Tis the Season.. Already!

It’s hard to believe we’re into the Christmas season already! As I unpacked the Christmas tree from its box yesterday, I honestly felt like I had only just put it away. I imagine I’m probably not alone in feeling a little underprepared for the festivities this time around.

Nevertheless, setting up the Christmas tree on the 1st of December was just as special as usual. The kids were excited to receive their new tree decorations and help decorate the house.

We also began our advent calendar. Continuing on the book advent tradition from last year, I purchased a selection of wrapped books which were hand-picked for our kids by Erin, a homeschooling friend. I opted to buy enough to cycle through the five older kids a few times, so they’ll each end up with several new (mostly second hand) books. Her prices are very reasonable! However I didn’t want it to just be about the books, so each day before a wrapped book is opened we do a short advent reading. This year I chose one of the free ones available on the Bible app YouVersion – hopefully it works out well, since I haven’t actually read ahead to check! This year’s advent has required a minimum of organisation by me – ideal!

No doubt we’ll also enjoy many of our usual Christmas activities in the lead up to December 25th, such as gingerbread making, card making, and other crafts. Starting today we have already begun reading through the selection of Christmas books we own too. If you’re interested in some of our other Christmas traditions, have a look at this post. Let the festivities begin!