Traditions are really important to me, and we have several that we've done for years, and a couple that we're just starting, but I plan to continue as the years go by. Here are a few of our traditions.
1. Advent calendar
I don't think we've ever done an Advent calendar before, but I bought one this year from the German Club at the high school where I work for $3. Allie has had so much fun picking out the number for each day and getting her little piece of chocolate each evening.
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This is the second year Allie and I have done a gingerbread house, I bought the kit for $7.98 at Wal-Mart again. But this year it was pretty much Allie and Bruce. They constructed it and designed the outside, I basically just cut out fondant hearts for decoration. We had a blast with this though.
3. Elf on the Shelf
This is our second year doing the Elf on the Shelf, and my daughter just loves it. I think she's looked forward to our elf, which she named Pixie, coming back all year. In fact, a few months ago, she got really sick, and the one thing she wanted was that Pixie get to come back for a few days to make her feel better. Her Nana helped her write a letter to Santa asking if Pixie could come for a quick visit. So, of course, Pixie spent about a week with us in October, until Allie felt better again. Now, she's back all month, and Allie likes getting to see where Pixie is hanging out each morning! Website: The Elf on the Shelf
4. Christmas Lights
For pretty much my whole life, we've made a point to go look at Christmas lights as a family. When I was younger, there was a home in Simcoe, a small community a short drive from our home, that was always decorated gorgeously with Christmas lights. This family had since quit doing that, but there is always an abundance of options to chose from around here when wanting to view Christmas lights. This year we went to the Christmas at the Falls event at Noccalula Falls in Gadsden, AL-about a 90 minute drive from home. If anyone lives in the area, I strongly recommend taking your family here. It's a $5 per person entry fee, with children 3 and under free. The entire park is COVERED in Christmas lights, and there is a (lighted!) train the carries you around the park, a petting zoo, a building to see Santa, a separate building to write and mail a letter to Santa, and a building to decorate Christmas cookies. The cookies, however, were $3 each or 2 for $5, but I don't think that was a bad price to pay for how much fun Allie had-the was the one thing she absolutely insisted that we do. They also sold coffee, hot chocolate, hot apple cider, and cokes for $1 each. Bruce, Allie, and I went with Bruce's sister and brother-in-law, and we had a all blast.
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| The lights |
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| Decorating cookies! |
We are sentimental tree people around here- not "Let's have a blue and white or pink/green/purple themed tree this year" people. My parents' Christmas tree is covered from top to bottom with ornaments that mean something. A lot of them my sister, brother, and myself have made in school. But there are others that are really special. Each of us has at least one ornament for every year of our life. So, I've continued that tradition with Allie as she's grown up. That way, one day, her own daughter can find the ornament from her first Christmas and insist on hanging it on her own pink, sparkly Christmas tree, just like Allie did with my own twenty-eight year old Baby's 1st Christmas ornament this year. I haven't bought any for this year yet though, so I'll have to get on the ball about that!
More Christmas-fun related posts to come!
