It's Time for the Advent Calendar!

One of my favourite family Christmas traditions is the Advent Calendar. We always had one when I was growing up and my brother, sister and I would take turns opening a door each day. In our home now we have a cloth one with a wooden Christmas tree that moves one spot every day. We also usually get one of the cheapo chocolate ones for Jonas. It's a nice countdown for all of us, giving Jonas a little treat every day and reminding my that I've got one less day to get through my To Do List.

I have to admit though, that I've always suffered from Advent Calendar envy though. Ever since I was little, I've always wanted one of those fancy Advent Calendars that has little trinkets inside. Honestly, other than one a friend had when I was 7 or 8, I think I've only ever seen them in movies. This year I decided that we were going to have one. I determined that I would put little toys in the pockets of our fabric calendar for an extra special surprise. My plan was to stock up on some little Lego guys, Go Gos, Squinkies and some Hotwheels.

And then I found this.... 

I saw it a couple of weeks ago but resistedbuying it. I hmmm'd and haaa'd, and wrestled with the idea of spending so much money. Then I decided that it would be worth it. Christmas only comes once a year, and Jonas will soon be too old to really be enraptured by the magic of it all. He doesn't get a lot of new toys, except on Christmas and his birthday, and he rarely asks for new stuff. That's one of the things that makes him such an amazing kid. He truly is happy with what he has. Then I imagined the smile on his face when he sees this and how excited it's going to make him.

So, this morning I headed off to that big blue store where things seem to be a little cheaper than anywhere else and I was delighted to find that they still had some AND they were 30% off!

Merry Christmas!!