got a "job" taking care of a miniature horse for 10 days this Christmas vacation! We're meeting his new charge, "Dan" tomorow and all of us are so excited! You were the first one I wanted to tell! Is there anything special we should watch for that minis would be different from standard size horses on? I would value your opinion as we want to do a good job and Kyle wants to make sure Dan is in good hands! As always, I love your blog Geri! :-)
That is such a cute advent calendar, i love advent calenders, i may be 44 bu ti still have one every Christmas and my Dh and i take it in turns to put an ornament in the pocket!!
I really like that! What a wonderful advent calendar and I love how it builds the nativity scene. What a wonderful way to celebrate the birth of Jesus!
What a wonderful tradition!
Such good memories. I know it will be passed down the generations!
That is the cutest Advent calender ever!! I can see how they would enjoy it every day!! Keri
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