blooming mommy: Christmas Advent Traditions

I know I know, Im so being one of those people who is just jumping to Christmas before Thanksgiving, but hear me out. Since I am due any day now to "pop" I just wanted to get this up before the craziness starts! So here ya go and wish me luck. I wan't this baby out! ;) Muah!

I don't know what it is about Christmas Advents but I LOVE LOVE LOVE them! Maybe it's the memory of taking out the tiny chocolate candies from my older sisters advent when I was little. Or possibly the excitement of counting down the days until presents. Whatever it may be, Im in love.

When it all started a few years back, it was simple. We began with an old school paper Christmas chain. You know. Those ones you make when your in kindergarten? The paper chains that you rip off to help you count down the days until Christmas? We would gather together as a family and write down: things that could bring us closer as a family, closer to Christ, and closer to others as we served them. I guess I was so burnt out about Christmas sometimes just being about "stuff" and "what am I getting." I wanted to get away from the idea of just getting presents and move to creating memories. Really celebrating all that Christ did for us. So that is why we started "building traditions" on each day instead of just pulling paper off a chain. :) It has been a blessing in our home for sure and really brings the spirit of Christmas into each day. And it changes as we add more and more things to it as the years go by. So feel free to download these tags to start you off. They are the size of business cards. :)

Well, after the chains kept breaking I decided to make something a little more permanent. So here it is in all its glory! This is what happens when felt meets cotton fabric! Heavenly! Ta-Dah! O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree.... la da da da da da da! Now the kids put the Christmas tradition tags into the pockets and a little candy too! They LOVE it and it really brings the spirit of Christmas into our home. That is what Christmas is about right? So don't forget the reason for the season whatever you choose to celebrate!