Our Family Advent Countdown To Christmas

Christmas last year passed in a blur of phone calls to solicitors, phone calls to estate agents, and phone calls to mortgage brokers. Oh, and morning sickness, of course. We didn't even bother to put a tree up. The horror!

This year, I'm determined to make the most of the run up to Christmas, especially with a toddler in the house who is just about old enough to understand what's going on and to be giddy as a kipper about the whole thing. So we've decided to follow the excellent example of Jordan Ferney and come up with our own list of family-friendly Christmas activities, one for each day of Advent. Here's the plan so far (in no particular order):

• Choose a Christmas tree.
• Decorate the Christmas tree.

• Set up the nativity scene.
• Bake dough decorations.
• Make paper chains.
• Prepare the Advent tree.

• Make paper snowflakes and stick them in the window.
• Read the Christmas story.
• Make paper stars.
• Attend an Advent service at St James in Didsbury.
• Bake Christmas cookies.
• Wrap presents.

• Hang mistletoe.
• Make paper pompom decorations (I'm using aqua and pale blue tissue paper, so they can later be hung in Natalia's bedroom).
• Make a popcorn garland.
• Visit Father Christmas at Stockley Farm.
• Visit Christmas grotto at local garden centre and choose new baubles.
• Make adult and toddler versions of mulled wine.
• Listen to The Messiah.
• Christmas carol singalong.
• Host a Christmas drinks party.
• Make a garland for the front door.

• Drink hot chocolate with marshmallows while watching a Christmas movie.
• Have dinner by the light of the Christmas tree.
• Make a chocolate log cake.
• Dance to The Nutcracker.
• Arrange letter from Santa (via the NSPCC).
• Cook traditional Christmas lobster (what, doesn't everyone partake of lobster at Christmas time?).

• Watch The Snowman.
• Christmas photoshoot to get at least one decent photo of our girls in Santa hats to include in our Christmas cards.
• Read the same Christmas/winter-themed stories to my daughters at bedtime that my parents read to me when I was a child.
• Make Christmas cards.

• Eat chocolate strawberries from the Manchester Christmas Markets.
• Donate a gift to one of the three children in Manchester living in poverty (yes, seriously) who won't otherwise receive a present this year.
• Bake gingerbread men.
• Visit Hebden Bridge.
• Visit the reindeer at Tatton Park Farm and check out the Christmas decorations in the Hall.

Aww, just typing out this list has given me a warm fuzzy feeling. What are your most beloved Christmas traditions? Can you think of anything I can add to the list?