Christmas Traditions

One of the things I love about the holidays is all the traditions we follow each year. I hope my kids grow up loving all of these things and remembering some of them when they have their own families. This time of the year can be so busy, and I have to work to not think of some of these activities as things that just have to get done and checked off of my to-do list. I truly enjoy these things and especially love documenting them and looking back at them in years past. In addition to seeing Santa and baking cookies and looking at lights, I thought I would post about a couple of additional things we do that haven't been mentioned yet. The first one is The Magic Elf. This was his 3rd year to spend December in our house, and he has become part of the family, and we are all sad when he has to go back in his box and rest for the next year. We let him out of his box on the last day of December and he flies to different spots in the house holding a different card each day about Christmas or the Christmas spirit. The last five or so days tells the story of Jesus' birth. The Elf flies to a different spot each night, and the kids love going to find him every morning. Occasionally he doesn't move during the night, and that just means that he is really tired and needed a small break. Thankfully, this didn't happen more than a couple of times! Here is a picture of our Magic Elf.

Another thing we started this year was an interactive nativity scene. This was just a 7 night activity, and each night there was a new box to open with a new figure/character in it. Each child took a turn opening a box and placing the character in the scene. There was a story that went with each page written in poem form. There was also a Bible verse that went with each day, and I let Allison look up the verse in her Bible and read it to the family. The stories told about the birth of Christ, and each day ended with a buildup to the last day, which revealed what Jesus wants for Christmas. On the 7th box, when you open it up there is a mirror inside the box and the story reveals that YOU are what Jesus wants for Christmas. Allison got the most out of the whole experience, but we will do it again the next few years as Caroline and Will get a little older. It was also a great way to just have some family time each night during this busy time!

Of course we had to fit in making Christmas ornaments. Last year I found a place in Southlake, The Art House, that had certain times during December for drop-in ornament painting. This year and last year, in addition to making ornaments for home, each of the kids made an ornament for their teachers and for the nurse at CES. The kids were so proud to give their teacher their handmade gifts. The girls, especially, worked so hard on picking out colors and designs that they thought their teacher would like. Below are the ornaments that we took home for us. Caroline's is on the far left, Allison's is in the middle, and Will's is on the right. These were the last ornaments they painted, and I think they were a little tired of the whole thing by that point, but they are still cute, and as I always say, "It captured the moment/year!"