Christmas Traditions
My husband would be quick to claim that all of my Christmas traditions couldn't possibly fit in one post. Christmas is my favorite holiday and I am kind of a tradition junkie. And I agree with him. We do many of the "usuals." Touring lights. A christmas ornament for each of our kiddos. And we are kind of obsessed with our creative Christmas card.
So, I thought I would choose 3 of our more "original" traditions to share.
25 Days of Christmas Books
I didn't make this idea up but I have successfully implemented it for at least 3 years now. Each year I wrap up 25 Christmas books and number them. (Usually I do it in January when I take down my decorations so they are set for the next year.) Then each night in December we open one and read it as a family along with our Advent Book. The kids absolutely love this. Its basically free and I love how we gather each day to snuggle up. Then once the books are open we add them to our Christmas book collection basket to be read over and over. The kids love waiting and watching for their favorites.
You are probably thinking "You have 25 Christmas books?" Umm...yes. Actually we have more. The basket isn't empty when we start. My kids get a Christmas book each year. It used to be each of them got their very own book, now we usually do just one to share. Most of our books were purchased second hand. With this tradition in mind I was able to find lots of options over one summer of yard sales. And I've picked up a few on ebay I wanted but couldn't find locally. And if you are wanting to start this year and be budget friendly I knew someone who actually wrapped library books.
Our Advent Book
The other book we read each night in December is our Advent Book. It was recommended to me by Jill Savage and I absolutely LOVE it. The book is heirloom quality. Each day it has a door to open. Inside is a beautiful illustrations and part of the biblical Christmas story. Each day you start at the beginning and open each door up to the current day. So you read day one twenty five times. I love that the words are straight from Scripture. My kids basically have it memorized because of the repetition. Before any of my kiddos were readers they would help "read" the days they had memorized.
Now you all want the book, right? Here is my disclaimer. Its expensive. Like I'm probably one of the most frugal people you know, right? So you are going to die when you hear how much I paid for this book. I think it was like $45 when I bought it. So not cheap. However, I would pay it again. I simply love it. While I know we could make the same memories with a cheaper book I really love this one and the heart behind the couple who made it. Their ministry is helping families celebrate and make traditions.
You should check out their website for tons of free ideas for celebrating and making memories with your kids.
(The book can be purchased there and I don't get anything if you decide to purchase FYI.)
Christmas Meals on Wheels
I saved the most unique of our traditions for last. You've probably never heard of this one. It has its roots in my very own childhood. My mom is amazing. If you think I'm a decent cook, baker, or food sharer its her you owe the thank you to. When I was younger she loved to bless others with good food. All of our coaches, helpers, and sunday school teachers usually got cinnamon rolls or sometimes a homemade pizza for Christmas. I remember I loved going with her to deliver them. She had a reputation and people were always thankful to get some of her cinnamon rolls. Over the years I've baked cinnamon rolls and cheese cakes for Jeremy's youth workers. But, when it came time to thank our kids' sunday school teachers we decided to do dinner.
I will make a dinner I can make in mass. One year I did homemade pizzas. One year I did soup and rolls. Then we load all that food and our children up in our van. We drive around delivering it to our children's sunday school teachers, encourager, and children's minister. It usually takes a good hour or more to do all the deliveries. We put a Christmas movie on for the kids to watch. When we get to their teachers house they get to get out and help deliver. When its all delivered (or sometimes as we are delivering) we eat fast food. ( a huge treat for our kids.)
We've done this for two years. Minus last year when we were getting ready to go to Africa. They got truffles on Valentines day instead last year, because the point of traditions isn't to make yourself want to scream. ;)
So there you have it friends. We love us some Christmas, mostly because we'd be lost if Jesus hadn't been born!
