Even the best of plans can be waylaid by Life. Which is exactly why, when I write Family Advent “how to” posts I advocate stuffing the envelopes the night before. That way you can easily make last minute changes or switches and save yourself some grief. Last-minute stuffing is especially useful if you’re one of those people who planned everything in November and then promptly forgot what each envelope contained. (Er, not that this has happened to me. Nosirree.)
For example, one of your activities might be to go sledding but there isn’t enough snow. Or you suddenly realize you don’t have the ingredients to bake a batch of shortbread. OR mummy throws her back out. You get the picture, right?
The last few days were like this for us.
Day 10:
Mark had a wicked cold so our activity was postponed for another day. The girls usually get pyjamas on Christmas Eve, so I gave them to them early and we cozied up here at home instead. This photo is of my youngest, rediscovering the joy of Gary Larson’s Far Side treasuries… which are totally awesome by the way. (Here’s an affiliate link in case you’re looking to buy.)
Day 11:
Sarah was out for the evening, so another activity had to be postponed. Emma and I went grocery shopping and while we were there we decided that our revised advent plan should be to make a cash donation to the Ottawa Food Bank.
There are many ways you can donate to the Food Bank, but you should know that monetary donations go five times farther than donations of non-perishable goods. And did you know that you can text a donation too? Look in the sidebar of the OFB website to see how.
Day 12:
… this one deserves a whole post of its own. Check back later for the writeup. If you have a sweet tooth you will love this one. I promise! :)
This post is part of our 2012 Family Advent, a.k.a. 25 Days of Christmas. You can read more about that here. Looking for some Christmas-related activities to try out yourself? Check out my Pinterest board.



