Now that both of our kids are getting older, we have decided to make a better effort at making the season of Advent very obvious in our home. We have talked with other families and have gathered a few ideas we plan to incorporate into our home this year. This is our plan:
1) We will set up and decorate our Christmas tree after Thanksgiving, but instead of putting our normal Christmas ornaments up, we have purchased purple ball ornaments and white lights. We will only put those on for the weeks of Advent. Then, on Christmas eve (or the day before, depending on when we head to the grandparents house) we will take down the white lights and purple balls and put up our colored lights and Christmas balls up. At this point we will also put up our stockings, etc. We hope this will signify a change for the kids and they will be able to visually see us move from Advent to Christmas.
2) We also purchased a nativity set that is kid friendly :). We hope to have the kids play with it and we can sit down and talk to them all about the journey for Mary and Joseph as they prepared to deliver our Lord.
3)We have an Advent Calendar this year that the kids will get to set up the nativity one by one until Christmas.
4) I plan to put a jar together of different service activities and fun/preparation type of activities for Advent that we will draw from each day.
5) Of course we have our Advent Wreath which we will use to pray together as a family before each dinner.
For now, that is what I have planned. We are so excited to create an atmosphere in our home that is focused on preparing our hearts for the Birth of our Lord. This year will be extra special as I too am expecting a child, due 3 days after Christmas. I pray that I can walk with Mary these next few weeks and that my heart will transform into one of love and selflessness.
This month we plan to finish our Christmas shopping and Christmas cards will be sent out after the arrival of a special someone so they can also become birth announcements :). We plan to enjoy the Season of Advent this year like we never have before!
Great ideas, Athena! One I learned to pass along is having a little manger that the kids can put a piece of straw in for any act of service or sacrifice they do out of love for Baby Jesus with the idea of filling the manger with hay by Christmas. Another one is the Jesse Tree devotion, which can involve the kids making the Jesse Tree ornaments and reading through the promises of the Bible every day of Advent leading up to the Birth of Christ. Lots of fun activities to choose from!
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