A Special Kind of Advent Calendar

I love this time of year.  I know it's kind of cliche, and, really, who doesn't like Christmas?  But I seriously love this time of year.  There is so much fun to be had.  So many projects to make.  So many treats to bake.  Beautiful things to see.  Love to spread.  I've always tried to make this time of year special for us, but even more so since having kids.  It's so fun to see Christmas through a child's eyes.  Every time we're driving at night and Micah sees houses lit up he is in awe and saws, "Doe priiity!"  It just reminds me to slow down and enjoy this time even more.

And I have so much fun planned for our family, but I think it's so easy to forget my husband sometimes.  We can get so caught up in making the season enjoyable for the kids that we forget about the adults.  I don't want Brad to get lost in the season.  I want him to know how much I love and appreciate him all the time.  So, I decided to make him his own advent calendar.  I got the idea from this post at one of my favorite blogs.  I used my extra paper from the advent calendar I made for the family and put together 24 little cards.  Sixteen of them have little notes of praise and gratitude for Brad, things I love about him.  Four cards have something I will do for him (such as bring him lunch at work or make his favorite meal) and four cards are dates we will go on.  On November 30th while he was at work, I strung some ribbon above our bed and hung the cards.  He was super surprised when he got home from work and saw it hanging there.  Micah, too, thought it was cool.  He keeps calling it "abcs."  Every morning Brad takes down his card and reads it.  It's such a fun way to show him how much I love and appreciate him.