Candy: the real meaning of the advent calendar....

The kids have been eyeing this hand painted concoction of mine since I brought it out on Saturday.  They even went so far as to sneak a peak, to find.... nothing in the numbered doors.

"Mom, where's the candy?"

Well, guys, the candy doesn't arrive until December 1st.  Then we can count down the days till Christmas.

Since then, they have been counting down till the official candy countdown for the Santa Advent Calendar can begin.

I bought this thing 3 years ago from A.C. Moore and painted it.  Nothing special by any means. In fact the top is broken.  And Kyle makes fun of me for the sequence I wrote the numbers in, joking with me that I did it in the Hebrew fashion- backwards.  Hey, I just followed the example.  Regardless, the boys know what it is for.  They know what it contains.  And the anticipation is killing them.

So now as the boys fall into a welcomed sleep, I am filling up the little celebratory boxes with Kisses and mini hershey bars. Because the moment they wake up tomorrow, they will descend on me like vultures to a fresh kill, pecking at me until I let them open the treasured door of bliss in honor of the official countdown to Christmas.

God, I love the holidays.