Advent




Last year I saw and idea on another blog where someone gave their kids a book for every day of advent. I thought it was a great idea and decided to do it this year. As soon as Christmas was over last year, I started buying Christmas books second hand. I won't stand on my soap box about this, but I love buying books second hand. They are a fraction of the price, like 90% off retail, and most of the children's books I buy second hand look brand new. And to be honest, my kids destroy books and at the rate that they do, it seems wasteful to spend $10+ a book. But back to Christmas...




So I started buying Christmas books as I came across them. By mid-summer, I had all the books I needed. I paid anywhere from $1 all the way down to free for the books. About the free one, apparently when you try to buy one Christmas book at a garage sale during the summer, the people will just give it to you! On average I paid about a quarter for each book, making this a pretty dang cheap activity. 

Tonight Connor was pretty excited to get a present, Isla could have cared less. As soon as Connor saw that it was a book, he dropped it. Isla picked it up and looked through it. I read it. Then Connor picked it up and "read" it out loud. I was impressed. He was paying more attention than I thought when I read it to them. It was fun and I look forward to doing this every night until Christmas. 


Now I realize this isn't something I can do every year, as my kids don't need that many Christmas books, but I like the idea and think I am going to run with it. Picking a different theme each year seems a lot more fun than buying a chocolate advent calendar...though I have to admit, getting a piece of candy every day was pretty dang exciting for Connor last year! 

5 comments:

  1. Great idea indeed! The thought of your family reading every night during the Advent season is certainly special. And your gifts look beautiful! I like the simple wrapping and the numbers.

    Another fun idea would be getting a piece of something each night, like part of a railroad set, and then by the end, it's all put together.

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  2. You could use the same books for a couple years. During the spring or summer, when the kids won't be paying attention to Christmas books, pull them off the shelves and set them aside to wrap up for Advent 2013. We don't wrap ours, but we do gather all our Christmas books and set them under the tree. It's a great reminder to read them each day during Advent and through the Christmas season.

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  3. I saw this too. I wish I would have thought to get them at yard sales. I wrapped the ones we had & went to the library for the rest. I like the wrapping with the numbers too. What fun!!

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  4. I saw this last year and can't wait to start this next year with my daughter! I clicked over from Harper's Happenings - happy to have found your blog!

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  5. Great idea to get the books second-hand! And I love the way you wrapped them. Love that very last photo with the kids in the chair together, so sweet. Merry Christmas!

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