Call me corny, but my heart melts each year as songs like “have yourself a merry little Christmas” fill the air; my eyes well up. It never fails! There is just something about this time of year that gets me all choked up.

Could it be the reminder that another year has come and will soon be gone? Perhaps.

Just as a certain scent takes you back to a specific time and place in your mind, the same thing happens for me when Christmas tunes start playing, snow flurries hit the ground, lights are strung up,

I must be getting older, but I don’t every feel like it this time of year. I feel like a kid, a big kid; wide-eyed with excitement.

I believe in starting your own traditions with your family. If you do not have any to recall from your childhood, start some new ones with your family God has blessed you with now.

One of my very favorite memories about this time of year takes place on Christmas Eve. Our family would always build a warm, blazing fire, pick our favorite foods to eat, read the Christmas story, and open one gift around the tree.

What are some of your memories/traditions that you took part in as a child? What traditions have you started with your own family?

One I stared last year was baking a birthday cake for Jesus with Riley. It is so important for children (and for ADULTS, for that matter) to know the REAL reason for Christmas.

So this year, won’t you keep it simple?

Ever feel overwhelmed with all the “to-do-lists” of the Holiday season? Throw out the list, and just enjoy one another and praise your Heavenly Father for the gift of Jesus.

Sound too simple? It’s not.

Here are some ideas for some traditions you may enjoy starting with your family:

1. Advent Calendar and Jesse Tree

2. On December 1st, make 25 paper rings out of construction paper, and string them together. Have your child rip one each day until they reach Christmas day!

3. If you have little girls, make some popcorn and watch Little Women together.

4. Bake something special (like my friend Danielle makes warm cinnamon rolls from scratch and hot cocoa) as you decorate the Christmas tree together. You may also like to pick a certain Christmas CD that you only play each year when you put up your tree.

5. Make an ornament with your children.

6. Read Christmas Bedtime stories during the month of December.

7. Is there a family in need of some comfort this Christmas season? Pray as a family who might need a special meal, some caroling, etc. and take your children to their home. It is so important that our children see us having a servant’s heart. Pray each year that the Lord would cultivate this heart in them, also.

Now I want to hear from you! What are some of your ideas?