Nest Guest #4 [Shannon]

Today's guest is Shanny who writes over at In Metaphors. If you're looking for tips on advent, (like me!) you will love this post! Here's what Christmas will look like for her and her fam this year:

I am thoroughly excited about Christmas this year.  I got a bit 'ho hum' about it over the last couple of years with the busyness of winter borne babies and birthdays (all the members of our family are born November through January).  But with my oldest being almost 3, I am excited about making memories and discovering Christmas wide-eyed together.

Here's the big plan: Advent.

You know those chocolate advent calendars we got as kids?  Well, I want to do more than that.  Think: reusable, decorative, boxes and tins.  Think: thoughtful Christmas activities for each day nestled inside.  Think: little presents that relate to that activity.  Think (yup, that's what I'm doing a lot these days) along with making, planning, buying, crafting, researching, and... my head is gonna burst with ideas.

We (mainly me, but also my husband) want this year to be about anticipating together, giving, sharing, and well, together-ness.  The activities will include the whimsical ideas (making paper snowflakes) and the thoughtful (bringing cookies to our neighbors).  We want to unite old family traditions like fresh tree chopping with new ones we want to make such as choosing an international need and doing an activity together that celebrates that culture.  

My favourite planned activity? Wearing jammies in the car, drinking hot chocolate, and driving around to look at Christmas lights. Can't wait.

Loving the planning, but first things first.

The advent boxes.  There are a ton of ideas out there, but I think the more durable, the better.  I want to pull them out every year and see the kids' faces light up in recognition and excitement.  I have bought a bunch of dollar store gift boxes that I plan to paint, as well as a bunch of thrift store Christmas tins and will hopefully make them look cheerful, decorative (and little-finger-friendly).  

Right now they look like this:

I have my work cut out for me.  November might be a crunch, and I go back to work after maternity leave in December, but I'm determined to bring back the joy of this season to our home with a little bit of forethought and planning.

I'll be posting our '25 days of Christmas activity list' shortly on my blog.  Tune in!