Christmas Activities and New Traditions

I’ve tried to do as many Christmas activities as I could with Tommy this year. I think he’s at such a fun age and gets so excited about the smallest things. So far, our past traditions have only included getting pajamas on Christmas Eve, and getting Christmas pictures taken. I wanted to start more.

I didn’t take any pictures of it, but we have the Little People Nativity set and Tommy loves that. It makes it easier for us to talk about the true meaning of Christmas every time he gets into it.
Also, the Polar Express was on TV one night and Tommy was glued to it. He even remembers that he missed parts of it when he had to come to dinner. A couple days later we got the DVD and now he'll walk around the house with hands in the air, saying "Welcome to the Polar Express!"

One day we made star and tree shaped sugar cookies. I forgot to take pictures of the final product, so just trust me, they were cute. Tommy cared more about playing with it then putting the cut dough on the pan to bake….so I let him. He did enjoy the final product too! We didn’t get to frost them because I didn’t make it to the store  for frosting ingredients before they were gone!

We made a quick and easy advent calendar with paper rings. Every day Tommy wanted to cut off the yellow one. Finally I let him and then he said, OK it’s Christmas!

I made a bunch of treats for our hotel friends and this was Tyler getting ready to have some cereal during the baking process. He looks like he ate all the treats, chunky monkey! (Please ignore the Bumbo warning label:  you should never put the bumbo seat on a countertop because they could fall)

Last Thursday night, Bell threw a little Christmas party for the employees and their families. They had the parents bring a gift to work ahead of time and when they sat on Santa’s lap that night, they gave the child that gift. Matt had forgotten about it til that day, so he grabbed a Christmas book we had and used that as a gift. On the ride there Tommy said he was going to ask Santa for “a big blue car way up to the sky.” Then when the time came and Santa asked, “What would you like for Christmas?” Tommy replied, “a present".” Santa laughed at that one!

I started a tradition of wrapping up Christmas books and letting Tommy open one each night. I didn’t have 25 of them so I just did what I have and hope to get a few more at the library.

Another tradition I wanted to start was letting Tommy pick out an ornament each year. He picked out this fire truck that actually lights up, and I thought it was perfect since he was a firefighter for Halloween and he loves fire trucks. His fire station is still one of his favorite toys since getting it for his birthday last year.

Giddy-up Cowboys!

Another night we made Candy Cane cookies. I would make these with my mom when I was little and loved it! Tommy liked twisting the dough and then sneaking a few bites. His favorite part though was using the cookie scoop. Once again, I didn’t take a picture of the finished product:(

I found this Santa letter printable from www.Iheartorganizing.blogspot.com and thought it would be another fun thing to do each year. Tommy ‘drew’ what he wanted, still saying a big blue car. I have no idea where he saw a big blue car or where he got the idea from. Matt and I did see a blue Mustang Power Wheels at Toys R Us….ummmm:)

And finally, a picture of just getting ready for bed one night. I love Christmas time and am thankful I get to be home with my boys every day to do these fun activities! (Ignore the moving box….we still haven’t found the hardware to Tommy’s bed!)