Mommy's Moment: Christmas Time!

Surprisingly, I am almost caught up on our blog. I'm still a week or so behind but I'm almost to where I'm posting pictures that accurately depict what's going on right now! Phew. Part of that has to do with the fact that I've totally slacked off taking pictures. However, I'm sure the Christmas season will motivate me to get back into the habit.

I'm excited about Christmas as the children are getting older. I feel like now that Hannah is out of the toddler stage and better able to understand things, we can begin to start some family traditions. One tradition I've carried on from my childhood is giving the kids ornaments each year. I love this tradition. Since I was little, my mom has always picked out an ornament for me and my sisters every Christmas. Now that I have my own tree, I get to put my ornaments from childhood onto our tree. Each one brings back memories. So, I began that with H and G. Then, one day when they decorate their own trees with their families they can say, "oh I remember this..." and a story unfolds. And, there first years of marriage or just having their own place...they don't have to look at a bare tree! Thanks Mom for this great tradition!

Also, I remember doing an Advent Calendar with my family when we were little. I loved opening up the doors to read about the story of the birth of Christ. I definitely wanted to carry this along into our family. I want my children to get excited about Christ's birth and what that means. My growing collection of Christmas materials does not yet include a nice advent calendar. But, I found a great and easy one to make in the Disney Family Fun magazine! I have it pictured above. It isn't the fanciest, but it works. I cut out 24 windows from magazines and a door and put them on my cardstock. Then you just cut slits to make the windows open. In each window I included a verse regarding Advent. I found these on the internet. Each night, we read the verses and then a little book about a bear traveling to Bethlehem to see baby Jesus.

Lastly, thanks to my friend who shared this great idea, I made an advent Christmas tree out of toilet paper rolls and paper towel rolls. Hannah helped me glue the tissue paper on. That lasted oh, five minutes, before she was done with "that game." In each roll I have a slip of paper with something fun to do that day. There is also two pieces of candy. Hannah gets it now and asks each morning, "what are we going to do today?" That's fun. So far we've made an ornament (pictures to come), played a rousing game of alphabet bingo, watched Cars (sort of), decorated her room for Christmas (and Grant's), and today we will be sipping on some hot chocolate.

So, all that to say, it's fun to begin making traditions in our family. I would love to hear more ideas!! What do you do as a tradition in your family? What do you hope to start? As the years pass on, I know many traditions will change and some will stay. But it's fun to build anticipation and excitement in our hearts and our children's hearts as we join with those long ago who waited upon the birth of the Messiah!