Our Christmas Chain

Years ago my sister passed along an idea she found in the magazine, Family Fun. The idea was to make a chain for each day, leading up to Christmas Day (like an advent calendar), and written on the inside of the chain was some sort of activity for the day.

Well we started it when the girls were little and it has been such a fun tradition. It takes a lot of planning on our part, but the excitement on their faces each morning is worth it. I love it because it's taught our girls patience (hoping it rubs off on Hayden) and it's helped us spread Christmas activities across the entire month, rather than trying to get everything in that last week.

So our countdown has begun...

25 days till Christmas...we made hot chocolate and sucked on candy canes while we read the story "Christmas Oranges." I cried while I read it and Elle and Sydney had to take over at one point. Hayden used his chubby, sticky little hands to wipe away my tears.



24 days till Christmas...we (tried) to decorate a gingerbread house. We'll have to finish it on another day as the frosting would not set up.

23 days till Christmas...we're headed to the Festival of the Trees. The kids don't know this yet, so I'll surprise them when they return from school. I'm excited to look for Gracie Gledhill's tree...pink and bright green...fitting for a little girl had she lived.

I'll try to post our activities this year, because some of them are just magical and you'll need to know of them in advance if you'd like to attend.

On this Saturday and Sunday evenings, at the Cathederal of the Madeline, the Salt Lake Children's Choir will be performing at 8:00 PM. They are INCREDIBLE!! We went last year, just weeks before Connor was born and it turned out to be one of those special evenings (go early to get seats if you'd like one).

So...this Christmas Chain tradition has been fun in the past and this year it's playing a different role for me. It's forcing me to bring in the fun of Christmas when all I want to do lately is hide in my hole and feel sorry for myself. So I'm hoping that by Christmas I will have felt some of the joy that this season has to offer.

If you have traditions that are great for kids, I'd love to hear them. We have a few chain links that are still empty (I tell the kids that these activities are "surprises!")