2013 Daily December 5--Christmas countdown chain/Sinterklass Eve

One of our most favorite and longest running Christmas traditions is our Christmas countdown chain.  Each day the kids take off a link of the chain from Dec 1st to the 24 and there is an activity listed on the chain for us to do that day.  We do all sorts of things, and they change every year, but the one that does not change is December 5th.  December 5th is always the same.

December 5th is Sinterklass Eve.  Sinterklass Day is a Dutch tradition and is celebrated December 6th.  On Sinterklass Eve it is tradition to give a bag of chocolates anonymously to your friends--in other words door bell ditching which my kids love!  This is the kind of chocolate we give out--yum!  Of course we have to sample a few to make sure we aren't giving away bad chocolate :)

 We celebrate this every year, and I think it is one of my kids' favorite parts of Christmas.  Each of them get a bag of chocolates to deliver to whomever they wish.  We plan out how we will approach the house, turn the lights off in the car, park a block away, ring the door bell, drop the bag and then run.  Great fun!

Happy Sinterklass Eve!

Daily December 11--Our Christmas Chain

I love the magazine Family Fun.  I have been a subscriber almost since it first started publication 15 some years ago or so.  One of our favorite Christmas traditions we got from there.  They used to have a column called "My Great Idea," and so many years ago they had one called "The Christmas Chain."  about a mom who made a countdown to Christmas chain, but she did it a little differently.  On each link of the chain was a different activity to do that day--take a treat to your neighbor, go caroling, make a Christmas card for a friend, see a live nativity, etc.  I thought this was a great idea and decided to start it with our family.  I think Miss A was 4 at the time, so this is our 11th year doing it.  Ben and I make up the activities with help and suggestions from the kids.  One of our favorite that we got from the article was celebrating Sinterklass Day which I posted about over here.  The ideas are simple and easy.  Nothing too big, and things people would normally do, but I think sometimes we get so busy we forget to do the simple things.  This way we for sure get them done because they are scheduled and written down and the kids are very good to remind us "we still need to do ....... today from the chain!"  I make the chain as I look at the calendar and try to judge how much time we will have each day depending upon other activities and what we will do.

Getting this year's chain ready.

Some of our chain activities this year are star gaze, watch The Nativity Story movie, go see Christmas lights, each kid has a chain that says they get to pick their favorite Christmas story and song to read and sing together that night, make a Christmas card for a friend,  watch The Polar Express and have hot chocolate, take Christmas cookies to a friend, have a candy cane hunt, and Sinterklass Eve (of course).  There are thousands of ideas and things to do, but the main thing is keep it easy and doable for your schedule.  Don't make it a chore, make it fun, and remember to put service activities in there too.

Daily December 6: Blue Jeans Week 46

For my Daily December today I am posting my photos of the week.  I normally do this every Tuesday.  Enjoy!

Sunday:  We got the Christmas tree up the day after Thanksgiving, but because of company and such we didn't get it decorated until today.  Everyone likes to help, and it looks really good.

Monday:  Rarely do I get a shot like this--the whole family at Wal-mart?  Yes, it is crazy, but tonight we were shopping for Sub-4-Santa adopt-a-child, so everyone needed to come and help.  It was crazy, and fun, and I am glad that is a tradition we have to help the kids think of others and realize how blessed they are.

Tuesday:  Miss O on her own decided she wanted to string popcorn for the Christmas tree that Ben and I have in our room.  It is a smaller one, so it shouldn't take her too long.   I was impressed with her desire and diligence in doing it.  It also made the house smell so good making popcorn in the popcorn maker versus the microwave.

Wednesday:  The fruit of Christmas is a pomegranate my girls tell me, and they love them.  I always thought oranges were the fruit of Christmas.  I don't think I knew what a pomegranate was until college or later :)

Thursday:  I got the Christmas countdown chain up and ready to go.  My kids love that tradition.  Everyday they take off a link and it has something to do--sing carols, read a favorite Christmas story, etc.  See Daily December 5 post for more on that.

Friday:  This nativity set is our newest Christmas decoration this year.  I love it.  It is very detailed with jewels on the wise men and such.  I got it as Costco.  My kids are finally old enough I felt confident in buying a really nice nativity set to have out.

Saturday:  It has been tradition for the last 11 years that the first Saturday in December my parents watch the kids all day so Ben and I can head to the city and (hopefully) finish all our Christmas shopping.  So we enjoyed a full day together Saturday and actually did finish all the shopping.  Ben had to try out a few of the things we got just to make sure they worked :)

Hope you are all enjoying the season and be sure and check back often for my Daily December blog posts!  Have a great week!

Daily December 5: Sinterklass Eve

I am a huge Family Fun magazine fan.  I have been a subscriber almost since the first issue, and about 8 years ago (I think?) I saw this idea for The Christmas Chain in their "Idea of the Month" article.  It is a Christmas countdown chain, but on each link is a different activity that you do that day.  For example:  go look at Christmas lights, sing carols, make a Christmas card for a friend, visit and sing at a nursing home, make gingerbread cookies, etc.  I try to do a mix of fun, service, and ideas that remind us of the real meaning of Christmas.  Today's link says "Sinterklass Eve," and my kids jump for joy because they love this one.  We do it every year.  Sinterklass Day is a Dutch Christmas tradition, and it is celebrated on December 6th.  On the eve before under a winter star lite sky, it is tradition to deliver chocolates anonymously to your friends.  Ring the doorbell and run or "door bell ditching" fun here that my kids love.  We make up about 6 bags of chocolate, and then each family member gets to decide who to take their bag too.  I just usually buy a few bags of Hershey's kisses, and we put them in cellophane bags with a ribbon and tag that says "Happy Sinterklass Eve!  Sinterklass Day is a Dutch tradition celebrated on Dec 6th.  On the eve before it is tradition to deliver chocolates to your friends anonymously.  Enjoy!"  The kids love delivering their bags, ringing the door bell, and then sprinting back to the car and speeding off (hopefully) before the door is answered.  A fun, very well-loved tradition at our house.  Try it at yours this year.