First of December

Yay!!! My most favourite time of the year!! 

Have you been busy today putting up your tree? Decorating your house? Organising your Elf?

We have been!

Over the past few years , as the kids have gotten a little older and more knowing, we have developed traditions in which we do at the start of December to mark the festive season! I used to think I would get more excited than the kids, but that just isn't the case anymore and its just wonderful!

So ... today Alfie our Christmas elf returned, ready for lots of naughty action at night time! 

This year , he was waiting outside the fairy door, with a letter for the kids saying how proud we are of them for adjusting so well to a new town and house! The kids thought it was amazing that he knew what had been happening this year and where to find them again!

I know you can buy Christmas wreaths and mini trees for fairy doors , but they all come at a pretty price, so I just use a wreath from a Christmas embellishment pack from Crazy Clarks. It looks gorgeous and no one would ever know it cost around 30c!! 

Last year, hubby and I  had so much fun planning and organising the nightly antics of our naughty elf, and seeing as though we live more remotely this year, and with less retail options , I wanted to be prepared with the planning process. In case we need a few supplies or special equipment for a night, I needed time to be able to order online or through Spotlight and have it sent (just $6.95 from Spotlight if you ever need!) So I am using this gorgeous December Calendar from the gorgeous Bianca at a little delightful. I have also printed off another to keep track of special events that we can attend (like Carols by Candlelight) and also the craft activities we plan on doing. Again, this will make it easier to have everything pre prepared so that we can do them efficiently after school and with minimal fuss and mess (that's my sort of craft!!)

This morning, I also helped each child fill in their Letter to Santa. This year I decided to go with this gorgeous free printable from Wink Designs found HERE, thanks to a tip off from Clare from The Home She Made on her facebook page. Its the perfect amount of writing and creativity from the kids without being too overwhelming for  the little ones. Some name writing practise , tick a box and draw a picture. Simple. I then colour photo copied each one, kept the original and we have posted the letters into their chair backers for Alfie to take to Santa tonight!

 

Now , last year , we used our Christmas books as a way to count down the days until Christmas, where we unwrapped a different book each night on the countdown until Christmas day, then on Christmas Eve, the kids received a new one !

You can read more about that HERE in my post from last Christmas. However this year I wanted to do something a little different , and there are only so many ways you can count down the days. Otherwise our nights and mornings would be filled with counting, cutting, glueing etc. 

So we have gone with the Santa beard Advent again, using a gorgeous printable from a little delightful again, you can find it HERE. This seems the most practical for us, great scissor practise for the younger ones, no glue involved and the kids have been enjoying the Christmas books being on display. 

Plus we also have a small festive blackboard where we cross off each number with chalk until the big day , and we can't forget our first year of using a LEGO Advent Calendar!! 

Now these are certainly NOT cheap, but we have just the one to share for the family and judging by the excitement of opening that little box this morning, it is going to be a winner!! 

They have small boxes leading up to the 25th, each with its own little package inside. It may be a tree, a figure etc and in the end it will create a Christmas scene. 

So there you have our wonderful First day of December. We have watched the Santa Claus movie, started on some gorgeous Snowman craft, read lots of Christmas books and had a wonderful day at home absorbing the spirit and excitement!! 

I can not wait for what the next 24 days bring!