Advent celebrations...

So what exactly have WE been doing for this preparation time?
This year the lead up to the start of Advent was fairly intense as we prepared for the Christingle service as Tom and the boys were playing/singing... It focused our minds so much more on the true meaning of Christmas that we have taken on a more contemplative approach to this Advent tide...
In the morning, we sit round the kitchen table and say a short prayer and then I get the appro- priate book from the "story of Christmas" advent calendar, to read out, which is then hung on a tree that Tom and I made when Matthew was a baby.
In the evening, before we lay the table, one of the older boys lights our candles and then they sing "like a candle", we then may read a Bible passage. Before going up to bed the children take it in turns to take one of the nativity figures to stick on the fabric calendar scene. (Matthew ALWAYS gets to do the 19th with the "silent night" singing star, as it's his birthday!)