Advent

What an exciting time of year. There is so much excitement and anticipation! I love all of the lights and color. This year, Mary Laine is finally old enough to appreciate some of the anticipation of the Advent Season - I have been telling her that Jesus' birthday is coming up and we spend the whole month preparing for that.

So, thanks to Pinterest, I decided to make an Advent calendar that would have an activity for us to do each day.

Yesterday, Mary Laine got to open the first card:

So, we decorated the Christmas Tree (we actually did this the night before, since I knew that we would have such a busy day on the first):

Went to the Lighting of the Courthouse (sorry, no pictures from that).

Added in my friend Robin's book signing for her first book:

And, as an added bonus, we could see the outside screening of the movie from the back porch of the bookstore. So, Mary Laine and I were able to cuddle up on the couch under a blanket while we watched:

Poor Langdon was sick with the stomach bug, so he and Daddy had to stay home and miss all of the festivities. But, since it was Deacon's birthday, there was plenty of celebrating to be done at home:

Finally, we started the tradition of the "Elf on the Shelf". Thanks Aunt Cindy! We have named our elf "Nix". Mary Laine was so nervous to look for him the first day - I think that she was expecting to find a life-sized elf who was actually alive. Now that she has seen that there is nothing to fear, she is really warming up to Nix:

Happy Advent Season and Happy 4th Birthday Deacon Dog!!