Christmas Lights

Wow. So the year and Christmas season is nearly over.
This year I have started some new and fun {hopefully} traditions with the fam.

We are doing Elf on the Shelf. What can I say I love the magic of Santa, and while we have fun with that I make sure we don't forget the true meaning either.

We are doing "Baby Jesus' Manger" Where the kids put in "hay"  in a larger manger as they are caught doing something kind, compassionate or nice. Then if there is enough hay Baby Jesus will come on Christmas Eve. {Idea from my friend Ginger}
In the morning we will sing Happy Birthday Jesus before we do anything else. Read: play with our Santa gifts.

Note: this is MIL manger scene. It is lovely.

 Lo worries about the Baby Jesus being out in the cold, 

so she brought him in because it was suppose to rain later. Bless her.

Along with that tradition on Christmas Eve, while we are writing letters to Santa about how good we were, I want us to stop and write a gift for Jesus. It is as simple as writing down an action/characteristics that you would like to work on during the year. Such as mine  "Using kind, calm words towards everyone and little less yelling." And then placing them in a gift box for Jesus. Then next year we can get them out and see how we did. {Crediting J&A Co. for this idea}

And a fun night out looking at Christmas lights.
We loaded up after dinner with our special cookie treat and "stir it up" aka chocolate milk. And headed out to see the lights.

 We had fun especially at this one house. While I am sure their neighbors are less than thrilled we all loved it!

Then a few nights later we were on the West side of town and went looking for lights there. When we turned into an addition there were 3 THREE! Does standing there. I rolled down my window and could have almost petted them {if they would let you! HA!} I tried desperately to get a picture, but I am not adept enough at my camera to get it to focus in the dark of night. :( This is the best I got and if you squint your eyes just right and tilt your head to the left, maybe you can make out their white tails!

I promise they are there! Click the pic and you might be able to squint them out better.

#learnbetterphotogskills2013 

This encounter made Lo's night!


Of course we do other things like bake, and watch Christmas movies but those are the big ones. I love reading about people's traditions. It is so fun!