A couple of years ago we decided to make our own holiday traditions for our family. When you enter into a marriage, you usually bring your own traditions from each family but we decided to incorporate both and add a few of our own. One thing I was really excited about was our advent calendar. We decided to choose 25 activities that we wanted to do during the holiday season and fill each box with one thing. I added small slips of paper and every day one child (we take turns) opens the door and reads what fun thing we will do that day. Here is our advent calendar (I found it at Target a few years ago):
Here are some of the things we’re doing this year:
Hang Christmas Lights, Make "snowman soup" (hot chocolate) and watch a Christmas Movie together, Write letters to Santa, Bake Christmas goodies and deliver them to our neighbors, Read the Christmas Story together, Take a ride on the North Pole Express in Fillmore, Have an indoor picnic, Listen to Christmas music and sing together, Take photos of each other, watch a family slide show (or Dvd of our family), Kids pick what they want for dinner & help mommy make it, Decorate a "breakfast in bed tray" (one of our favorite traditions throughout the year is to bring breakfast in bed on special days like birthdays, Mother’s Day and Father’s day- so far we’ve never had a tray), Go to Nana & Papa’s house for tree trimming party, make paper snowflakes together, Make a Gingerbread house together (this year I found a gingerbread nativity scene), Make a Christmas 2007 video and interview everyone, take the subway to hollywood and watch a Christmas movie at the EL Capitan theater. We’ve obviously already done some of these, but I’m really looking forward to the rest of them! I don’t know about you, but if I don’t have a game plan, the season just flies by and all of my great ideas of things to do – never get done. This way, we have no regrets at the end of the season 🙂
My Christmas cards came via UPS yesterday!!!! I’m so excited to send them out! Can’t wait!
by emily