On the Ninth Day of Christmas

Christmas Coloring

I admit it, I messed up. The activity that was planned for today was done a few days ago so I had to come up with a last minute activity. That is one thing I have learned from our family activity advent is to have backup activities.

Tonight, we broke open the crayons and did some coloring. Always a fun activity for us. My husband found a great website with coloring pages and the best thing about it is that you can download all the coloring pages into one PDF file. There are about 75 pages! I saved the file on my computer so I can use it again next year.

Website with Christmas Coloring book

To see the other activities that we have done to countdown to Christmas: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8

On the Eighth Day of Christmas

The Nativity

I remember last year, Livy loving to look at and play with my nativity. At 21 months of age, I knew that she didn't truly understand what it was about. So to make this year special, we did more than just set up the nativity.

The area in my living room where I have the nativity set up has been empty since we put up our decorations. I intended for this to be the last decoration to be set up and wanted it to be special. This evening we sat down together as a family and read one of Livy's books on the nativity. (We're saving to tell the story from the bible for Christmas Eve.) After reading and discussing it, we took out each piece to set up. I truly think this had a greater impact on Livy then simply setting up the set.

To see the other activities that we have done to countdown to Christmas: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7

On the Seventh Day of Christmas

Take goodies to our friends

One nice thing about our family advent is that most things are not set in stone. There are a few activities that we have moved around like yesterday's baking cookies. With that I wanted to give some of the gingerbread cookies out while they were fresh so that activity was moved up too.

The sad thing is that I ran out of cookies (blame that on me sneaking them) so I'll have to bake more for more friends and neighbors. They sure are good!

On the Sixth Day of Christmas

Bake Gingerbread Cookies

Today has been a busy day with holiday activities. Not only did we bake yummy gingerbread cookies to be used for tomorrow's advent activity, but we also decorated the tree. (I'll post my holiday decorations later.)

Baking gingerbread cookies was a first for me and I'm surprised at how delicious they turned out. I've snatched several while they were cooling! I think I might make this a tradition and bake these every year!

Gingerbread Man Cookies

INGREDIENTS

• 3 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter (room temperature, softened)
• 1/2 cup dark-brown sugar, packed
• 1 Tbsp ground ginger
• 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
• Optional raisins, chocolate chips, candy pieces, frosting

METHOD

1 In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and spices. Set aside.

2 In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Mix in eggs and molasses. Gradually add the flour mixture; combine on low speed. (You may need to work it with your hands to incorporate the last bit of flour.) Divide dough in thirds; wrap each third in plastic. Chill for at least 1 hour or overnight. Before rolling out, let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. If after refrigerating the dough feels too soft to roll-out, work in a little more flour.

3 Heat oven to 350°. Place a dough third on a large piece of lightly floured parchment paper or wax paper. Using a rolling pin, roll dough 1/8 inch thick. (I did mine a little thicker. I measured them at 1/4 inch thick.) Refrigerate again for 5-10 minutes to make it easier to cut out the cookies. Use either a cookie cutter or place a stencil over the dough and use a knife to cut into desired shapes. Press raisins, chocolate chips, or candy pieces in the center of each cookie if desired for "buttons".

4 Transfer to ungreased baking sheets. Bake until crisp but not darkened, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Let sit a few minutes and then use a metal spatula to transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Decorate as desired.

For Day 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 activities

On the Fifth Day of Christmas

Picking out our Christmas Tree

Today we headed to a local Christmas Tree Lot and picked out a tree. Someday we would love to head up into the mountains and cut our own. Of course, I don't have the slightest clue how to go about that. Something for me to look into for next year.

I'm sure you can guess what we'll be doing tomorrow!

What did you do for your advent countdown today?

Tutorial on my Christmas Advent

Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, & Day 4 Activities