25 Days of Christmas

Happy almost December! I don't know about you all, but I just love the holiday season. Each year, I try to create a "25 days of Christmas" activity calendar to keep us in the holiday spirit. It consists of parties and gatherings, traditions, cooking, and crafts. Many of the ideas have been passed down (like traditions and recipes), but I also find wonderful new ideas on Pinterest.

Some of our traditions happen before December even starts though like decorating the house, taking Christmas card pictures, and some online shopping. We usually begin decorating the day after Thanksgiving. The kids are at such a fun age that they really enjoy helping. They have their own tree that they can decorate however they want:

Kid tree

All done

That means Mom gets to have a pretty tree all to herself.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, we usually reserve for taking either family or just kid pictures. This year, I did them myself. The kids are always super excited because they get to wear their Christmas outfits. As a surprise, I gave them their Christmas pajamas early and snagged a few pictures in them too. Their happy smiles (and silly faces) made the pics turn out great! Next step is making Christmas cards.

Below is a look at our plan to celebrate the rest of the Christmas season. If you prefer an electronic copy that can be saved and edited, you can find it here. Check back soon for updates on all of our activities.

December

				1 Make countdown chain	2 Celebrate Cousin Emma	3 Christmas Craft 1 - gift tags
4 Christmas movie night	5 Country Christmas & Parade of Lights	6 Mail Christmas cards	7 Read Christmas Stories	8 Make snowflakes	9 Sing Christmas Carols	10 RAOK #1
11 Make holiday Cookies #1 - grinch, peanut butter, candy cane	12 Wrap presents	13 Write letter to Santa	14 Christmas Craft #2 - Nativity scene	15 RAOK #2	16 Drive around to see Christmas lights	17 Ugly Sweater party
18 Shopping/pick up Piggy	19 Shopping/pick up Piggy	20 Read Bible Stories	21 Make holiday cookies #2 - snickerdoodle,	22 Christmas Craft #3 - Gingerbread houses	23 Deliver Christmas goodies	24 Christmas Eve Church
25 Christmas Day - Celebrate!	26	27	28	29	30	31

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