12 Days of Christmas

by Emily Betzler December 11, 2013 2 Comments

Wooza! I can't believe Christmas is almost here… Just a little more than 12 days away in fact ;) One of my favorite parts of the season are, as my family yells at the top of our lungs anytime we do something that we have done more than once in the past -

Traditions, no matter how small and silly or big and extravagant, they really make the season special!

It is so fun to be in this stage of life with young kids and growing family to get to start making our own unique family TRADITIONS!!  Between my man's family and mine we have so many great traditions to draw from and take part in but I am relishing the chance to start creating our own that reflect us and our family. So, our first try at a new tradition is the :

H started by writing a gift list.  However, it isn't the traditional gift list, it is a gift giving list! He had to come up with 12 people that he wanted to give gifts to. There were a few rules 1.) He could not choose his grandparents or cousins (they will be getting gifts anyway), 2.) He couldn't choose just friends 3.) He had to think of people in all different age categories.

Click here to print your own list.

Then we had to think of small little gifts that we could give them.  The goal for us is not to spend a lot of money or any time shopping.  We tried to come up with little things that we could make, so most people will be getting fudge since Pa recently introduced him to the deliciousness of homemade fudge, or other hand-made crafts and cards.  However, he did come up with a few more creative ideas like a  making a CD for his friend who likes to dance, and this one; the best gift of all, according to H is going to be this old white mini-blind stick from a some blinds I was throwing away, that he wants to give his BFF because it can be anything: currently it functions as fire pole, a hose, a fishing pole, miscellaneous weapons, a Luna prodding stick, a guitar.

Hudson's idea of what would make a good gift was by far the most fun part.  His innocence and untainted view of what a gift should be was a good reminder for me that the best gifts are not always new, clean, shiny or fancy but rather sharing something you love with someone you love.

His friend's mom might find it weird when we give her son a dirty used mini-blind stick! But my heart will be smiling. I am really excited to do the 12 Days of Giving before and leading up to Christmas as I feel like the  giving aspect is usually lost in the craziness of Christmas Day.  Giving, in response to the awesome gift that God gave us (Jesus!) is an aspect of Christmas that I really want to emphasize and celebrate during the season. We will see how it goes, so far it has been great (we started early since we are about to have a baby, eeeeeh!!!!!!!, and I wanted to give myself a few extra  days to make and deliver gifts). H woke up that last two mornings wondering who we were going to give the gifts to that day and was really sweet about giving. What about you all? Do you have any new or unique  Christmas traditions that you just love? Please, share them us in the comment section. And If you are looking for a new tradition we would love you to join us! Merry Christmas!
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