The Advent Calendar

 Estelle saw a project in a children's magazine to make an advent calendar and she didn't let go of the idea.  Saturday we got our supplies (in between making pumpkin cheesecake and pecan pie) and Sunday we started in.

 There was measuring, cutting, and glueing.

 They decided to fill these envelopes that we made out of craft paper with little ornament disks with their own colored drawings.

 It was hard to choose just 24 things to draw!

 Estelle drew, Léna colored.  I was like Charlie Brown, stuck with the "coal" job - the envelopes.

 Here are their 24 drawings:

 From the beginning, the girls wanted this to be a gift for Johanna and Jean-Luc, our generous and doting neighbors who have a dog and cat.   This one below was for the last day, #24.

 This is a 2nd marriage for our neighbors - they met long ago as co-workers or something.  Johanna has an adult son.  We were stunned to recently find out that Jean-Luc had a son too, who died at 9 or 10 years old of cancer.  Their boys had been friends.    He is always so sweet to the girls.

 We began around 8 a.m. and had things wrapped up shortly after 6 p.m.   

 We left it in front of their door. 

 We heard them come out of the elevator later and heard Johanna go "ooooooooohhhhhh".  The girls flung open the door and charged them with pride.  So cute, and the true spirit of giving.

I remember every year pouring over holiday craft magazines with Joanie, and so many of our siblings plunging into these December projects.  The clothespin people, decoupage, iron-on or dough-bread ornaments, molasses cookies in huge shapes, gingerbread houses, angles, glue stars, dish cap and glitter and pipe cleaners....   It was special to have a memory with my own kids.