Correspondence

Yesterday the girls & I pulled out our notecards & writing paper & got a big chunk of thank-you notes written. My mom taught me the importance of the penned "thank you" & I feel it's a pretty special ritual to pass on to my girls too.

One of the favorite Christmas gifts I gave this holiday was something I put together for my 7 year old, Zoey. She loves writing letters & ends up using MY stationery most of the time. So, I put together a little "letter writing kit" for her. (This was her "NEED" gift from the "Want. Need. Wear. Read.") I purchased a pack of fun writing paper, some bright pens, her own peel-n-stick envelopes, some stickers (to decorate the envelopes), her OWN book of  postage stamps & I even printed out some return address labels with her name & info on them. (If I would have thought about it at the time, I would have also added a little address book with all her family & friends' info written out.)

She felt pretty special!

♥

Happy Advent Love.

I know some of you already heard about this, but it's a must to repeat.

One day Tia was telling me about a family she knew who were new to town & it was around the Christmas holiday. They heard a knock at their door & opened it to find a basket of 24 goodies, all wrapped & numbered. An advent basket!  Each night, before Christmas, they opened the numbered present that corresponded to that day. What a special gift!

Did you see my happy advent basket from Tia? She gave it to me before we moved. Our road trip adventure began on December 1st. So, I got to start opening prezzies in the car along the way. It has been SO fun opening up a wrapped suprise every day. (Once I opened 2 in one day. *gasp* I couldn't contain myself.)

I do believe we're going to keep this tradition alive & do one for each other every year.

If you plan on doing one for next year, I say: shop early! It's fun to start getting items gathered throughout the WHOLE year. Sometimes cool little doo-dads pop up unexpectedly when you're out shopping. Or, how about MAKIN' STUFF too! (You'll need to buy/make 24 items.)

It's an especially fun thing to do for a faraway friend. I can attest to that.

My goody basket has been packed with: a blanket, a bookmark, mulling spices, an iTunes gift card (to use with my new iPhone. Wheee!), holiday paper plate/napkin/cup set, body wash, picture frame fridge magnets with our silly faces already attached inside (one of my faves!), cupcake fridge magnetic notepad & recipe cards, a book, a small set of yummy lotions, holiday notecards...You get the idea.

♥