Christmas Traditions

We love Christmas at our house. I love it soo much that by Halloween I have bought or know what the last few items are on my list to get, by Thanksgiving most of the gifts are wrapped and ready to go. I get just a little wrapping happy mid November. My poor husband...I lock him in my room with me while I wrap and show him all the stuff I have been hording through the year.

I am huge on doing traditions with our kids. I love the memories that they bring each year when we do them again. And really they make December a huge party and who doesn't love a party?

So I don't do a lot, well at least to me it is not a lot. We do an advent calender that my mother made for us a few years a ago and a morning devotional that I found in a stack of books my mother in law gave me.

So our Advent calender goes like this:
In November well before I am in the planning of what candy I am making this year for our after Thanksgiving dipping day, I pull it out and pull out the cards in each of the drawers (they have on them activities that we will do throughout the month), along with my calender. I decide when we want to do what and then fill up the empty drawers with a small piece of candy I got the day after Halloween when the candy is all 50% off at Walmart.
Having 3 December Birthdays is rough and I don't like them to get over looked so I have them on the cards to give their days something fun and special too.

 Our activities:
*Decorate the Tree (always the 1st drawer)
*Put up Nativity (always the 2nd drawer)
*Make Dad a Birthday Cake
*Christmas movie Night ( a good reason the buy a new movie)
*Christmas caroling (right now we just learn a few new songs and only sing at home someday I'd like to go to a rest home or the older couples in our neighborhood)
*Deliver Neighbor Gifts
*Draw names and Go shopping (best fun at the dollar store we divide into 2 groups and sneak around getting presents picked out)
*Make Birthday Cards for Hannah and Bridger (Bridger's is the day before Hannah's)
*Decorate for Hannah and Bridger's Birthday
*Drive and find Christmas lights
*Read the Forgotten Carols (always the week of Christmas)
*Take the train to see the lights on Temple square (always Christmas Eve)
*Decorate Gingerbread houses (usually and friend Party)
*Make an ornament for the tree ( I don't save very much of the kids stuff but those tacky homemade ornaments made by my kids tug at my heart strings)
*Put together Friend gifts ( I buy all the stuff the day after Christmas so it is just putting the gift bags together super easy and cheap)
*Decorate cookies
* Go on a winter walk (This is a good Saturday Day activity, especially if there is a trail close by)

Nothing to crazy and it is a good way to fit in all the fun stuff at Christmas that could be forgotten about once the month begins.

Our morning devotional is in a book called a Christ Centered Christmas so we read some scriptures and talk about the gifts given to us by Christ. After they each get an ornament to hang on our tree. The book came with paper ornaments, which I'm not a fan of so I have been slowly trading them out for a real ornament. I get one for each of the kids so we have 6 stars, 6 snowflakes and so on. I want to have it so when they get married or move out they can take their bag and I will get them a little tree and the list of the scriptures to do on their own to help them build their own traditions, and remember ours.

 In keeping the Santa Clause and the Christ Child separate I have the house split up in decorations, our Family room has our big tree and all things fun and St Nick, our up stairs living room is our Holy room with all our nativities and our two small trees that we use for our devotional. I feel it keeps the fun but also when you walk into my home there is a different Christmas spirit.