simple pleasures

1. The vintage HealthTex pants covered in cats that I found for 99 cents and Mia just loves.
2. Going for a walk to the library at dusk with my family (to pick up Season 3 of Six Feet Under - finally came up on the hold list!). Coming home with everyone rosy-cheeked and smiling, hungry for dinner.
3. Watching Jack do shadow puppets for the kids at bedtime.
4. A square of Scharffen Berger mocha bar and a couple fingers of red wine in a juice glass. Gets me through the end of the day.
5. Blogging again.

Speaking of simple pleasures, my friend Christie gave me some great ideas for things to go in my advent stockings (I'm up to number 13!). Last year for advent her family opened up numbered envelopes with activities for the family to do together each night. Here's some ideas (some hers, some mine); I am going to mix these in with some days of treats and toys.

• Paint everyone's toenails
• Have hot chocolate with all the fixin's
• Walk down Peacock Lane (a street nearby that goes all out with lights/holiday decor)
• Take a bubble bath (okay, we can't all fit in the tub, but the kids can do this)
• Flying
• Do mom's hair (brush, braid, add hair clips)
• Build a fort or tunnel.

Any more ideas?

Comments

[Rebecca]

How about...

...baking cookies together
...going food shopping and bringing that food to a soup kitchen
...having a tea party
...raking and then jumping in piles of leaves
...telling ghost stories by the fireplace
...camping out together around the Christmas tree
...going bowling
...watching "It's a Wonderful Life" together
...planning your next family vacation
...having a slide show of photos on a projector
...playing board games
...making paper snowflakes
...walking a dog all together
...stargazing
...coloring or drawing
...going Christmas shopping together
...working on a craft project
...making handmade cards for relatives
...taking photos of each other
...watching the sunset

[Sooz]

For this and yesterday's post I thank you! Was just counselling a friend who was fuming with (justifiable) anger and this was enough to make us smile :-) Your photos were wonderfully illistrative. I'm on to it!

[carol]

baking bread and then eating for sandwiches throughout the week

write letters to distant friends or cousins

make a great hide out and then hang out with flashlights

plan your Christmas cookies

[Blair]

So glad you're posting more often. Such inspiring ideas. I also thought about the beautiful little paper toys from the website "The Toymaker" http://www.thetoymaker.com/ My kids and I have had a lot of fun with the "Spinners" in particular.

[Laura]

[am browsing crafty blogs, and just wanted to say-- i love yours!]
some ideas:

- tape recording a radio show complete with interviews [this will be so great when the kids are all grown up]
- having a fondue night! chocolate and cheese dipped goodies.
- getting one [or two] of those unfinished wood trays from a craft store and painting them together-- will come in handy when someone is sick and is in need of soup, or for a breakfast in bed!

=D

[Gerrie]

Oh, my gosh! That picture of Mia looks like a miniature of you. I had to catch my breath!! Mom

[lisa]

i just woke up and don't have any more ideas, but can i just say i want to come live at your house??

[elizabeth]

this is a WONDERFUL idea!!! i may have to steal it :) no family can ever have too many family time activities.

here's to add a few:

*read a christmas story together
*have an indoor picnic
*let the kiddos pick out whatever they want for dinner and let them help fix it
*write letters to santa claus
*i second the board games

thats all i can think of for now :)

[Jaimie]

Some more ideas:

- Breakfast for dinner (pancakes, scrambled eggs)
- Campout in the livingroom with flashlights, sleeping bags and stories
- Decorating cookies or cupcakes

This is such a great Advent calendar idea - even for adults! It's really true that when I think about what I liked best about the holiday season last year, it's mostly relaxing, listening to music and having a cozy time with my husband at home.

[Toni]

1.Make thumb-print animals and people with paint, add the details with a marker.

2.Do this name game: Think of an attribute that begins with each letter of that persons name, for example: Noah,(my 4yr. old)
N-natural
O-observant
A-adorable
H-humorous

It's fun to write each one out on its own piece of paper and then decorate and post it somewhere.

[dcknits]

It is so great to see your blog updated on a non-Friday :) The advent idea is so awesome!

[hillary]

I love the family activities idea! we have so much to look forward to when Oscar gets older :)

[Bethany]

Great idea!

This might be for slightly older kids, but we like to play Speed Scrabble, using just the tiles, no board. Fun and fast.

There are some movies I like to watch only at Christmas, like A Child's Christmas in Wales, or A Christmas Story. And for some strange reason, The Sound of Music.

We used to paint blown eggs with acrylic paints, for tree decorations. It was traditional to do it on Christmas Eve, which was when we put up our tree. It was always fun to look at the decorations from previous years.

[laurie]

great posts stephanie! here are a couple of ideas, things i'd love to do with my nieces and nephews this christmas:

* make paper snowflakes and display them
* decorate sugar cookies
* make a gingerbread house (use graham crackers, dried fruit and peanut butter instead of candy)
* go to the thrift store/dollar store and give each child a dollar to spend on a gift for daddy/mommy/each other/his-herself (i love to see what they pick out)

please let us know what you do! :) an advent flickr album for each opening of the stockings?

[Lyn]

What great ideas, I particularly like the 'let's do mum's hair' suggestion.
What about, 'let's give mummy a hand massage' or 'let's cook dinner,instead of mummy',or 'let's do the housework, while mummy has a bubble-bath' ?
I think they would be really fun games.

[hannah]

i want to live at your house too, especially if you are handing out chocolate and red wine in juice glasses! maybe we all need a pair of cat pants, no? enjoy the simple pleasures to the utmost.

[Monica Riley]

What about pulling taffy?

[persephone]

What about a round-robin story... You start telling a story and everyone adds a part to it... I love to see how they end up

[carol]

how about homemade marshmallows?

[kath]

oh i like that toymaker link - so many wonderful ideas there - i like the playing games and baking together - its funny how all kids really want is to spend time with you.

[chelle]

Thanks for these great ideas! Here's one from my family: each family member gets to pick one activity, and we all participate CHEERFULLY and ENTHUSIASTICALLY, as if it was the best time of our life. No complaining about the movie, or the treat, or the game. It's fun, and can be a great acting lesson, too.

[Corrine]

I've been reading your site in silent envy for months. I don't think I've ever commented-I mean what would I say to the craft goddess?

But this idea, this advent is the best thing I've ever read!! I'm totally stealing every idea you have and making one for my family. Thank you thank you thank you! What a wonderful tradition!

[Corrine]

Oops. Forgot one thing. In addition to stealing your ideas, I'm also taking the readers too. You people rock!!

Two things my family did every year was/were-whatever,
1) paint acrylic ornaments or Christmas decorations
2) buy Christmas coloring books and new crayons and color

[christie]

We're on the way out the door, but I needed a pick me up before we left so i thought I'd check for any new posts. Thanks for the reminder that I, too, just picked up 6 Feet under from the library. Shhh...I checked it out on the 6 week educator's card. Maybe we can watch the whole season in 6 weeks!

I can't wait to come back and read some of your commenters ideas.

[erinay]

what a wonderful list of ideas for advent! thanks for the inspiration and reminder of what the holiday season is really all about... what fun. we will be using your ideas in the future (if I get on the ball, maybe even this year!)... thanks a million.