Holiday Traditions

The beauty of the holidays are traditions.  Traditions make that magical feeling we all love so much about that wonderful time of year.  We have a few holiday traditions in the works.  We do not have family in town so sometimes we travel on holidays which doesn't always lend itself to creating many traditions at home.  Now that the boys are getting older and more into tradition, Hubby and I are too...

This year, we started a new tradition: "The Elf on the Shelf".  We love this adorable story that has created a great new tradition for us.  The book is wonderful and at the end there is a page to mark the date of the start of the tradition for your family and the name of your elf.

Image from potterybarn kids

The Elf on the Shelf

Each night your elf magically travels back to the North Pole to report back to Santa.  Then, the elf is in a few spot in the morning than the day before.  The boys love getting up and looking for...

Zippy.

That is what we named our elf.

This is our other tradition.  I'm still working out some kinks.  Last year, I made this felt advent calendar but the boys weren't really into it.  This year, I made a little Christmas tree out of tag board and got some felt stickers.  Each day, we take out the stickers and decorate the tree a little more.

I admit that I would like this tradition to be more centered around the real reason for Christmas.  Next year I hope to be a little more prepared with some nativity pieces, bible verses, and stories from the birth of Jesus.

What are your favorite holiday traditions, mamas?