We have had a crazy year
Leaving school to begin our home education journey
Leaving home for our house renovation
Miscarriage
And now pregnancy again
Growing our Sprinkle of Stardust
We have had a lot of upheaval and unrest
After years of heartbreak and sadness
David and I promised each other
That this year we would make Christmas special
More magical
More meaningful than ever
Our plan and wish for Christmas
Coincides with what I think might be Esther and William’s peak year
Of Christmas excitement and belief
So this year we are going to make December wonderful
It is after all
The most wonderful time of the year
And for us a chance to be truly happy together
Before we begin a very different countdown
To the anniversary of our baby girl’s death
But first
Advent
And a new family tradition
Our advent box
For years now we have had a Christmas Eve Box
But I was not very happy with it
Christmas Eve is such a busy day for us
And the children have an early night
Ready for Christmas Day
The box
Filled to bursting
Was not used
And so this year
I decided to start a new tradition
An advent box
To run alongside our advent books
Which we have also been doing for years
This year it has begun
Our new family tradition
Our advent box
Would you like to know what is inside?
I ordered the box from Plantabox
I accidentally ordered the wrong size
So most of the contents spilled out of the box
But I love this personalised crate all the same
I also love all the things I got to go in it
Things to make my children smile this festive season
Christmas onesies
To be worn after days out in the winter weather
Countdown calendars
Moomins for Esther
Thomas and Friends for William
And WOW Toys for Bea
They were all so pleased with the advent calendars
Especially William who is excited to be collecting mini engines
My boy is train mad!
As well as advent calendars
We have an advent candle
We burn it with tea or breakfast each day
And while it burns we read Christmas stories and poems
We have added to our collection this year
With new seasonal story, song and poem books
I also bought sticker books for Esther and Bea
And a Christmas Mazes book for William
Bea loves a basket of books to browse and share
In our advent box
I put a Christmas jumper for each of us
Christmas socks
And for the children
Christmas pyjamas
Special pyjamas for Christmas Eve are lovely
But by getting them at the beginning of December
We all get to enjoy them so much more
And wear them all the time
I put some treats in our advent box too
A Carddies Nativity Colouring Set
A Happyland Nativity set
Some Christmas craft materials
And cards to decorate and write
We have already had so much fun
With our advent activities, toys and clothes
This really is the most wonderful time of the year
We still have one exciting thing to come
12 days of Christmas kindness
With The Kindness Elves
Esther is very very excited about this part of our countdown
And I am looking forward to helping my children understand
That giving is better than receiving
And that a little kindness can go a long way
After years of heartbreak and sadness
David and I promised each other
That this year we would make Christmas special
More magical
More meaningful than ever
Our plan and wish for Christmas
Coincides with what I think might be Esther and William’s peak year
Of Christmas excitement and belief
So this year we are going to make December wonderful
It is after all
The most wonderful time of the year
This is such a lovely idea. I love family traditions at Christmas, it makes it that bit more special x
Wow what a lovely idea! I might try this next Christmas.
What gorgeous things you have found and bought and a lovely tradition, nice to spread it out throughout Dec too as I always find Christmas eve such a rush! x