Advent kickoff. Mine duckies are in row!

It's December 1st and it's time to start the advent calendar! Yesterday I had "finish the advent calendar" at the top of my to-do list. 

Aaaand.....it didn't get checked off. 

"Luckily", I usually need to get up with the boys to get them off to early morning seminary and so I had a couple early morning hours to kill.

Advent Calendar: 

Next....the Elf on the (are we seriously doing this?) Shelf

Unfortunately, the girls had been playing with her since the moment she came out of the box. Directly defying the Elf on the Shelf  "hands off" mandate. 

Megan was awake by then and helped me come up with a suitable solution for the day:

And I got the advent calendar planned, written and restored to the wall before any of the littles descended. It's Laney's year to pick out first (and last)!

She also got to open her special gift! (Mathew was shocked with how early in the month this was taking place. What can I say? Gotta keep them guessing!"

We also got to hand out the chocolate advent calendars! This year Aldi didn't sell them so we got a tip they were available at Trader Joes. It's fun to have different styles. Meg was especially exited to have one that gives her service ideas for each day.

The kids went off to school and Everly and I went to Maj-R Thrift and scored this big old Christmas flower arrangement for 5.99!

We pulled it apart, cut out some cardboard circles and glued them into our old flower pots. We started poking holes and glue in sprigs of this and that....

And soon we had two cute baskets to replace our dead mums on the porch! We also made use of a few of the pinecones the kids have collected in my old garden cart in the back yard.

Mark took the boys camping with the Scouts and I took the girls to the Melodia Bell Choir concert. It was lovely! And the perfect beginning to the Christmas Season.

It was all started by this awesome lady.....Diana Player has got to be the most tenacious person I know. She has kept this bell choir going through thick and thin. When one person has to drop out, she asks around until she finds a replacement. Just about everyone I know has played in that group at one time or another, including me! And Ethan!

Now to get on with preparations for Anna's Cocoa Party tomorrow morning. All I got to do is make 2 batches of sugar cookies, clean the basement and the main floor, make several colors of frosting and see if I can find that silly elf.