our 12 days of Christmas advent calendar and ornements that won't be pinned to Pinterest

Christmas is almost here! 

Even Arizona seems to have gotten the memo and the temp has dropped to a super chilly 50 degrees. 

(For those who don't live in AZ, when you go from 117 degrees to 50 you bundle up when the thermometer hits anything under 60 degrees. Sad but true.)

We are still learning what traditions we like as a family.

Since both boys are still pretty young, we keep it pretty simple and since Jake and I are big on the idea of an Advent Calendar we thought 12 days of Christmas sounded a lot more manageable than 25 days of Christmas. 

Not to make us sound like Scrooge McDuck, but 25 days of Christmas activity seems like a little much. 

Bah humbug. ;)

So we came up with this as our 12 days of Christmas Advent Calendar. 

My mom sent us the ridiculously cute little stockings last year and we used them for Rhett's stocking, tucking a little toy or treat into each one. She found them a few years earlier at J Crew when they were taking their Christmas decor down. 

They sold them to her for .50 cents a piece. #mymomhascrazyshoppingluck #seriously

So after digging around our garage and finding a piece of suitable plywood, staining it, and picking up some tiny nails at Lowes, we (didn't) measured it, laid it out and went for it. 

Once the nails were in and the stockings were hung it looked a little sparse, so I grabbed a paint pen and free handed some "snowflakes." (Or tribal art if you think we could pass as hipsters.)

In each stocking we slipped a little note with an activity and there was candy...but it got eaten. By me. Not gonna to lie in case Santa is reading this...I'm really hoping for some home improvement store gift cards.

Our list of 12 activities includes

1. Go get french fries and milk shakes at Sonic

2. Dance party to Christmas music

3. Read bedtime books by the Christmas tree

4. Paint ornaments 

5. Act out the Nativity

6. Make Christmas cookies

7. Decorate Gingerbread houses

8. Make and deliver treats to neighbors and friends

9. Buy a toy for a child in need

10. Have a picnic dinner by the Christmas tree

11. Go on a walk and look at Christmas lights 

(We have some neighbors who go ALL OUT. Bless them.)

12. Stargaze and look for the star of Bethlehem.

Really most of our activities are free or can be done in 15 minutes or less. 

I think that Christmas should be kept simple; like the way Christ was born. 

The other day we completed number 4 (we don't really go in order), painting ornaments. 

I know I just said that Christmas should be simple and this was a little frenzied. 

Paint! Toddlers! Babies trying to eat paint! Husbands not feeling creative! Wife worrying per usual!

But it was a lot of fun. :)

I'll give you a gold star if you guess which ones the boys did. 

Good thing there's a back side of the tree....ba humbug. ;)