Advent Calendar and Ideas!

Last year, we started an advent calendar Christmas tradition.  I really loved the advent calendar I made last year, but the thought of recreating anything DIY this year made my head kinda spin.

When I saw this cute (already made) advent calendar from Target,  I was all about it.  The boys can easily pull the number out, pick out the paper, and put it right back.  No assembly, easy to use...my kind of DIY this year.

I'm taking many ideas from my list last year, but I'm changing a few things up a bit.

Here's our list for days 1-25 this December.  This year has FLOWN by, ps.

1.  Put up Christmas decorations!

2.  Read a Christmas book.  (Janssen has a really great list!)  I'm planning on requesting a ton of these from the library.

3.  Sleigh Ride.  Our town has free sleigh rides that go around the block of downtown.   (Picture from last year.)

4.  Buy/donate food to local food bank for children in need over Christmas break from school.

5.  Color and play Nativity matching game.

6.  Watch The First Presidency's Christmas Devotional.

7.  Have a Family Home Evening based around the symbols of Christmas.  This lesson is a great one to go by.

8.  Write letters to Santa and deliver them to his special mailbox.  (The town of Cary has a Santa mailbox where you can mail your letters to Santa, and he'll write a letter back to you.) 

9.  Make Christmas Crunch...and take some to a friend.

10.  Put together bags for the homeless.  

11.  Watch Polar Express.

12.  Attend the Apex Nativity.  Free and open to all!

13.  Make Christmas cards for family/friends.

14.  Sing Christmas carols to loved ones.

15.  Clean toys and donate some.

16.  Read Christmas book.

17.  Attend Mormon Tabernacle Christmas Concert (for me ;) because my sister is performing in it!) For the boys...drink hot chocolate. 

18.  Watch Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

19.  Make Christmas goodies for neighbors.

20.  Make a yummy Christmasy breakfast.  This idea for pancakes in different shapes is adorable.

21.  Drive around and look at Christmas lights.

Our Advent Calendar will stop after this because we'll be going out of town, but!  a few things we'll be doing during the next few days include; reading the Christmas story from the Bible, and giving small gifts to people working on Christmas as we're traveling.  

I hope you have a wonderful December filled with love, fun, service, and celebration of our Savior's birth!

New York City!!

A few weeks ago, Charlie and I took a quick trip up to New York City.  My friend, Ron, is dancing in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular this season, and we went to see him on opening night. It was fantastic.  He was fantastic!  Ron and I danced together all through high school and college, and I'm so proud of him! 

Charlie and I went up late Thursday night and left Saturday morning, so it was a quick trip, but we were able to do a ton of fun things.  I made a pretty tight schedule and then sent it to my friend, Courtney, who is a NYC expert, to tweak and approve. :)

From airport window to apartment window.  Charlie thinks apartments are so cool.

We had to go try a cronut after hearing so much about them over the past few years.  The cronut...a croissant plus a donut.  Yum.  We waited in line for a little over an hour for some. Worth it.  Charlie said, "I just can't stop eating this it's so good."

Charlie said he knew what the Statue of Liberty was from Barney, so we had to go see it.  We rode the Staten Island Ferry, and while we were waiting to board (with 100s of other people), Charlie said, "This is quieter than my cafeteria." Hilarious.  Also, it was a little windy on the boat. :)

We then ate lunch at The Plaza.  Charlie is so stinking cute.  I sent this picture of him to my sisters and brother with the caption, "Kevin McAllister".

Since Central Park is right across from The Plaza, we strolled through the park (every movie set in NYC has a scene in Central Park, so I had to show Charlie), and went from playground to playground.  It was a lot of fun.

We got changed and headed out to Rockefeller Center.  We watched the ice skaters on the rink after the Zamboni rolled around, went to the Lego store, and then went to the big show!  It was so exciting seeing Ron on stage.  And of course I'm obsessed with the Rockettes.  Perfection.  If only I was an inch taller....ahhhhh!!!!!! Afterwards, Ron took us on the stage and backstage, and it was the coolest thing ever.  The show has a Nativity scene in it, and we got to meet the neat camels backstage. Fun Fact:  the trainer said camels favorite treats are pancakes...so adorable.

While we were there, we stayed with my good friend, Amanda.  We ate a yummy breakfast on Saturday morning and took a walk through the park before we had to take off.  We love Amanda so, so much and I wish I lived right next door to her.  Here's the last time my sister, Jessica and I went up to stay with her in NYC.

We had such a fun time.  Charlie said his favorite part was riding the subway. :)  He's such a good buddy and travel companion.  Charlie makes everything so much more fun and is so excited about life.  I do love him.

I hope you have a wonderful week!!

Dressed Up/Dressed Down

I'm an obsessive multi-tasker.  If I'm not doing at least 2 things at once, I feel like I'm wasting time.  It's a major problem, actually.

This week, I've made it a goal to really focus on one thing at a time, and it's been great and has brought me a lot of peace.

I'm still not great at it...but I'm working on it.  (Currently typing this as I'm watching the Mindy Project....so, like I said, I'm working on it.)

Also, this ^ is my kind of outfit.  It took me from a conference, to another meeting, to playing with my boys at home.  I dressed up these fun boots from Rack Room Shoes a few weeks ago, and wear them a ton with my every-day outfits.

Boots: c/o Rack Room Shoes
Bracelet:  Moon & Lola
Grey Tunic:  Gap, similar here