Our Christmas Countdown Calendar

Beginning last year, Seth and I decided that we wanted to make the most of this time of the year and not allow certain opportunities to pass us by. I think the fact that we had Austin made it all the more meaningful to us, but as we both love the Christmas season, it would be a great idea to do if we were still just the two of us. 

We began with a lengthy discussion/semi-heated debate about what to even call what we were doing. Many people use the word "Advent" in doing something like this, but Seth was adamant that using that word implied stuff for Christ/God/His Birthday, not just things like mailing cards and watching movies. It was very important to Seth that we not confuse the two things by combining the terms. I now agree with him, though I'm sure some people think its simply semantics. (This is similar to how I feel about Santa. I'll decorate with Santa, but not take Austin to sit on his lap or tell Austin that certain gifts come from him. I don't want to teach him that he exists. Because he doesn't. Sure, there are movies of him and decorations of him, but I feel differently about those things. Again, some people might think that's nit-picking or splitting hairs, and that's fine. I'm not suggesting you must follow our lead, I'm simply sharing why we do what we do.)

So, we came up with the title of a "Christmas Countdown Calendar" (CCC for short) which is separate from our Advent Calendar. So, we do both, separately, and the things on each are very different. The CCC isn't based on the church calendar, and isn't based on scripture teachings. It's simply a way for us to get all the holiday activities on the calendar so that we don't miss the chance to do it. (Our Advent Calendar is the subject of another post entirely!)

A good friend of mine remembered that we did this last year and she emailed me asking for the list of things we did. She wanted to create her own. What a compliment! When I talked with her on the phone about it, giving her the list of things we did last year, she encouraged me to do a blog post about it. So, here is that post.

  

The Spofford Christmas Countdown Calendar:

Day 1: Mail Christmas Cards

Day 2: Attend a Performance (The Nutcracker @ The Windspear is this year's)

Day 3: Host 2nd Annual National Lampoon's Ugly Sweater Party

Day 4: Final Christmas Shopping

Day 5: Wrap Presents

Day 6: IBC Women's Christmas Dinner

Day 7: Watch Home Alone

Day 8: Watch A Charlie Brown Christmas

Day 9: Drive Around to see Lights

Day 10: Make and Deliver Cookies to our Neighbors

Day 11: Seth and Austin Decorate Cookies with Nonnie

Day 12: Go to A Cherry Christmas (neighbor who has lights set to music on a radio station!)

Day 13: Watch Love Actually

Day 14: Dinner & Elf with Nonnie/Gramps

Day 15: Watch It's a Wonderful Life

Day 16: Watch Frosty

Day 17: Crossroads Christmas Party

Day 18: Small Group: FAMILY Christmas Party

Day 19: Watch A Christmas Story

Day 20: Nieman's Window Display

Day 21: Watch A White Christmas

Day 22: NorthPark Trains

Day 23: 2012 Planning

Day 24: Christmas Eve. Service, Dinner, and Present Opening

Day 25: Christmas Day with the Spoffords

This year's list is a bit different than last year's list for three main reasons: Seth will be in Ohio one entire weekend (for a friend's wedding), he has club soccer one night/week and will therefore not be home to participate in anything, and we're in a Small Group which adds three events to our calendar over the course of these 25 days. So, in general, this December is much fuller than last year. Because of some non-Christmas stuff.

I do expect, however, for the things to change from year to year. As God blesses us with more kids, and those kids get older, the things that we'll able to do will be different. I can't wait to add tons of crafts to the calendar!

The Spofford Christmas Countdown Calendar

I bought this 12x12 piece of paper at Michaels last year and cut it down a bit in order to mat it on a red 12x12 piece. The door and windows literally open up, and that's how we've chosen to display our CCC. I hang it via magnets to the door leading to our garage. It's not really for decorating, but to have a fun way to know what we're doing each day.

Do you have any ideas of things we could add to the list either this year or future years? Make a comment below to let me know. I'd LOVE more ideas!