December

Overall, December was a fun month for our family. I've tried really hard to establish some Smith Family traditions for Christmas. Here's a few...a construction paper chain that we start on December 1st, each day Noah gets to tear off a link of the chain and it says something fun that he gets to do that night (like eat popcorn with m&m's, look at Christmas lights,etc..). We also started the Elf on the Shelf this year. Noah named him Hotwheel the Elf. He is magical, he flies to the North Pole every night and reports to Santa about Noah and Reid. Each day when he flies back to our house, he lands somewhere different. Noah would have to try to find him every morning. We do Christmas cookies on Christmas Eve after the Christmas Eve Service at church. We have a nice breakfast Christmas morning and mom and dad toast to Mimosas. This year, I'm starting a new post-christmas tradition. I love all of the beautiful christmas cards that we get and this year, I'm going to put them in a book. We are going to pray for a different family each night at dinner. I think this will be a fun way to save the cards and remember to pray for our friends and family regularly. I'm always a little sad when December ends. Next year, the boys will be one year older and one year closer to being grown. Ugh..I don't like to think about that. These years are precious and I try to make the best of the Christmas celebrations with them.