On the Fourth Day of Christmas

Build a snowman out of marshmallows!

What have you done for your Christmas countdown?

Note: The countdown pictures for my Day's of Christmas post come from my mini envelope advent.

For Day One, Day Two & Day Three Activities

On the Third Day of Christmas

For today's advent activity we are...

Making pictures for Grandma and Abuleos (grandparents in Spanish).

Livy loves doing art, so this is a natural activity for us. The best thing is that this morning Livy asked to do our advent. It shows that she is looking forward and enjoying our activities, no matter how simple they are.

Plus it's always nice, most of the time, when they want to repeat the activity. Livy decided to repeat Day Two's activity of painting her nails. This is what her daddy found this morning. I need to find a good hiding place for the nail polish!

Note: Number pictures for my countdown posts are pictures of the mini envelope from my advent.

To see my advent and a tutorial

To see Day One & Day Two activities

On the Second Day of Christmas

Today for our Christmas Countdown, we.....

Painted Toe Nails!

Something fun and simple.

What did you do for your advent today? If you are doing a family activity advent this year and posted it on your blog, please leave a link in the comment section.

Note: All picture headers for my Advent Countdown posts are the mini envelopes from my advent.

To see the advent calendar and a tutorial

To see Day One's activities

Christmas Traditions: Mr. Peeps

Note: The Second Day of Christmas Advent Activities will be posted later today.

Mr. Peeps has made his appearance at our house and I couldn't be happier! For those who don't know, Mr. Peeps is a very special elf sent from Santa himself. His job is to watch the children and report directly to Santa of any wrong-doings and good deeds.

My first thought when this special package arrived the day after Thanksgiving, that Livy, at 2 1/2, was too young to understand why Mr. Peeps was here. But Santa, who is very wise, knew this was the perfect time for him to come.

I'm grateful that all I need to do is remind Livy periodically that Mr. Peeps is watching and quickly her behavior changes.

Just a side note: For next year's delivery, Mr Peeps will arrive in a very special box, waiting to be created by me, along with a special letter from Santa. I'll post this in a few weeks if everything works out.

For Grown up eyes only: Our Mr Peep came from the Annalee Company. I ordered him back in August and only paid $10. I love that he has a wire in him so he can be posed. There are several companies that make elves for this purpose.

Here is the poem that goes along with Mr. Peeps.

Christmas is approaching, and this is the day

Santa has sent Mr. Peeps to your house to stay.

He sent this small elf to your house and mine.

The day after Thanksgiving, He must be on time.

Mr. Peeps has a purpose. His purpose will be,

To whisper to Santa all the good that he sees.

Soon after he gets here, he moves only at night

To high places, low places, he stays in plain sight.

In the kitchen, for instance, he sits high on a shelf.

Mr. Peeps can sit anywhere, for he is an elf.

He holds very still when he thinks you are watching.

His magic is precious, it fades with on touching.

He sits on the tree on Christmas Eve day.

He knows that Santa is soon on his way.

He waits and he waits without making a noise.

He waits until Santa arrives with the toys.

So you better be nice and mind what you say

Because Mr. Peeps will tell Santa when he comes with his sleigh.

Once Christmas is here and Santa has come,

Mr. Peeps must leave, for his job is well done.

But, he will return next year on the very same day,

To watch your behavior as you work and play.

- Sharon Reynolds

On the First Day of Christmas

Today is the start of our Christmas countdown. Last night I brought out the advents and tried to explain to Livy just how it worked. I'm not sure how much she caught on, but once we start doing the activities, I'm sure she'll love it.

Check out the tutorial on how to make this advent calendar. (The pictures never seem to do it justice!)

This month I plan on sharing with you the simple activities that we are doing to countdown to Christmas. Some activities we will do together as a family and other activities we'll do during the day. (I don't think my sweetheart wants his toenails painted!) My hope is that this will bring excitement for Livy and cherished memories for the future.

On the First Day of Christmas...

Write letters to Santa!

Livy has been talking for months on writing a letter to Santa. Today was the big day that she was finally able to ask Santa for a horse. Thankfully I talked her into only asking for a toy horse!

Her letter

One excited little girl off to the mailbox.

Perhaps Santa will reply to her letter, we'll wait and see. :)

Have you started your advent activities? If so, what are you doing for today?