Christmas Countdown

So it has become a tradition, along with the already traditional Grandkid Sleepover, to send them home with some sort of countdown calendar. My mom and dad work at making it different every year, and this year in particular, have worked to make it more about the real meaning of Christmas.
This year, the kids came home with a string of envelopes, one for each day leading up to the 24th.

Inside each envelope is a magnetic figure, part of the manger scene, and some instructions.

Some of these are fun things, like calling up Grandma and Grandpa and singing them your favorite carol. Some of them are service oriented, like doing a random act of kindness, or making a card for your mom and dad.

They even get some fun stuff for themselves, like a candy cane to represent the shepherds, or some glow-in-the-dark stars to put up on their ceilings, that represent the star the wisemen followed.

They've also added "wool" to their sheep.

With just a few more days until Christmas, the manger is almost complete.

I can't believe how much work my parents put into this, hand-cutting eleven sets of figures out of magnetic paper. Writing instructions for every day for twelve days. Making up individual bags, and sorting things into all of them. Not to mention all the money involved. It's so much work, but the kids love it so much. I appreciate all they do to make this special and memorable for our children, and especially how hard they work to teach our kids about Christ and the true reason for the season.