It's gonna be a fun Advent!

I'm spilling the beans here... but I'm not worried. This is about what Vicki is getting for Christmas. But, since she doesn't usually think to read this unless I tell her I posted something, I should be safe for another week or so...

In my family, the Christmas Stocking reaches Olympic proportions. My mom had a ball filling our stockings with all sorts of stuff, wrapping each item and watching the joy on our faces as we made our way through it all. Everything from soap to toothpaste to treats to... well, suffice it to say that anything is fair game to be in the stocking. Have you ever gotten Odor Eaters in your stocking? I have... :-D

Oh - and a stocking isn't limited to one of those things you can hang from a mantle. We've gotten stockings in grocery bags, Tupperware, and other amazing containers. As long as you put a picture or cutout of a stocking on it someplace, it's fair game.

This is one of the traditions that I've tried to continue in our house. I try to do a stocking for Vicki that is like that... Sometimes, the stocking is the entire gift, and way fun to watch her open.

So, this year... I bought one of those wooden Advent calendars this year at Target. Basic black with numbered knobs on each door. Cute. Vicki knows it's in the house. She even knows that I've been preparing stuff to put in it. What she hasn't figured out yet (or at least I hope she hasn't figured out yet...) is that it's her stocking. And, it'll last for 25 days. :-D

What's in it? Nope... not gonna go there. There's always a chance that this would be the one time she actually reads the blog, and the game would be up. It's ok for her to know that it's her stocking - after all, she'll open the first door next week. But, details will have to wait for another time.

It's beginning to look a lot like... something... :-D