tradition overload!

We have started our holiday traditions with Kian! I'm slightly obsessed with creating our own family traditions, not having had a whole lot growing up. He is so much fun right now!

Every morning, whoever gets up with Kian helps him find our elf, "Elfie". If you haven't heard of Elf on a Shelf and you have young kids, you have to check it out! Kian is starting to realize the elf is there and enjoys looking for him. According to Pinterest, the elf can get VERY creative on hiding spots and activities, but we're taking the easy way out this year and just hiding him around the living room for now. In the future, our elf will be zip-lining across the room, doing snow angels in a pile of sugar, trying to steal a toy, taking a bubble bath in the bathroom sink with little marshmellows, and on and on!

Also, right when we get up, we take him to the Christmas tree, which has a foot pedal to turn on the lights. We get ready, then count to three and "magically" turn on the lights! I almost gave it away a few days ago when I turned them off while he was watching...without doing the magic! I think we may have slipped by, he's forgotten, for now!

We bought an advent calendar that looks like a wardrobe on the outside and has 24 little drawers inside. I filled the drawers alternately with Reese's peanut butter cups and little bell ornaments. It's taken a while for him to figure out that we have to unwrap the candy first, AND he thinks he can eat the bells. Maybe not such a great idea, mama! Oh well! It's fun, nonetheless!

I am also going to take 13 books (for now, I'm going to use the many books he already has, that he hasn't even seen yet) and wrap them individually. I will put them in a special 'book box' and he will open one on Christmas and one each month until next Christmas. I am going to cheat a little until he's a little older and save the Dolly Parton Imagination Library books for next year to wrap for next Christmas! Smart Mama!

We have a couple of toy trains for Kian that have been given as gifts. We bought the tracks for one of them to set up by the Christmas tree and I'm so excited to see this and to add to it each year.

I'm a cheese ball. Yes, I like cheese, in all its many forms! And I love my family!