Decorate the Home - Countdown to Christmas - Day 1

On the first of December, Sophia, Olivia, and I brought in a few bins of Christmas items from the hobby shed and began choosing what we wanted to use to decorate the home this year.

One of the first items to go up was the advent calendar. Last year, I hand-embroidered 25 wool felt envelopes that have numbers on them (1-25). In each of the envelopes, I place a little slip of paper with an activity/activities to do each day.

In the process of going through the Christmas items, we collected two bags of books and decorations that we no longer wanted. Our goal - from now until Christmas - is to donate at least one bag of things that we no longer use, need, or want.

The items will be given to a variety of secondhand shops in the area that sell the items at low prices to help individuals and families stretch their budgets and/or to fund programs that benefit those in need in the community.

In the evening, I read a Christmas book to the girls. Each day from now until Christmas, I will read a book to them each night. The one who opens the envelope for the day gets to pick out the book that is read that evening.