Lulu's Count Down to Christmas

I had to smile when I read E's post on Tuesday asking how we encourage our families to be thankful because Lulu did this for our family, all on her own, with a very sweet count down to Christmas project.

First, let me say that Lulu is a twelve year old with a sweet spirit beyond her years and I don't think I had much to do with what an awesome young lady she has become. I only say that because there was a point when she was about four, I think, that the Mayor and I looked at each other and thought who's child is this??? She was very bossy and quite difficult and we weren't sure we liked how her personality was turning out! But never fear, oh ye with young children, we made no adjustments to our very limited parenting skills and voila! she is kind and responsible and now only bosses her brother around! So there...go us...it is nice when the first child turns out good, then you kinda look like you know what you're doing!

Anyway, all weekend Lulu kept mentioning her secret "project". She told me it was a Christmas project that she thought of while she was laying in bed. She spent some time on her computer and finally revealed it to us after dinner. She presented each of us...Mom, Dad, brother and herself with five strips of paper. Each paper said the date, how many days until Christmas and the had a phrase for us to fill in. The phrases were, "I love my family because...", "I'm glad...", "I'm thankful for...", "I love Jesus Christ because..." and "My favorite thing about Christmas is...". So sweet!

So, after we each filled out our answers, Lulu taped the strips together to make a count down to Christmas chain. We hung it up and now each day we cut off the "link of the day" and the author gets to share what they wrote!



Awesome idea Lulu and something I hope our family will look forward to doing each year!


While I was trying to take a decent photo of one of the strips of paper, the large, black, fluffy animal who lives with us decided that he needed that strip of paper. He took it and immediately had to make it his own by laying on top of it. Good job Oreo, you conquered the paper strip! (He looks pretty serious about this accomplishment!)


This is the cat who thinks he is a dog...I honestly heard him growl at the mailman today when he left a package by our front door! He growled and then ran to the door! It was hilarious!
Oh, and that is totally an optical illusion for all of you who thought it looked like perhaps that wild animal is actually up on our table...J is having heart palpitations right now! Heehee ☺

Lulu's smile for the week: Sitting by the Christmas tree! ☺
Lulu's frown for the week: Too many tests!

Nel's smile for the week: I love getting Christmas cards in the mail! ☺
Nel's frown for the week: Both of the lights on either side of our front door went out which wasn't very Christmas-y looking so I changed both light bulbs in the freezing cold this morning, it involved unscrewing these little gold balls...6 on each light!! My fingers were like popsicles...I miss summer...