One of my favorite memories as a child was opening our advent calendar each day. As kids we had calendars that had pictures behind it, or chocolates. My sister and I always had to share. I knew that I wanted to continue the advent calendar tradition for our son but I wanted it to be a little different. For one I wanted tit to include special activities and small  treats (that were not candy) that related to the holiday. So two years ago I snagged some fabric and started sewing. Now as many of my projects seem to go (probably because I usually fly by the seat of my pants rather than oh…planning them out.) I didn’t buy enough fabric, so I had to improvise. Luckily I had a bunch of extra red fabric and some bright green hippo fabric for backing. I made my design up as I went along. I knew I wanted pockets big enough to hold a small toy or item but not too big either. I sewed everything together as I would a quilt and I am quite happy how it turned out. I used small wooden spools and ribbon to create the markers for the days of the week we are counting down. 

Now all of that being said I am digressing from my advent calendar this year. Christmas in some ways has snuck up on me, and we are SUPER busy at the moment with our remodel and looking at/applying for private schools- I swear it is worse than applying for college there are moments I want to scream, “it’s only Kindergarten!” But I think the main reason is I’m just not in the holiday spirit. The year anniversary death of our daughter will be Saturday and that just isn’t the most joyous way to kick off the advent calendar/holiday season.

So this year we are trying out the lego advent calendar, it looks great and our son will love it since his love for legos has grown over the last year. Plus we will still do many of the same activities I would have put in the advent pockets, going out to look at lights, baking christmas cookies, elfing our neighbors, choosing a family from a giving tree etc.