a peek inside the fishbowl

… to whoever nominated me in the “Best Family Blog” category over at the Canadian Blog Awards. I may not be the type to ask for votes or display the bling, but I do appreciate it. ;)

p.s. David Reevely at the Citizen gave me and a few other grrrrreat Ottawa-based bloggers a shout out too. Thanks David, for supporting the local blogging scene.

a.k.a. how I came to be engaged.

The Candy Store is hosting a special contest about sweet memories of the holidays. Winning entries will receive a gift card and have their story posted their website. (I should point out that The Candy Store is a patron of the Fishbowl, but I’m mentioning this only because it’s such a sweet little contest – no pun intended – and I thought you’d like to hear about it, not because I’m obligated to post about it in any way.)

When I learned about the contest it occurred to me that I don’t think I’ve ever shared the story of how Mark proposed to me. It’s related to candy. (Really!)

I always had a chocolate advent calendar when I was growing up and I never quite outgrew the idea. Mark and I had one (this is pre-kid days) and it was always a race to see who would get that day’s chocolate. It was December 16th. I guess we were coming home after work. We stepped in the door at the same moment. The chocolate! I made a dash for it, in fact, I may have even pushed him out of the way to get it. I remember it so clearly… running to the kitchen, finding the number, pushing my finger into the perforation and pulling at the little paper door and …

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Ha. Sounds daunting, doesn’t it? It isn’t meant to, really. This should not be overwhelming. It’s really just twenty five days of organized, customized fun. Are you up for it? I hope so. My kids loved this so much. I can’t wait to do it again.

Here’s how it works:

1) Make a Family Activity Advent Calendar using some scrapbook paper, old Christmas cards or some jolly old wrapping paper. Scroll down this post for a free template and instructions.

Non-crafty types, don’t fear! Making these is much easier than you think.

2) Sit down with your agenda or family calendar (preferably in a quiet spot!) and flip forward to December. This is where the organizing part comes in. Figure out what holiday fun needs to get done and the best times to do it. For example, you probably need to get your Christmas tree, visit family, go to a party, decorate the house, bake cookies, wrap and deliver gifts for charity etc. 

Keep these few tips in mind:

• These activities are supposed to be fun and family-oriented.
• Consider leaving “shopping” off the list.
• Do the bigger tasks early in the month (I learned this the hard way).
• Mix it up with some cheap and kid-friendly fun activities: building a snowman, go stargazing, go sledding or skating, paint everyone’s toenails, go swimming, make paper snowflakes, make hot chocolate etc. (The post I mentioned lists everything we did.) 
• And here’s the challenge part … take a photo of your advent activity every day (no matter what!) and post it to the Family Activity Advent Calendar (2008) Flickr group. That way we can all see what we’re doing. And if I’m the only one doing it, well, you’ll get to see what I’m doing. :)

I guess I’d better get started, huh? I can’t believe December is almost here already.