christmas traditions...old & new

i'm big on christmas traditions! i love doing the same things i did growing up every christmas and want to create that for our kids. with the craziness of 3 kids under 4 and general holiday busy-ness i didn't get to do all the things i wanted to this year. but we kept some of our old traditions and added a few new ones.

real christmas tree * as much as i'd love a fake tree, just so i could start putting it up earlier and leaving it out longer! i do enjoy the smell and magic of a real tree. and i am not sure there is any way i could talk lance into a fake tree...

polar express * this book was a gift from my parents to me on christmas day 1985. though a few years passed without me reading it on christmas eve, the past two we have been able to revive that tradition. my mom was always the one who read it to us and i got teary-eyed again this year reading it, thinking back to all of our christmases that she read this book and rang the christmas bell. i do hope that next year we don't include the large pile of unfolded laundry in our reading of the polar express...

handmade christmas cards * not entirely new, but new for this year. i love putting together something more than just a basic card. most of the time they end up being new year's cards, even though i tell myself i will start earlier next year. i haven't "made" a christmas card in a few years and decided i'd give it a try again this year.

new things for this year:

cinnamon rolls * i've been dying to try the pioneer woman's cinnamon rolls, but they look like soooo much work. they were, especially since i messed up batch #1 and had to make a second one. they turned out so good though and most definitely worth the effort.

christmas stockings * we hang stockings each year, but i haven't actually filled them since having kids. and before that it was just every now and then. we decided to fill the stockings at about 11:30PM on christmas eve. we scrounged around the house and found some little items to put in there. ethan was especially excited to see the filled stockings on christmas morning. favorite item: hands down, the candy cane.

if i had had more time this year, i wanted to add a christmas countdown calendar just like this one. my mom always had a countdown calendar for us that she filled with candy and other little christmas treats. it was a big highlight of december and i definitely want to start something like that for our family. i've made 2 stockings so far and will most likely need until next december to make 22 more...

what are some of your favorite traditions?