"Fings ain't what they used to be"

As the song goes, things really aren't what they used to be. I remember advent calendars being little chocolate santas, baubles, etc. but over the past few years they have been taken over by large calendars with film and children's programmes themes. 
Marlane gets the calendars for the children and Lego has been favourite with some.
Hendrix and Buddy have Jurrasic World calendars this year, which they love because they get a different tiny dinosaur each day.
The girls, twins and Ruby, have suitable girly calendars (can I still say that?).
Marlane has a wooden advent calendar which she uses each year. It is filled with drawers and in each drawer she puts a candle, which is used in front of the crib. A really nice idea and it is becoming a tradition which started years ago with Lennon and Dhylan. Lennon, being the youngest at the time, would light the calendar reciting, "We light this candle to remind us that Jesus is the light of the World". They have both outgrown this, and we don't see the in the mornings, so it has been taken over by Buddy and Hendrix.