Christmas Traditions

I can't wait for Katie to share in some of our Christmas traditions!  The trees and the decorating are obviously big favorites for me.  

We love some nutcrackers in this house.  

Each child gets a new one each year, and they all did this year (including Katie Ruth).

We haven't broken any of them yet this year, which is a record.

They do get rearranged daily, thanks to Jack.

We also get new ornaments each year to memorialize something we did that year.

Sometimes they're for vacations we've taken, or for something the boys liked.

We have bikes for the year they learned how to ride their bicycles, and Dora for the year David was obsessed with her.  This year we got three new R*****n ornaments for our Katie Ruth.

I write the year on the bottom so we don't forget when we got them, and we have fun every year talking about why we got them, where we got them, etc.

This is hung up HIGH.  Like, top of the ten foot tree high. 

I had to stand on the back of the couch to take a photo of it.  I don't recommend that.

The boys' favorite Christmas tradition is our advent calendar.  

Each day someone gets to open a door and there are tiny gifts inside each door.

And I mean tiny - some of them have been chocolates, four quarters, a lego mini figure, a parachute man, stickers, gum, and things like that.  I have to keep it on top of the refrigerator so no little fingers get into it!

The person who opens the door on the calendar also gets to open book.  I wrap 24 Christmas books at the end of November and put them all in a basket.  They open the book and we read it that night before bed.  (The person who opens the door and the book also gets to be first that day when we're leaving the house, getting ready for bed, picking stories, etc.  It's a big deal around here to be first!)

My other favorite?  CHRISTMAS CARDS!  I love them.  I text Chris each day from work to see if we got any in the mail.  He saves them for me to open because he knows how much I love them.  I love sending them (and want our's to be the first one people get) and I really love getting them!

Go here to read about one of my favorite card recipients!

Hopefully next year there are six people on our card instead of five.

I can't wait for Katie girl to be here to be part of our Christmas traditions!