127 Days Until Christmas!!!!!

Christmas Countdown - Christmas Layouts

127 days left until Christmas.  Can you believe that?  127.  That's not that many.  In just one month we'll be under 100 days until Christmas!!!  The thought makes me giddy.  Really.

I know, a lot of people dread Christmas because they think it has gotten too commercialized.  And, I guess it has in a lot of ways.  But, to me Christmas is about so much more.  It's about Christ, and what He did for us, and the gift that He is to the world.  We give gifts to our loved ones in celebration of that gift.

Christmas is also about tradition.  My family has several traditions that I really treasure.  We have traditional gifts that we give every year, like we all get new PJs on Christmas Eve so when we have our pictures in the morning we're in nice fresh PJs.

We also give the kids socks and underwear every year.  And here's a funny story:  One year, when Grego was about 5 every day from Thanksgiving until Christmas he would ask my husband, "Dad, what am I getting for Christmas?", to which my husband would reply, "Socks and Underwear!"......  well, Christmas morning came and the first present we had him open was....  yep you guessed it....  socks and underwear :)  Well, Grego opened this present and quickly threw them down on the floor and yelled, "THIS IS THE WORST CHRISTMAS EVER!!!"  LOL!!!  It was soooo funny!  We had to coax him to open the rest of his presents!  LOL  Now, that's the running joke when they open their socks and underwear. :)

We try to give the kids a couple of board games, and book, new clothes, and they each get a big gift that they open last.

In addition to this, we have other traditions.  We make gingerbread houses every year.  I've been doing this with the kids for several years now, but as a child I did it every year with my grandma and grandpa.  It's a memory that I treasure very, very much.

Several years ago we also started going to a Christmas Tree Farm and cutting our own tree down every year.  It's a lot of fun, and this farm is a very family oriented place to go.  They have a giant tree house for the kids, a TeePee, tricycle race area, and they give you free hot chocolate and wassail.....

Mmmm...  Wassail....  I'm getting really excited now :)

I'm wondering, what are some of your traditions that you look forward to every year?