While researching Advent and Christmas traditions for our family, I came across a lot of wonderful ideas that I absolutely do not want to forget! (Not that I will even attempt to accomplish them all!) So, I am going to compile them all here and, hopefully next Christmas, I'll remember that I even made this post!!
General Ideas
Mantle phrase:
I like the idea of decorating for Advent first, then decorating for Christmas.
Jessica's Advent Mantle
Charlotte's
Christmas breakfast:
We had Bohemian Fruit Slices and Homemade Eggnog. It was delicious! And while I love the idea of a birthday cake for Jesus, we decided that with a birthday 6 days before and 6 days after Christmas, it is just too much cake!! Next year, the plan is to stick candles in our Bohemian and sing at breakfast. And the boys want to make sure we also cook some sausage! And eggs would be yummy! So:
Christmas Day breakfast menu:
Cheesy eggs
Sausage
Bohemian Fruit Slices (with candles!)
Homemade Eggnog
Jesse tree:
We just used a small tree and paper ornaments, but I would like to find a banner style (felt or cloth) tree and corresponding ornaments. Here's a different idea for unique ornaments.
I need to develop my own list of readings. I used 3 different sources this year and none of them coordinated with each other. I'll check Jessica's list for help developing mine.
Orthodox religions use a 52-day Jesse Tree. I'd like to read more about that.
Christmas cards:
Write and send them! And here's a beautiful way to display them!
Purging/Cleaning House/Spirits as part of preparation:
I had never heard of this idea before and the realities of life with my boys would probably never allow it, but a girl can dream, right? Here's a sample cleaning schedule from Colleen and a coordinating post about the more important work in Advent - preparing our souls.
Presents for Jesus:
This is an incredible idea, and it seems like a natural extension to what we did this year (only gifts that were for the whole family, such as books, games, etc.) Ann has a list of catalogs her family uses in this post.
Advent Calendar Extension:
I love Advent calendars (especially ours!), but I don't like the way the wise men, sheep, and shepherds all come before baby Jesus. And I really want that multitude of Angels to be present at Jesus' birth!
I'm hoping to find a blank wooden calendar with doors, in order to rearrange and add more figures to have a Christmas season extension to the Advent calendar. Still searching!
(Update: I found some mini wooden figures at Michael's - extra animals, stars, lots of Angels! And Kevin suggested that if I don't find an extra blank calendar, we could just add them back into our Advent calendar for the Christmas Season.)
Advent flow into Christmas Season:
We had three rotations of activities for the boys each night during Advent: hanging the ornament on the Jesse Tree, opening the appropriate door on the Advent Calendar, and blowing out the Advent and mantle candles after our procession.
Next year, during the Christmas Season, I'd like to have three corresponding activities: opening the appropriate door for the Christmas Extension Calendar, blowing out the Christ candle and mantle candles after our procession, and unwrapping a Christmas book to be read in place of the Jesse tree readings. (I know Jessica's idea was to unwrap a book each day of Advent, but by the time Christmas came around, the boys were tired of reading Christmas books!!! We can't have that happen again!)
Christmas Stockings:
Seeing this picture reminds me that I hope to carry on my grandfather's tradition and needlepoint stockings for each my children. (I like this one!) Probably not going to happen in this lifetime, but I am still going to dream about it!
Books:
Books for Advent will focus on the theme of waiting or be attributed to a December Saint's Feast Day. (Obviously need more research in this category!)
Waiting for Christmas: A Story about the Advent Calendar (the boys loved this one!)
The Jesse Tree
St. Nicholas books:
The Bakers Dozen: A St. Nicholas Tale
St. Lucia books
Christmas cookies:
Make more! Save some and gift some (recycling guys, mailman, Mimi and Poppy's family, friends, family, Father Willie, etc. )
I really like Jessica's idea of "painting" the cookies.
Other gifts:
-Homemade vanilla extract
-Homemade block crayons
-Clove apples (This is the second year we've attempted this and we almost completed one apple! I think 2010 is our year!)
Ideas from Books
The Bakers Dozen: A St. Nicholas Tale:
Make St. Nicholas cookies using this recipe and this cookie cutter.
A Gift from Saint Francis: The First Creche
Remember our animal friends at Christmas by making birdseed and other treats.
Waiting for Christmas: A Story about the Advent Calendar
Make an Advent calendar by tying little cookies onto cardboard (possibly butter cookies, but try to find an original German recipe).
Calendar-Specific Ideas
Check out Jessica's Advent Schedule.
Feast of St. Nicholas:
Hold a party again for our homeschool group, focusing more on traditional recipes.
'O' Antiphons:
-House:
-Christine's
-Jessica's
-Special activities for each antiphon:
-Jessica's ideas
Feast of St. Lucia:
I didn't know quite what to do with this feast day, since the dog and I are the only females in the house! Apparently, I am not the only one is this situation. So, next year, I can look a liitle more into Dawn's tradition: Star Boys
Feast of the Holy Innocents:
-Bless your children
OK, I've got to stop here and continue researching in November. I told myself (and my husband) that I would publish this post before the end of the Christmas Season. So, here goes!!
Some late notes:
-Order Advent Candles
-Order cloves in bulk
-Stockings, for sure, need to come down on Jan. 6. We can decide if we want everything down then or if we want some things to stay until Feb. 2.
General Ideas
Mantle phrase:
I like the idea of decorating for Advent first, then decorating for Christmas.
Jessica's Advent Mantle
Charlotte's
Christmas breakfast:
We had Bohemian Fruit Slices and Homemade Eggnog. It was delicious! And while I love the idea of a birthday cake for Jesus, we decided that with a birthday 6 days before and 6 days after Christmas, it is just too much cake!! Next year, the plan is to stick candles in our Bohemian and sing at breakfast. And the boys want to make sure we also cook some sausage! And eggs would be yummy! So:
Christmas Day breakfast menu:
Cheesy eggs
Sausage
Bohemian Fruit Slices (with candles!)
Homemade Eggnog
Jesse tree:
We just used a small tree and paper ornaments, but I would like to find a banner style (felt or cloth) tree and corresponding ornaments. Here's a different idea for unique ornaments.
I need to develop my own list of readings. I used 3 different sources this year and none of them coordinated with each other. I'll check Jessica's list for help developing mine.
Orthodox religions use a 52-day Jesse Tree. I'd like to read more about that.
Christmas cards:
Write and send them! And here's a beautiful way to display them!
Purging/Cleaning House/Spirits as part of preparation:
I had never heard of this idea before and the realities of life with my boys would probably never allow it, but a girl can dream, right? Here's a sample cleaning schedule from Colleen and a coordinating post about the more important work in Advent - preparing our souls.
Presents for Jesus:
This is an incredible idea, and it seems like a natural extension to what we did this year (only gifts that were for the whole family, such as books, games, etc.) Ann has a list of catalogs her family uses in this post.
Advent Calendar Extension:
I love Advent calendars (especially ours!), but I don't like the way the wise men, sheep, and shepherds all come before baby Jesus. And I really want that multitude of Angels to be present at Jesus' birth!
I'm hoping to find a blank wooden calendar with doors, in order to rearrange and add more figures to have a Christmas season extension to the Advent calendar. Still searching!
(Update: I found some mini wooden figures at Michael's - extra animals, stars, lots of Angels! And Kevin suggested that if I don't find an extra blank calendar, we could just add them back into our Advent calendar for the Christmas Season.)
Advent flow into Christmas Season:
We had three rotations of activities for the boys each night during Advent: hanging the ornament on the Jesse Tree, opening the appropriate door on the Advent Calendar, and blowing out the Advent and mantle candles after our procession.
Next year, during the Christmas Season, I'd like to have three corresponding activities: opening the appropriate door for the Christmas Extension Calendar, blowing out the Christ candle and mantle candles after our procession, and unwrapping a Christmas book to be read in place of the Jesse tree readings. (I know Jessica's idea was to unwrap a book each day of Advent, but by the time Christmas came around, the boys were tired of reading Christmas books!!! We can't have that happen again!)
Christmas Stockings:
Seeing this picture reminds me that I hope to carry on my grandfather's tradition and needlepoint stockings for each my children. (I like this one!) Probably not going to happen in this lifetime, but I am still going to dream about it!
Books:
Books for Advent will focus on the theme of waiting or be attributed to a December Saint's Feast Day. (Obviously need more research in this category!)
Waiting for Christmas: A Story about the Advent Calendar (the boys loved this one!)
The Jesse Tree
St. Nicholas books:
The Bakers Dozen: A St. Nicholas Tale
St. Lucia books
Christmas cookies:
Make more! Save some and gift some (recycling guys, mailman, Mimi and Poppy's family, friends, family, Father Willie, etc. )
I really like Jessica's idea of "painting" the cookies.
Other gifts:
-Homemade vanilla extract
-Homemade block crayons
-Clove apples (This is the second year we've attempted this and we almost completed one apple! I think 2010 is our year!)
Ideas from Books
The Bakers Dozen: A St. Nicholas Tale:
Make St. Nicholas cookies using this recipe and this cookie cutter.
A Gift from Saint Francis: The First Creche
Remember our animal friends at Christmas by making birdseed and other treats.
Waiting for Christmas: A Story about the Advent Calendar
Make an Advent calendar by tying little cookies onto cardboard (possibly butter cookies, but try to find an original German recipe).
Calendar-Specific Ideas
Check out Jessica's Advent Schedule.
Feast of St. Nicholas:
Hold a party again for our homeschool group, focusing more on traditional recipes.
'O' Antiphons:
-House:
-Christine's
-Jessica's
-Special activities for each antiphon:
-Jessica's ideas
Feast of St. Lucia:
I didn't know quite what to do with this feast day, since the dog and I are the only females in the house! Apparently, I am not the only one is this situation. So, next year, I can look a liitle more into Dawn's tradition: Star Boys
Feast of the Holy Innocents:
-Bless your children
OK, I've got to stop here and continue researching in November. I told myself (and my husband) that I would publish this post before the end of the Christmas Season. So, here goes!!
Some late notes:
-Order Advent Candles
-Order cloves in bulk
-Stockings, for sure, need to come down on Jan. 6. We can decide if we want everything down then or if we want some things to stay until Feb. 2.
