"Old" Tradition-- Angel Tree:
The tree didn't have any one-year-old's on it so I asked the lady working if they happened to have any that weren't on the tree and she was very excited to start pulling out several for me to choose from... including a 13 month old little girl named Fatimah. Perfect! I grabbed her and was even more excited to see that her "want" was an educational toy. Love it!
It's quite a challenge for me to spend our angel budget as wisely as possible so when we all went to Target to shop for Fatima, I wondered around the clothes a half a dozen times and went down almost every toy aisle twice. In the end, we ended up with two very nice educational toys, three outfits (including a warm fleece jacket and pants set), and two pairs of pajamas. I also always stick a book in that depicts the Christmas story. I could have spent so much more money, but I hope Fatima enjoys what we bought!
This weekend we were able to drop her goodies by the Angel Tree and it just warms my heart to see all the bikes and bags of toys and clothes sitting in the drop-off spot. I can't wait until Finley can really be a part of picking out the perfect gifts for our angel!
New Tradition-- 12 Days of Christmas:
We also started a new tradition this weekend. Beth found the idea here and thankfully, sent it to me because I am so in love with this idea!!!!!!
The tradition is simple... take 25 books (or in my case 12 since I didn't have 25 Christmas books... actually I only have 8 plus my Bible, but I have a Scholastic order coming in this week which should get me to 12 and then I have the whole next year to collect 13 more!) and wrap them so that each night before Christmas, your family can unwrap a book and read it together!
I love this tradition because you don't have to buy 25 new books every year... you can just swap in a few new (either bought or checked out from the library) with the tried and true books that your family loves! Plus it is all about being together as a family! Plus it uses up old Christmas wrapping paper! Plus it involves books and reading which I LOVE! Plus it gives little ones the chance to open presents prior to Christmas which is always fun for them! And it is a tradition that can appeal to children of all ages!
I let Finley choose a book to open last night and she chose "How The Grinch Stole Christmas!" It's actually a coloring book, but don't tell! =) I was just a tad bit desperate to come up with 12 books! I admit that I think I enjoyed the story more than Finley! I had forgotten how much Christmas stories add to the season.
Beth also sent me another idea from a blog that I'm even more in love with than this one, but I'm saving it for next year! I'm truly excited about it because I think it will enable us to focus less on the hoopla of presents and more on the true meaning of the season... which will be a true challenge for us because both Devin and I L-O-V-E buying presents for people and each other! Thankfully, I think it will be the perfect compromise that we are in need of!
1 comment:
I love your new traditions!!! We are going to be so funny and our kids will think we are ridiculous!!!! They are going to make fun of us saying, "Why do we always have the same traditions as Michelle/Beth???" And we will tell them because they are FAMILY traditions and we are family!!!! :) I can't wait until we have kids and we can swap our tradition stories!!!! LaLa!
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