One of my girls most memorable holiday tradition is our advent calendar. I’m not sure if it’s the daily candy, the fact that each one comes with a little note, or counting the days til Christmas. If it were me it would be the latter. When I was a kid I loved watching the days melt away and the Christmas season unfold.


The girl’s job was to fill the bags with candy, and of course they decided eating the candy was part of the job description as well.


A couple years ago we introduced an activity associated with each day. Instead of merely just eating the candy we thought doing a little something each day would help us get in the holiday spirit. The days so far:

Day 01: read a Christmas book
Day 02: share your talent with a neighbor
Day 03: make someones bed

Adam was in charge of making the notes so I’m just as surprised as the girls each day when we dip into the bag.


The other tradition we’re doing this year that’s sort of advent-ish is our chain of service. Anytime we do something for someone else we write it down and chain them up together. We hope by the end of the month the chain fills our walls and will be a reminder throughout the month of the good that comes when we give. (i can totally see doing this all year long)

So far it’s been the best thing. Each day the girls jump in the car after school and blurt out the times they did something helpful. Even in just the short time we’ve been doing it, it’s created a great feeling around our home. Seems they wake up each day looking for a way to add another piece to the chain. We have loved it.

Do you have an advent or and advent-ish type tradition to celebrate the holiday season?