I have such fond memories of Christmastime from when I was a little girl. A few that come to mind…
+ stringing a strand of colored lights in my bedroom window that I fell asleep to nightly
+ playing our “Alvin and the Chipmunks” record on the record player (yes, I am THAT old) while we decorated the house and trimmed the tree
+ making red and green M&M cookies in my mom’s brown mixing bowl
+ driving around in our minivan blaring christmas carols and looking at lights
Now that I’m a mama, I am excited to start building fun traditions that my kids will one day look back on happily. However, Boone has been crushing most of my Christmas tradition dreams this year.
“Do you want to pick out an ornament for our Christmas tree?” “NO!”
“Do you want to turn on your Christmas lights in your room?” “NO!”
“Do you want to go visit Santa Claus at the mall?” “NO!”
Thankfully, as the month has worn on, he has warmed up to a lot of the Schultz family festivities! π
(This post is made up mostly of iPhone images from the past few years during Christmastime that show a few of our traditions).
1. Gingerbread House (above). This is our second year doing one – Boone has had a blast both times. The other day I was at Michael’s and noticed they have a gingerbread VILLAGE….the kit is the same price as one big one, but includes four small houses to decorate. Next year. π
2. Christmas Books. This year I started something new. I wrapped up 25 children’s Christmas books and labeled each with a number. Each evening – after bath time – Boone gets to open up his “present” for the corresponding day of the month and then read the book enclosed before bedtime. He gets so excited every time. I will say, though, I need to go through my books after this year and trade some of them in for simpler kid’s books. He’s gotten bored at some of the old school long-winded Christmas Golden Books.
3. Cookies. I may not have my mom’s brown mixing bowl, but I still have my recipe for the M&M cookies! Boone loves to help me bake most anything. I really enjoy that time with him as he “helps”. π We always do our first batch of M&M cookies on the evening of Thanksgiving and then end the night on the couch watching “Elf”.
4. More cookies. These ones are different than the above. These ones he gets to really go to town using the rolling pin to roll out the dough, use his cookies cutters and then dump massive amounts of sprinkles on top. The result is nearly inedible, but the kid is in hog heaven through the process.
5. Elf on the Shelf. Boone doesn’t really get the concept yet, but he LOVES to find where “Jovie” is hiding each new day.
6. Visit to Santa. I thought for sure this would be the year that he flipped out and screamed, seeing as he was so resistant in wanting to go see Santa. Nope. It was our little Crew that screamed like nobody’s business. Poor girl.
7. Reindeer Pancakes. This one was a big hit. π
8. Christmas Lights. Last year we went (after Christmas to avoid the lines) to McAdenville to see the lights. This year we are thinking of trying out the Speedway.
9. The Bear Show. This was our second year heading uptown to
Founders Hall to see the singing bears. This time, we went with some friends and took the Lightrail up….the train ride was half the fun.
10. Christmas Eve. I don’t know why, but on Christmas Eve, Geoff and I gather every single blanket and pillow that we own and sleep on the living room floor. We typically fall asleep under the lights of the tree while watching “The Christmas Story”. Bliss, my friends. Bliss.
Goodness, I love this season. Would love to know of any traditions that you and your family have adopted. Please do share!
Goodness, I LOVE you guys. This has brought a big giant smile to my face. Love seeing your happy sweet family! Poor Crew with Santa…but Boone’s face; I die. xoxo
loved reading this post.
This warmed my heart – you guys are simple amazing! #7 is my fav! π
A family tradition I love: Putting one of your shoes on the front porch for Saint Nicholas Day (Dec. 6th) and in the morning finding a small present in it. In my family we always got an ornament…not just any ornament, but one of those adorable ornaments from Hallmark. By the time I left home for college I had an amazing collection of ornaments, and to this day when I unpack them to hang on our Christmas tree I love looking at each one and reminiscing on all the memories associated with each one. ***My parents switched to Nativity pieces when we started high school, so I also have a beautiful Nativity set : )
I love these, Chey! Here’s one of mine…Growing up, my mom (who is a doctor) would choose 10-15 patients that had NO family whatsoever and would be alone for the holidays. Very elderly, we knew they couldn’t cook a great meal for Xmas and had no one to take them out or bring them one. We would slave away in the kitchen for days making home made cookies, treats, filet mignon, shrimp cocktail, scalloped potatoes etc. We’d put together an amazing meal on beautiful Christmas trays and go deliver them all on Christmas mornings to their homes/nursing homes/ALFs etc. The look on these elderly sweet ladies and gent’s faces were always so priceless. They were always in a state of shock. As years went on, they’d expect us to come and would be WAITING at the door. Some would pass away so we’d add new ones each year. It was the most heart warming tradition and I will never forget those precious memories with my mom. She’s an amazing woman.