Traditions

I'm so enjoying this special time of the year and all of the fun holiday traditions that come along with it! We have several favorites that we continue each Christmas season!

One thing the kids look forward to is our Christmas Elf, Alfie, coming back to our home from the North Pole (Elf on the Shelf)! Each night he reports back to Santa how the behavior has been around here and then returns to a new "spot" each day. The kids race around to see where he's hiding each morning! They've even enjoyed talking to him and sending notes back to Santa with him. So cute!

The kids also look forward to rediscovering our Little People Nativity Set.  It comes out once a year with the holiday decor and it is like a brand new toy!   They have so much fun playing with it!  Its wonderful because it is a set that is kid friendly and can be handled and enjoyed without the worry of it getting broken.

Another special tradition is our basket of Christmas books! Much like our Nativity Set, we keep these packed up with the holiday decorations so they only come out once a year. The kids love looking through them again and remembering their favorites! We have several including The Sweet Smell of Christmas by Patricia M. Scarry, Merry Creature Christmas by Dandi Daley Mackall, and God Gave Us Christmas by Lisa T. Bergren. We love to cozy up under a warm blanket and read together!

Each night at dinner we try to read an Advent Devotion from this sweet little book, Getting Ready for Christmas.  It is perfect for the kids, short but gives us a verse to discuss and an activity to do as a family.


Our family also enjoys a fun family holiday movie night! We break out the popcorn, cuddle up next to the twinkling lights and watch favorites like Elf or the Polar Express. This year we plan to check out The Search for Santa Paws and Disney's A Christmas Carol.

At least one evening during the season we love to grab some hot chocolate and drive around to see all of the Christmas lights and other decorations in our neighborhood and those surrounding us. We listen to holiday music on the radio or a CD and enjoy the view!  Each year I treat myself to a new Christmas CD.  This year my favorites are Glee: the Christmas Album and Chris Tomlin's Glory In the Highest: Christmas Songs of Worship.

Another thing I try to do every year is put a new picture ornament on the tree for both of the kids.  It is so neat to pull out the collection of ornaments each Christmas and see how the kids have changed!  This will also be a great gift for the kids to have for their own Christmas trees someday!

These are a few of the things we do to celebrate this season.  I'd love to hear all about your favorite Christmas traditions! :)  I hope you are enjoying the holidays and treasuring the memories!

December Daily

I’m so excited it is December 1st!!! For the past 3 Christmas Seasons I’ve followed Ali Edwards and her December Daily Project. The basic idea is to create a mini album/journal to document the season quickly and easily. At the end of the month (I end mine on Christmas Day) I have a special keepsake album that chronicles all of our fun and festive holiday happenings as well as meaningful traditions, thoughts about the season and any other special moments I want to remember and document. This album really gets to the heart of what the season means to me and my family.

The key is to keep it simple!!! I actually created the foundation of my album (bare bones so to speak) over the past few weeks. Now I am all ready to begin adding content starting today, Dec. 1st, but you can also create you album as you go. Each day I take a picture and write a short note documenting a special moment, tradition, event, memory, etc. to add to my album/journal. Keeping it short, sweet and simple makes it doable in the chaos of the busy season. I have to say it is such a treat to look back on the years past and see what has changed (or stayed the same) and revisit those special moments with my loved ones!


Here are a few pages from my December Daily Album 2009:

Cover




Dec. 3rd
Chloe the cat knocking down my Nutcracker display!

 



Dec. 4th
I also like to document the everyday moments.
Photo idea:  take pictures of your Christmas shopping receipts and/or bags of gifts.



Use an envelope for a page.



Inside the envelope you can hold extra pictures and journaling. 
This page is part of our Dec. 9th visit to Santa



Dec. 9th

Dec. 10th

Extra pictures for Dec.10th.
I glued them back to back and inserted them into the book rings as their own page.
See other side below:




I’d love for you to play along this year!! It isn’t too late… Join me today and begin creating an album or journal to remember the season! Don’t make it too difficult!! I just used Christmas papers and embellishments from my scrapbooking stash and haven’t bought anything new to include this year. If you aren’t a scrapbooker, you can find lots of Christmas themed paper, stickers, etc. at your local craft stores (Michaels, Hobby Lobby) and places like Target and Wal-Mart. Another idea is to use found/recycled items like cardboard, holiday wrapping paper, old Christmas cards, tags, etc. and put together you album with book rings. I’ve used several of these items as well and will show you my foundation pages in the next few days! :) Looking forward to some holiday creative fun!!

Be sure to let me know if you are joining in!! :)

Happy Creating!
Jennifer

Autumn Has Arrived

I just love this time of the year. The temperatures are now down from the suffocating 100+ degrees they were during the summer. The leaves will soon change to their beautiful new colors and I love the amazing smells of the season; spiced cider and the smell of a cozy fire in the air are favorites. I just put out my apple and cinnamon candles! I'm also looking forward to finally being able to make some of our favorite fall dishes. Chili and homemade soup are especially tasty this time of the year! I've got the mantle decorated with a fall vine, scarecrow and pumpkins. The fall wreath is on the door and scarecrows are happily welcoming friends to our yard! All the fun fall activities are now beginning. We are looking forward to our yearly tradition of going to the pumpkin patch soon and Halloween is just around the corner.

So, Halloween is a big deal in our house! My daughter has always loved to dress up. She never watches or listens to anything without also dressing the part. Whether it is a Disney Princess or Velma from Scooby Doo, she is in character. Naturally she loves the opportunity to dress up and actually leave the house to go trick or treating. She is still deciding on who she will be this year. It ranges from Woody or Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story or Daphne from Scooby. Such fun memories to make. I'm so excited for her!

We will be carving the pumpkin soon and enjoying the yummy roasted pumpkin seeds to snack on. Here is last years Jack-o-lantern:

Lately I've been trying to catch up on my scrapbooking. Catching up is a never-ending process, but I figure I'll keep plugging away a little bit at a time. I found the cutest Haunted House album from Deja Views. I plan on starting an album for each of my children showcasing their Halloween Costume for each year. I'll just add onto it every Halloween. I hope to have some of it done to share soon!

What fun fall traditions does your family have?