Activity Advent

things are pretty hectic around this time of year, and sometimes it's easy to lose sight of the magic of christmas. i want my children to believe in santa. i want them to have fond memories of christmas (and a christmas with traditions) when the grow older. i have been thinking lately of the many ways i plan to make christmas special for my kids in the years to come. they're too small this year (nash is excited about christmas, but he doesn't really get it. and haven is just oblivious all-together), but next year i plan to begin a new family tradition: the activity advent. each day, we'll do something "christmas-y" as a family, but the kids won't know what that is until they open the box for that day. a lot of these are things we would probably do anyway, but this is my plan to keep the momentum and make the days leading up to christmas fun & exciting. here's what's on my list so far (in no particular order):

Santa Photos (we did this yesterday)
Angel Tree (shop for, wrap, and deliver a gift for a needy child)
Make & Deliver Cookies to friends & neighbors
Make a snowman, watch The Snowman, and read Frosty (we did this on Monday!)
Watch Movies:
The Snowman
The Christmas Story
It's a Wonderful Life
The Christmas Classics
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Letters to Santa
Sledding
Ice Skating
Zoo Lights
Temple Square Lights & Carriage Ride
Read books:
The Night Before Christmas
Make plum pudding
Yule Log
The Shelf Elf
Go to a Movie
Christmas Caroling
Decorate Tree while listening to Mannheim Steamroller and then read The Legend of the Christmas Tree
12 Days of Christmas for someone else
Make gifts/shop
Re-inact the Nativity Story

any ideas from your families that i should add?