traditions at our house...

We have a few traditions that we enjoy during the Christmas season...

*Nativities are a BIG thing at our house... we have one in every room! The kids have all enjoyed them and played with them through the years, and on a few we add a new piece each year. Nora really likes playing with the fisher price one all year long (it stays in a basket in her closet!)...this year she has been adding a rocket ship to the nativity and baby Jesus occasionally takes it for a ride! In our large nativity, Baby Jesus does not arrive til Christmas Eve (each year the kids take turns as to who puts him in the manger!)

*"the pickle"...it is a German tradition! The pickle ornament hides in the tree and the kids take turns finding and hiding it. On Christmas Eve we leave it out for Santa to hide and we all look for it the next morning!

*the paper chain...Countdown to Christmas! Reilly made this at age 4 and each year we make a new chain and tear a link off each night...

*Advent calendar...after our advent readings at dinner we each put a new item on the picture until are there on Christmas Eve night.

*A new tradition...We got the book Elf on a Shelf and it comes with its own elf to move around the house and help keep watch over the kids...they can talk to him but he can only talk to grown ups to fill us in on what we or Santa may miss! We had a vote and the winning name was Jo-fus (long story short, that is the way that Nora used to pronounce Joseph!) Mally wanted the name to be Jolly, so he is sometimes called Jolly Jofus! He is making the rounds in our house, he's hung out in the girls room, the boys bathroom?!?! and seems to spend a lot of time in the boys room (humm...)

(another "elf" that we enjoy is the movie... it has become a classic at our house and is quoted all year through..."buddy the elf, what's your favorite color?" I like smiling, smilings my favorite, etc!)