11.11.15

Countdown to Christmas Giveaway

Affiliate links are included in this post. 



It's not even Thanksgiving yet, I know, but excitement for Christmas builds here all year long. It is indeed to me the most wonderful time of the year. While my family was visiting my in-laws, I even got started on some Christmas gift shopping for them.

Several other bloggers from the Homeschool Blogging Connection and I are all sharing gift basket giveaways with you this week, so after entering mine be sure to go back and enter the others, too. The theme of my giveaway is Countdown to Christmas, and I'm sharing special gifts that relate to some of our own family traditions.

We countdown each day of December with an Advent calender that my Grandmother made me many years ago. Each day we remove an ornament from a pocket and snap it to the tree. Some years we plan ahead with slips of paper featuring verses from the Christmas story to read each day. Other years we have read through devotionals together. One year we all worked on memorizing passages from Luke together. My friend Amy has written Celebrate Jesus: An Advent Resource for Families and is offering a copy to one of you! It is available in your choice of ESV or KJV. It includes daily readings, activities, crafts, a hymn with sheet music for each day, daily copywork from the Scripture reading, and coloring pages. All 213 pages are designed to help families focus on Christ throughout the Christmas season. 

 



This is such a joy filled time. Memories are being made, and I hope my children remember the true JOY of the season when they look back on Christmases when they are older. I learned JOY can stand for putting Jesus first, then others, then yourself. This lovely dishcloth can be a reminder of that.




Christmas Around the World is a geography based unit study by Katie Hornor. She is sharing your choice of either print copy or digital (with embedded links) with the winner! Read all about it here: http://paradisepraises.com/new/catw-calendar.html  

What are your favorite Christmas scents? I love the smell of a pine tree, hot spiced tea, homemade cookies, and of course...chocolate. Kim is sharing this Truffle Fudge Hot Chocolate Mix made with premium dark chocolate shavings. This versatile mix makes amazing hot chocolate for the family and can be served iced or frozen for a chilly and delicious chocolate treat. Visit her website: http://www.mydcdsite.com/kimberlysondag 

 

For all of your yummy holiday baking, my DaLynn McCoy is sharing these Tupperware measuring cups and spoons. Visit her website: http://dmccoy.my.tupperware.com  

Tupperware Measuring Cups
Includes ¼, 1⁄3, ½, 2⁄3, ¾ and 1 cup.
in Salt Water Taffy and
 Measuring Spoons
Includes 1⁄8, ¼, ½ and 1 tsp.;
plus ½ and 1 tbsp.

in Raindrop. Tupperware is lifetime guaranteed, BPA free, and the numbers on these items are embossed so it won't fade in the dishwasher!

Cuts By Laser now offers monogram ornaments, and one of you will win one in your choice of letter. 

The final prize in this Countdown to Christmas is a small Lilla Rose flexi clip from http://www.lillarose.biz/prettyhair to help you with a fast #prettyhair style during these busy days.

So, to recap what you can win here:
Celebrate Jesus
JOY dishcloth
Dove Truffle Fudge Hot Chocolate Mix
Christmas around the World
Tupperware measuring sets
Monogram ornament 
Small flexi-clip for #prettyhair

Enter the giveaway through the form below, and please share with your friends, too.
Jennifer

87 comments:

  1. My favorite Christmas tradition, is to go to Christmas Eve Service together as a family, and then to my parent's or sister's house for a party with my siblings/parents/niece & nephews.

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  2. Ours is Melk, the Christmas Monkey and Christmas Around the World! and our Christmas Eve tradition and our ... well, I guess we have a few LOL.

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  3. Oh wow . . . I have so many favorite Christmas traditions. Our book tree countdown is something my daughter (Alyssa) adores doing every year. We read one Christian Christmas book each day until Christmas Day. I try to add in correlated activities too. I also LOVE our Jesse Tree and the Christmas Angel who encourages my daughter to do random acts of kindness. Thank you for the opportunity.

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  4. Oh my dad's family would always gather at my great uncle's house each year. His family is quite big and would all gather there with the entire clan. Always good times with that side of the family during their holiday celebrations.

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  5. We always make hot chocolate and listen to Christmas music while decorating our tree. We go to my husband's grandparents on Christmas Eve and my parents on Christmas afternoon. My kids open up a gift of new pajamas on Christmas Eve!

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  6. I make my children pajamas every year. They open them on Christmas Eve, then change into them and then we sit around and listen to my husband read the Christmas story from Luke 2.

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  7. We get together on Christmas Eve for a small family party.

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  8. We make gingerbread houses every year. One year each child made their own gingerbread nativity instead.

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  9. We use a Jesse Tree to countdown to Christmas and we do lots of baking! It is my favorite time of year.

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  10. My favorite tradition is the big meal with my parents, siblings, and their families and my dad reads the Christmas story from Luke in the Bible... I also love our own meal and time together as a family with just my husband and kids. Also, we usually watch It's A Wonderful Life.

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  11. My favorite tradition is the big meal with my parents, siblings, and their families and my dad reads the Christmas story from Luke in the Bible... I also love our own meal and time together as a family with just my husband and kids. Also, we usually watch It's A Wonderful Life.

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  12. We have so many traditions that I love. Church and PJs on Christmas Eve, FaceTiming my dad to read the Christmas story to us, breakfast and stockings in the morning to share just a few.

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  13. We have a two day celebration starting with a huge meal on Christmas Eve followed by opening our new pajama gifts plus the kids usually open one more, then we read Christmas stories while sipping Egg Nog, and sometimes we head out to look at Christmas lights. After the kids go to bed, we set the filled stockings out. Oh and the kids spread blankets on the floor the night before to mark there spot and also to help keep their gifts together in the morning. Christmas morning, all of my kids wake up super early (they get it from me lol). Once everyone us awake, we pass out the gifts...usually the kids do this. Then we go around in age order and open the stockings and gifts. Finally, we end with a big brunch. :)

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  14. A tradition I started with my kids is that we bake cookie Christmas eve for Santa and then we all sit down and watch a dvd about the birth of Christ.

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  15. We love to go caroling!

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  16. Cutting down our Christmas tree together and petting the Jerusalem donkey and singing Christmas carols.

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  17. Having the kids write down what they would like for Christmas, tie their list to a balloon and watching it go up to Heaven!

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  18. We love making hot chocolate and decorating! We love for our decorations to point to Jesus! We also enjoy making treats for our neighbors.

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  19. We love making hot chocolate and decorating! We love for our decorations to point to Jesus! We also enjoy making treats for our neighbors.

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  20. What an awesome giveaway!! We (sadly) don't have many traditions. But we typically watch It's a Wonderful Life" every Christmas Eve. Most often we also watch one version or another of "A Christmas Carol"
    And we read one of Arnold Ytreeide's Advent books. I have some years, read thru 'A Christmas Carol' as well, as a read aloud.

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  21. We try to attend our church's Chrstimas Eve service, then have cookies with friends afterward. Then Christmas morning we have cinnamon rolls and do stockings and gifts, then head to visit relatives. We try to keep it as low maintenance as possible, ot getting caught up in the demands and chaos of the holiday, but keeping our focus as much on The Gift as possible.

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  22. We don't have a ton of traditions that we've maintained consistently but my husband always reads the passage from Luke before we eat on Christmas day.

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  23. We like to go look at Christmas lights and listen to carols while we drive around. Wendy Clark

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  24. A lot of our traditions change every year, but we always grill steaks on Christmas Day.

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  25. We love to attend Christmas Eve services, then drive around our town and see all the beautiful Christmas lights.

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  26. My family and I buy hot cocoa and drive around looking at Christmas lights, too.

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  27. On Christmas day, we have a birthday party for Jesus.

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  28. Reading an advent book called Behold, the Lamb of God.

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  29. Reading an advent book called Behold, the Lamb of God.

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  30. We always have egg bake and blueberry bread after opening presents on Christmas morning.

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  31. We love eating by candlelight all through Advent and having a birthday party for Jesus on Christmas eve right after our church service.

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  32. We make a birthday cake and have birthday party with Jesus. We use elf on shelf for extra fun. We read countdown books. And we serve and attend Christmas services.

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  33. We have no traditions....yet. Sad I know.

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  34. One of our favorite traditions is to go see Christmas lights after the Christmas Eve church service. Then, when we get home we read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and everyone gets to open one small gift. The kids love this tradition. thx

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  35. I'd like any of the giveaway baskets. I think the All about you one would be great. thx

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  36. Anonymous11/11/2015

    Looking at Christmas lights, reading Christmas stories, and putting up the Christmas decorations are a few of the things we do at Christmas time.

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  37. Anonymous11/11/2015

    Would love to win any of the baskets but especially love the Nativity Gift Basket Giveaway.

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  38. One of our favorite family traditions is to put up the tree on Thanksgiving night and then the kids all sleep under it. ��

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  39. On Christmas Day, when we have our big family gathering, we always have a Christmas pinata. It's a tradition that got started about 20 years ago. My younger cousins were very small at the time, I was a teenager, and now some of us have children. It's so much fun and we look forward to it every year!

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  40. We enjoy counting down to Christmas using an advent calendar. We also enjoy going to Christmas Eve services.:)

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  41. we love to drive around and look at the Christmas lights

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  42. Our Family goes to a christmas eve service every year!!

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  43. Christmas music, movies, baking and scents! Christmas Eve church service, look at lights, read the Nativity story.

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  44. We love making holiday cookies every year!

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  45. I love decorating the Christmas tree

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  46. We do the nativity with our kids each Christmas Eve, and Christmas is all centered around Christ.

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  47. We have a tradition of watching Christmas specials on TV. I've done this since I was a young child :)

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  48. We do a family activity countdown during the month of december. We love to incorporate service activities in this, helps us remember Christ's love and sacrifice for us as we love and serve others.

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  49. Bringing baby supplies to the Christmas Eve service, which are donated to charities serving new mothers in need.

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  50. We're still working on finding a tradition that sticks. We haven't found it just yet.

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  51. Church Christmas Eve Service after spending time with extended family.

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  52. We always set up our activity as a family, while reading the Christmas story from the Bible.

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  53. After we're done opening gifts, we always have a huge Christmas breakfast. Everyone has a job and we all pitch in to make the meal. I love seeing what each of us brings to the table.

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  54. One of our silliest traditions is during the big extended family Christmas, we stockpile wrapping paper wads during gift opening and have a big paperwad fight afterwards (before all helping pick up). So much laughter!

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  55. We have kindness critters that visit us & suggest nice things for our kids to do. We make cookies for friends, make cards for relatives, memorize scripture, the kids look forward to finding them each morning & seeing what their task is for the day.

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  56. We have kindness critters that visit us & suggest nice things for our kids to do. We make cookies for friends, make cards for relatives, memorize scripture, the kids look forward to finding them each morning & seeing what their task is for the day.

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  57. Decorate the day after Christmas!

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  58. Every year my immediate family gets together for dinner and gift exchange on Christmas Eve and my mom gives everyone special Christmas pajamas.

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  59. We open most of our CHRISTmas gifts at midnight and sleep in on CHRISTmas.

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  60. I don't know if my following Amy Blevins on twitter went through right but I wanted to let you know I am following her on twitter :)

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  61. We have an advent calendar, read Jotham's Journey together, and pull out all the other Christmas books.

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  62. My husband traditionally starts listening to Christmas music the day after his birthday - Sept 30 :) My kids have picked up on this and will ask to listen to Christmas music anytime during the year ;)

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  63. We love being in church with family on Christmas Eve. Then, the next morning we wake up to Christmas music and have a relaxing time reading the Christmas story and opening presents.

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  64. Love this give away, Christmas is one my favorite holidays and I can't wait to do all the christmas cooking and deconation with my son we homeschooling for the 1st time.

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  65. The decorations and Christmas tree are a traditional activity.

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  66. Some of my favorite traditions that we had way back when we lived in Montana were: the town had a Christmas stroll (the shops stayed open late in the evening; the whole town would come out, visit the shops, which offered treats and drawings for prizes, etc. Someone provided a horse-drawn hayride up and down Main Street.). Our church would go as a group up to the mountains to cut Christmas trees together, then meet at a member's house for soup and sandwiches and a white elephant gift exchange. I used to bake several kinds of Christmas cookies.

    Since moving from there...we really haven't had much of anything. I do like to decorate the house for Christmas, though.

    I LOVE sending and receiving Christmas cards, but that seems to be a "lost art" anymore.

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  67. Our family loves making and decorating gingerbread cookies!

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  68. What a fun, eclectic mix of products!

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  69. Making gift baskets for widows, caroling, shoeboxes for children, making gingerbread houses, baking Jesus a birthday cake, there are so many traditions!

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  70. We read a book every night. We make Christmas suckers to give to friends. We have a countdown calendar that gets a piece added to it each night. We spend lots of time together doing fun things and enjoying family.

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  71. we love our Christmas eve traditions , the advent count down reading , drawing hanging the ornament off the day , lightning the candle ......we love it all

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  72. We enjoy spending Christmas at home. In the past, we would travel through the day visiting other family. Now we enjoy sleeping in, eating breakfast together, and watching the children play and watching our favorite Christmas movies.

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  73. Playing Bing Crosby Christmas music on the stereo! :)

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  74. I love when my Grandpa and Mom play piano and we sing carols together!

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  75. I'd love to win the Lavender oil!

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  76. We enjoy a big Christmas breakfast.
    Theresa N
    weceno(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  77. We are working on building our tradision and are off to a good start this year! We'll be having a cookie swap and a gift wrapping party with family and friends!

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  78. One of my favorite has always been since I was growing up to put up the tree on my birthday and I have continued that tradition with my own children and husband.

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  79. Going to church on Christmas Eve is probably my favorite. We also read all kinds of wonderful books, make crafts and do special activities during Advent to really appreciate and understand what the beautiful season is all about.

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  80. Christmas Eve we make a non traditional dinner as it is just my husband and the kids. My daughter and I bake a cake and frost it the night before and put Happy Birthday Jesus on it. Christmas Day is spent with family. Christmas Eve we finish up our baking and our crafts.

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  81. We love decorating the tree as a family with all of the ornaments that our kids have made and our family heirloom ornaments.

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  82. Anonymous11/15/2015

    We started last year a tradition of have birthday pancakes with whip cream for breakfast, and singing Happy Birthday to Jesus.
    Teresa Wylie

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  83. I would love to get the Lavender Essential Oil!

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  84. We do an advent wreath as a family every year. It's my favorite Christmas tradition!

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  85. Would love to win the Nativity set, too!

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  86. Would love to win the Nativity set, too!

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