12 days of Christmas

  A Bennetch Christmas Tradition. 12 days of Christmas ribbon

 Years ago when our children were very young and had no sense of time they would get up every morning hoping it was Christmas.  They were so excited and would follow up with the next question such as......" Will it be Christmas tomorrow?"   

 So being a very poor pastor's wife we would make a paper chain with the exact number of links till it would be  Christmas. We would hang it by the table and every day we would cut off one link.  That way they could see how many sleeps till Christmas day.

As they grew older we would write an activity on each link to do for that day.  There were activities such as baking cookies, make Christmas cards, watch a Christmas movie, have a snowball fight, or sing a silly Christmas song.

As the children grew older each one wanted to make his or her own Christmas chain and write their own activity. Of course, they never wanted to do the same thing at the same time so that idea was quickly abandoned.

The next improvement was each child would tell me what colors they wanted their chain to be.  I would cut the strips and number them so one child got to be the leader in an activity, another got to be the one to pick out the book we would read together and the third child got a special message ( either a compliment or a  timed challenge with a reward ).  As you can easily see this led to hurt feelings with 3 preschoolers so this was quickly abandoned for our present-day solution.  

  

Now, Mom wraps candy with a  special note inside for each kid and glues it on a ribbon.   It used to be 25 notes times 3.  Each note had to be heartfelt, funny, or what I admired about them. And yes, they would compare them with each other to see who mom loved best.   

Our kids are grown now with kids of their own. I still make them ribbons every year as well as for each grandchild. The tradition is now the 12 days of Christmas. 

I also decorate and make some ribbons for extended family and friends.  Of course the older I get the more friends I've made.  So if you receive an Advent ribbon from me know that you are holding a special piece of my heart.

Christmas Advent Calendar 2016

Emma...Take good care of your sweet Momma for me.  Remember,  she is my baby girl, I miss you both so much. I love you to the moon and back again.  

Your Diva

Emmalee, this note on your door made me laugh and smile all day.  I am so glad you love Danny and get along so well together.   Diva

Emma...love the hair!  You put color inside my world. I love your artwork, your style,  your silliness, your incredible mind and your outrageous smile.  Miss you so much.  Diva

Emma I love that you leave a little Sparkle wherever you go.  You are my favorite Rainbow Dash!  I have loved being part of your world from Blue’s Clues, Dora, and My Little Pony!   Diva

Emma , I saw this the other day and it reminded me of you.  “ Be a pineapple, Stand tall, Wear a crown and be sweet on the inside.”   Diva

Emma here is some good advice:  “ You don’t need a cape to be hero.  You just need to care.”  I love your sensitive heart and kindness.  Diva

Even Pirates need to clean their room.  I am proud of you for doing your chores and helping around the house.  Diva

 

Emma….had to laugh when I saw this….It’s true my butt is bigger than my heart.  My you are always in my heart and in my thoughts.   Your Diva

Emma, I love that you enjoy reading.  Books can open a whole world of adventures to you.  I have read 50 books this past year and have really enjoyed it.  Diva

 

Emma, Poppa and I are looking forward to meeting Poppy.  We love seeing pictures of you together.  Tell Poppy thanks for the “Happy Birthday” song you sang together.  Diva

Emmalee,  Our time together is never Quite Enough.  We miss our Emma girl.  Poppa will see something when we are shopping and will say…”I bet Emma would really like that!”

 Miss you Darling Girl….your Poppa and Diva

Just think Emma...next time we all get together there will be  another baby girl Cousin.  You will have such a good time playing with Lyra and baby Lucy.  I can hardly wait to have some girl time together.   Your Diva

Happy 4th of July

Hey Sweetie....What do Divas love more than anything?  Having all our family together under one roof and getting a family picture.  Didn't everyone do a great job in their silly glasses and beads?  Thank you for coming all the way from Canada.  We miss you so much and are always glad when we get our special "Emma Time".

When it starts to get dark, Uncle Tim sets off fireworks in the back yard.  Baby Lyra didn't like the loud noises and it made her cry.  You and the boys like the sparklers and helping to set the fireworks off. Diva is like Lyra, in that I love the pretty sparkly effects, but not the loud explosions.

I had to laugh at your funny faces in this picture.  What fun to have everyone together again!  The glasses light up when it gets dark.

Your Momma started a new Bennetch family tradition and taught us how to make "Auntie Anne's famous pretzels"  I love seeing your Momma and Auntie Suzy laughing together like they did as little girls.  Your Momma still knows how to flip a pretzel to make the "x" in the middle.  The boys like making  pretzels too.  They especially like to eat them.

Charlie was really pleased at his finished pretzel.  What really made me laugh was Henry's funny face.  I think we have a new 4th of July family tradition.