Family Traditions - Advent

I love traditions and they are important to me.  It makes me feel good and I know what to expect. Also, traditions make me keep memories. And I love for my kids to experience and live those traditions. Especially around Christmas time there are lots of things to do and traditions to be created. I was very excited to celebrate Advent this year and to institute new, hopefully life long, traditions in our family. Amelia is finally old enough now to start enjoying our family activities and she can more actively participate. She had fun last year but this year, she truly enjoyed the different activities and got in to the holiday spirit big time.  

 

Each year our family celebrates the Advent season by trying to do a  different daily family activity. But to be honest, some days we just don't get to them because life happens but then on other days, we do a couple of activities instead. Since Daddy has to work, most of the activities the kids and I do by ourselves. He joins in on the fun on the weekend. Mostly we do some simple and easy activities and then some that take more effort. The point is for us to enjoy this special time together and to make memories.

Beginning December 1st, the kids open every day a little door on their chocolate advent calendars, which helps them to count down the days till Christmas. Also that same time, our helpful Elf on the Shelf, Eli, reappears and watches the kids during the day while at night he flies to the North Pole to tell Santa about all of the day's adventures. Each morning, Eli returns to us and perches in a different place to watch the fun. And every morning the kids wake up and race around the house looking for him. Fun, fun, fun.

Here is a list, in no specific order, with most of our advent activities we have done this year:

• Buy and decorate the Christmas tree
• Picking out a name from the Angel Tree and buying a gift for a needy child
• A visit to Santa at the Winter Wonderland at Bass Pro Shop
• Play in the snow at the Frozen Ice Palace
• Bake and decorate Christmas cookies (twice)
• Make homemade Christmas ornaments (twice)
• Put up our outdoor decorations
• Go to the City's Snowfest
• Read Christmas stories
• See a traditional Christmas Movie together: Rudolph The Rednose Reindeer and The Year Without A Santa Claus (the original versions)
• Drive around the Neighborhood and look at all the Holiday displays
• Mail our Christmas cards (the kids help by putting stamps and stickers on them)
• See a Christmas Play: "When it Snows in Miami" at a local church
• Attend Christmas Mass/ Nativity Play at Church
• Kids pick out a small Christmas Gift for Mommy and Daddy
• Attend Santa's Workshop at a local church
• Celebrate Nikolaus
• Making holiday arts and crafts
• Donate some toys for Toys for Tots
• Building our Gingerbread Houses
• Handing out little homemade gifts to our neighbors and the mailman
• Choose a new ornament for our tree 

We really had a great time making all those memories together and I can't wait for many more advent seasons to come.