Advent Calendar Day 11 & 12

Day 11's pocket held a little letter. Today was the day to prepare our Christmas cards to be mailed, and Evangeline got to help! We talked about why we send cards- to let our friends and family know how we are doing and how God has blessed us this year! We also send them to wish all the wonderful people in our lives a Merry Christmas! We hope that our card reminds them of all the blessings in their lives, too!
So, off to address, stamp, and stick! Eva loved it and I didn't even mind that our addresses were crooked, and sometimes double stamped, and our stamps were only sometimes in the upper right corner. She had fun and we spent time together.

I blurred out our street, but you get the idea of what some of our addresses look like!

On day 12, I knew Evangeline would be almost beside herself with excitement. Today was the 2nd annual family Gingerbread House Extravaganza! She drew a little Gingerbread house shrinky dink out of the pocket and asked, "Are we really gonna do them, mom!?!" (I'm not a fan, but lately, at least 50% of the time, my 2 year old calls me "mom"- it's horrible, but I'm trying not to let it get me down!)
We hosted last year's party, and my sister-in-law, Dawn, hosted this year. So, off to Caleb's house we went for an opportunity to inhale more candy than she has consumed in an entire year. She decorated a little; she ate A LOT. And, by "a lot" I mean at least 2 pounds. I thought she was going to vomit at any moment. I almost wish she did. It may have been a stretch, but we talked about how spending time with our family is important, especially at Christmas. We talked about how giving our time to spend with those we love shows them that they are special to us! The party may have been cut short for Evangeline as the result of a tornado of a meltdown, but it was still a lot of fun :)