Growing up, my family had traditions. We decorated the tree, baked cookies, played in the snow, sang songs before opening presents, went to church (as we did every Sunday), Christmas programs at school and church, etc.
Now that our kiddos are a bit older, Chris and I are trying to more firmly establish some traditions of our own. We've always made gingerbread houses, done the parties, made cookies, etc., but the newest tradition is our "12 Days of Christmas." I brainstormed 12 family activities of fun, writing them on slips of paper, putting them in a bag. Each day, Claire or Mya choose a slip and we do that activity. Here is a review of our previous 12 days:
Day 1: we all played wii
Day 2: We watched a Mickey Mouse Christmas while snuggled in our bed.
Day 3: Chris and I had his work Christmas party, so the girls played games with Ms. Kim (their babysitter whom they LOVE!)
Day 4: We ate a restaurant of Claire and Mya's choosing.
Day 5: Both Claire and Mya bought a toy of their choice to donate to a child in need.
Day 6: We did a few Christmas art projects--gingerbread house, bracelet, snowman and reindeer that my Mom brought with her.
Day 7: We read a Christmas story and drank hot chocolate. On aside--Mya clearly watches too much Dora. She calls chocolate by the Spanish name--Choco-latte. So. darn. funny.
Day 8: We made Christmas cookies.
Day 9: We went bowling--well actually, we went to the bowling alley and the kids opted to play instead of bowl. Go figure.
Day 10: We had planned on going to Seoul for ice skating and more, but those plans were halted by command. Needless to say, I was illprepared and had no day 10, 11 and 12 planned. I will do better next year ;)
Day 11: We are going to the movie, Alvin & the Chipmunks.
Day 12: failure
Overall, this was a huge hit in our house. We will definitely do it again next year with a little bit better planning. The highlight to our day is that all of our Christmas gifts for our kiddos arrived as well as one from an auntie. Yippee! It was really down to the wire, but we are officially ready for Christmas.
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