Advent Activities

This year we are building on the Advent traditions we started last year! We will use the reading plan we used last year, and add Advent activities! I adapted an idea from Chasing Cheerios for an Advent Calendar. I bought the tins at Michael's. They were about $20 (for 30) and I used my 40% off coupon. I also bought stickers but used scrapbook paper I had on-hand.

In each tin I have a different activity to help us celebrate Christmas! You can see my ideas in the calendar below! I just printed them out on strips of paper and rolled them up in the tins. And, it's my little secret, but since they are just on strips of paper, I can always move some around if I need to! For example, if Dec. 15th turns out not to be a good day to go to the library, I'll just switch it for a better day.

 

Hopefully, adding these fun activities to our Advent celebration will help us remember that Christmas is about more than just opening gifts!

Giveaway Winner!

Tracie won with the comment, "I have followed Palm Gifts since their last giveaway...I love the monogrammed totes, and this year I am planning on ordering several monogrammed scarves as Christmas gifts for friends. Their prices are wonderful and their items are beautiful....I too wouldn't mind some shiny silver under my own tree!"

Congratulations! Tracie, if you'll email me your email address to todayshousewife @ hotmail.com I'll pass your info onto The Palm Gifts and they will help you personalize your ornament!

Giveaway!

You don't have to be at the stores at 4:00am to get this great gift! The Palm Gifts is giving away a personalized Christmas tree ornament! All you have to do to enter to click over to The Palm Gifts  and check out their super cute personalized gift items! Come back here and leave a comment telling us what you see that you would love to have under your tree this year! The winner will be announced Sunday night.

You can enter extra times when you follow us on Twitter @TodaysHousewife, follow @ThePalmGifts on Twitter, become a Facebook fan of Today's Housewife and/or The Palm Gifts. Just leave separate comments for each way you want to enter!

PS- If you already follow us and/or are already a fan, just let us know and we'll count it!

Winner announced here!

Kama's Christmas List

Since I'm pregnant and due January 5, I turned in my Christmas list months ago so I wouldn't have to think about it. I also have done all the shopping I plan to do and will get everyone who didn't tell me what they wanted a gift card (which I never do). Here are 5 things I asked for:

1. Quilting magazine subscription--doesn't matter which one, but I think it would be cool since I'm really "into" quilting right now.

2. Shark Steam Pocket Mop--I have heard these are great and sanitizing the tile would be great with another baby crawling around soon!

3. A vacuum with a wand--The kind that will vacuum the whole house with just the flick of a wand. Okay, I'm dreaming. I have to lug out the shop vac to clean all the spider webs, so I'd like one that will do all that at once.

4. Sewing 2010 Day to Day Calendar--Looks like it has some great projects!

5. Window on the World--A book I recently saw at our craft show that talks all about people groups around the world.

Starting tomorrow, you can enter to win a Christmas ornament from The Palm Gifts! So when you're taking a break from the Black Friday shopping, be sure to come back and enter to win our giveaway!

The Gift of Plastic

Flying during the Christmas holidays does not make gift giving (or receiving) easy. Since we now have to pay to check our bags for our 2 week vacation, it really is best if we give/are given gift cards for the items we would love to receive. Here is what is on my list this year.

Hallmark--I have mentioned my love of WoodWick candles before. Our store here has a great selection of scents. Last year I dropped my candle and therefore had to trash it. I had to remind myself it is only a candle, but my house is dying for a new smell!

Bed, Bath, and Beyond--I still have a blender on my wish list. It is the "big ticket" item on my list this year. But I also am changing out my everyday cups (the $1.99 cheap plastic ones) for Turvis Tumblers. It will be a cup by cup upgrade, but worth the investment in the end.

Hobby Lobby--This fall with my new sewing habit I have visited Hobby Lobby several times a week. New items I would love to have are a self-healing mat, acrylic ruler, and a rotary cutter. And fabrics and notions can always be found there too.

Pampered Chef--I love Pampered Chef items, but I never pamper myself. I LOVE their stoneware. We use our medium bar pan at least 4-5 times a week for chicken, bread, biscuits, cinnamon rolls, etc. And cookies are perfect on the stone. Instead of 8 cookies, I will be able to make many more on the large bar pan. (Plus, also during the Great Purge  of '09, I sold all my cookie sheets in hopes of getting this pan!)

Target--Who couldn't use a Target gift card? During that Great Purge of '09 I got rid of all my glass mixing bowls. They were too heavy and not kid friendly. I found these great OXO bowls--plastic with a rubber bottom.

Still looking for just the right gift for someone on your list? This weekend you can enter to win a Christmas ornament from The Palm Gifts! Be sure to visit again this weekend to enter to win!

Alicia's Christmas List

Like we usually do, Tim and I will be foregoing presents for each other and spending our money on a large present for our family. This year it's one more weekend trip to Disney World and tickets home to see our families for Christmas. But for the sake of argument, I've come up with a few things on my holiday decorating list. Anyone who has been to my home knows I need more Christmas decorations like I need a hole in my head, but I can't help but love a few of these:

1. Velvet Tree Skirt - It's completely unnecessary. I usually use a white sheet. It's always worked fine. I even have a few nicely wrapped "fake" presents to tuck under the tree so it doesn't look sparse, but this one would look so nice with the stockings we already have!

2. Holiday Pillow - Pottery Barn has a great selection of throw pillows specifically for the Christmas season. How cute would these be on my couch?

3. Alphabet Wreath - I love these and what a personal touch for a mantel or entryway! Plus, if you buy the artificial variety you can use it year after year!

4. Snowflake Garden Stakes - Winter can always seem a bit dreary without full and flowering beds out in the yard, but these would brighten up any flower bed. So cute!

5. Burlap Ribbon - I love this ribbon! It's so organic and the wire edges would make it very easy to work with. It would be fantastic to make a formal wreath or arrangement a little more casual for a home like mine.

Where is your favorite place to get holiday decor and what's on your list?

Speaking of holiday decor, this weekend we are hosting a giveaway from The Palm Gifts for a Christmas tree ornament! Be sure to stop back by this weekend and enter to win!

My Christmas List

In Christmases past I've gotten lots of fun gadgets for the kitchen. But this year, I have decided to only ask for non-kitchen, non-house, non-boring items! It's not that I don't love new kitchen towels (especially from Williams Sonoma!), but I'm scaling back the request list and only asking for what I really (really, really!) want.

This year from Lee's family we're only asking for one thing- donations to the Wii fund. My husband promises lots of family game nights if we get enough $ in the fund! I'm not much of a gamer, but it sure looks like fun!

As for the rest of my list? Books! I have thirteen or so books on my list this year. You can see them all on my other blog, but here are the highlights:

• Treasuring God in Our Traditions by Noel Piper. By the way, you can enter to win a copy of this book at my friend Brooke's blog. The winner will be announced Thursday (I think!) so hurry over to enter!

• From Clutter to Clarity: Simplifying Life from the Inside Out by Nancy Twigg. The description says, "Cluttered homes, overbooked schedules, and maxed-out credit cards are only symptoms of what's happening on the inside. As you follow God's directive to clear out the clutter that complicates your life, you'll discover the clarity you desire. Isn't it time?" Sign me up!

• The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond. I get hungry just thinking about it! (Also in the food category- In Defense of Food by Pollan and Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon.)

• I also want books to help me teach my boys, including A Charlotte Mason Companion by Andreola, The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading by Wise, and The Well Trained Mind by Bauer. David is in preschool at our church now, but next fall he'll be at home learning with me full time (and James will head to preschool!).
  

• And finally, Merriam-Webster's Concise Dictionary of English Usage. I'm writing a book (isn't every former English major writing a book?) and I need help!