The 25 Days of Christmas?

I absolutely love Christmas! This holiday is very special to me for two different reasons. The first reason is because as an adult I have come to a greater understanding of "the real reason for the season" (sorry for the cheesy quote!). The second reason is because as I get older I appreciate more and more just how special my parents made Christmas every year. One of the things I remember from my childhood Christmases is having an advent calendar. I remember it was always a paper calendar with perforated doors. It was so exciting to open a new door each night to find a little surprise.

Since I have been married, the advent calendar was definitely a tradition that I wanted to start in our family. Since we don't have children yet, it wasn't a pressing issue but I was always on the look out for not only a cute wooden advent calendar, but also an inexpensive one.

Three years ago I found a nice wooden calendar on an after-holiday-clearance sale at a craft store. It was not the style I was looking for, but I figured I couldn't pass up an $8 deal. I knew I could be creative and paint it more kid friendly. So for the last two Christmases I have set it out to be displayed in its original form.

The other night Mike & I were watching TV and he said "Do you know that there are two number 16's and two number 17's on your calendar?" The jokester that he is, I figured he was pulling my leg. But after promising he wasn't fibbing, I looked at the calendar and this is what I saw...

I am still in shock that for two years this has sat in the living room and no one, not even me, has noticed the numbering. So I guess I will definitely be repainting this advent calendar. Who knows, maybe I can sell it to some other unobservant person and just buy me a new cute one.