Holiday Traditions: Part II

My obsession with tradition continues...

 

Christmas Lights Tour.

This is a tradition Billy and I have had for years...it's just more fun with kids!  We make hot chocolate and drive the streets searching for the best lighting display.  Our neighborhood has some pretty amazing lights so we didn't have to look far.  Max sang jingle bells at the top of his lungs and Sullivan clapped every time he saw a blow-up Santa in someones yard :)

Fed, bathed, jammied and ready to go.

Let's GO, mom!!

 

Lights never look as impressive in pics, but this was one of our favorite streets.

  We meandered up and down streets and eventually found ourselves on the plaza.  We parked on a roof top to take in all the lights.  Max sat wrapped in a blanket on the hood of the car :)
 

The 12 Days of Christmas.

I bought some hand painted "12 Days of Christmas" ornaments a few years ago and started the tradition of hanging one on our tree each night with Max last Christmas.  It's sort of like an advent calendar...except there are only 12 of them.  So we start hanging the ornaments on 12/12 and will put the last one up on Christmas Eve.  I know that the biblical "12 days of Christmas" are technically from Christmas Day through the Epiphany on January 6th...but it didn't seem as fun to hang ornaments after Christmas.  So its our countdown to the big day instead.

The first night Max got to unwrap and hang the ornament.  Sullvian is feeling a little left out :(

Max says, "Ta da!  A Pawtwidge in a Pear Twee!" 
Sullivan says, "Max didn't let me help. I'm outta here."

 Don't worry all my middle-child friends and family..."Day 2" was Sullivan's show.  He got to  unwrap and hang Two Turtle Doves and he couldn't have been happier :)

 

Handmade gifts from the heart.

Billy and I love to make fun gifts for the boys on special occassions.  This year we're making a large abacus for their playroom.  Here's my inspiration:

 Finishing touches being added now!

The boys also like to give special gifts to one another! (with our help of course :)

Max told me he wanted to get Sully a "marble holder".  Sullivan's favorite toy right now is a jar of marbles.  He dumps them out and puts them back in one. by. one.  And then dumps them again.  I think its cute that Max knows his little brother so well.  After some Pinterest browsing I found this idea.  Golf tees in styrofoam.  Great for improving fine motor skills.  The best part is...Max pretty much put this together all on his own with only me supervising.  Now that is a gift from the heart!

Painting it, putting the golf tees in and then cleaning up.

All done!

For Sullivan's gift to Max I had to do the thinking on his behalf.  Max is really into "make believe" clothes right now.  And since Max is a superhero in Sully's eyes I thought we needed to add a superhero cape to Max's collection. 

So focused on his painting. 



Clean up time!

Old t-shirt, a little velcro and felt = the finished product. 
 

Santa also likes to give gifts that are handmade.  He gave us this sneak peak of the boys' big joint present. 

This is a model of the play set that he has commissioned for the backyard.  It can't be completed until spring when the weather is warmer, but he wanted them to see what it is going to look like.  And even include their telescopes that will go in their individual "towers" in advance.  These little boys must have been very good this year! :)

 

So that's about it.  Little trees and Christmas books, a visit to the tree farm, Elf on the Shelf, visiting Santa, Christmas lights tour, 12 days of ornaments and handmaking gifts with love.  Long live family traditions!

{Holiday Traditions: Part I can be found HERE}