by Coach Debbie

Ahhhh, Christmas.  The most frenzied, frantic time of the year for moms across the land.  A time of burning cookies, forgetting class parties, and hunting down the perfect present that may or may not break within a week.  All while drinking cold coffee.

What if the joy of the season can be restored?  Can everything actually be calm, merry and bright?  Here's a list of 19 ways to restore peace on earth!  These low-cost advent activities can be enjoyed with your kids all season long without any need for Tylenol or refinancing your home, hooray!  Scroll all the way to the end for some really cool Surprising Facts About Jesus' Birth!

19 EASY ADVENT ACTIVITIES FOR CHRISTMAS:

1.  Read Luke 2 from The Message version (go to biblegateway.com).  It gives a fresh take on the birth of Christ.

2.  Make homemade hot cocoa (raise the bar by setting up a cocoa bar of different toppings so your kids make their own).

3.  Drive or walk around to enjoy Christmas light decorations.  Vote on which was the favorite!

4.  Serve.  Find ways to help others who are cold, hungry, and hurting.

5.  Wrap gifts together.  Let it be imperfect as they help cut and tape packages for loved ones.

6.  Enjoy a live nativity.  Seeing real people and real animals trumps wooden drawings on a lawn.

7.  Decorate Christmas cookies.  Savor the mess made.  Skip the billions of calories and deliver it to the local police or fire station.

8.  Assemble Gingerbread Houses.  Yes, they will fall apart.  Yes, you'll need a gallon of icing.  It's the process that makes memories.

9.  Write Santa letters (and I be he'll write back).  Remind the kids to share gratitude.

10.  Go sledding or ice skating.  It might just be the perfect place for never-forgotten experiences to unfold.

11.  Read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" by candlelight.  There's a reason it's a classic.  Take it up a notch by having the kiddos act it out as you read.

12.  Enjoy a picnic dinner by the Christmas tree.  Turn off all the lights and enjoy a new way to dine.  Maybe the kids can even help set up the perfect picnic environment in the living room.

13.  Watch Christmas movies.  There are dozens to choose from, so make it a snuggly time of family togetherness.

14.  Make homemade ornaments.  I still have the styrofoam ball ornament I made when I was 9 and I cherish it.  Keep it cheap and easy.

15.  Create paper snowflakes.  Scissors make moms panic, so have wine nearby while your darlings litter the floor with white paper that you'll have to clean up later.

16.  Fix reindeer food.  In a plastic bag, mix Cheerios, oats, and glitter.  Scatter outside on Christmas Eve so that the reindeer don't starve.

17.  Donate.  Have your offspring collect toys and clothes they no longer use and then make it a family affair to deliver the treasures to a local agency that helps others.

18.  Attend a church service.  Enjoy the handbells, the candles, the Christmas hymns.  Let's teach our kids that church is not a drag!

19.  Plan an at-home Christmas program.  The kids must create the program, the music/singing/dancing/acting/reading/etc while Mom and Dad enjoy deep-couch-sitting.

What would you add to the list?  Share that with us now!

May this list of options entertain you and your family through the blessed month of December!

Surprising Facts About Jesus' Birth:

• Mary, not Joseph, was the first to hear God's call.  Women matter to God!
• Mary was not given the fate of Jesus in advance.  Imagine how differently she may have parented.
• Jesus was swaddled, just like our babies!
• There was no "inn" or "barn" but rather the engaged couple was trying to stay at a relative's house (in their upper room).  Because there was not a suitable place for a birth to occur, they slept directly under the "upper room" of a private home (on the main level) where animals also slept.
• Jesus was not born in December.
• The number of wise men, or magi, was not necessarily 3.  We assume there were 3 because they brought 3 gifts.  Gold symbolized Jesus' deity as King.  Frankincense (or incense) symbolized an offering to the Priest.  Myrrh symbolized the embalming spice for our Savior.
• Jesus was anywhere from a few months old to 2 years old when the Wise Men visited Him with the 3 gifts.  He was not a newborn.
• The Bible does not tell us to celebrate Jesus' birth, but rather to celebrate His DEATH (see Acts 20:7).

What cool facts would you add?