Christmas traditions

Now that Oliver is old enough to start understanding Christmas and because we are staying home this year for the first time, we decided to start some of our own Christmas traditions. Because things have been a little busy with a new baby we didn't get to as many things as I wanted to, but we did have time for a little fun :) Here are a few things we did to celebrate Christmas this month:

Cookies: Oliver and I made gingerbread men this week. I found a delicious gluten and grain-free recipe (click here) and made cinnamon frosting died green and red for him to decorate with. He had a blast decorating and eating cookies! This evening we made a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies to leave out for Santa Clause. Oliver piled a plate high for Santa when he went to bed. He also left him a glass of water (Oliver's choice of beverage for Santa).

Elf on the Shelf:
This is a newer Christmas tradition that I heard of a few years ago. Basically, an elf hides in the house for the whole month of December, reporting back to Santa each night. Every morning he is in a different place, sometimes getting into mischief, and Oliver has a blast finding him each morning. Tonight (Christmas Eve) he will report back for the last time and won't return to our house until next December. The children can't touch the elf, or he will lose his magic.

PJs: The boys will get new PJs each year. This year they came from Grandma, so she gave them to Oliver and Elliott before she flew home Tuesday morning.

Reindeer food: I came across this idea earlier this year. Oliver mixed together oats and glitter to make reindeer food. He then scattered it out in our yard to make sure the reindeer find our house tonight.

Christmas light walk: Last night we walked around our neighborhood searching out the best Christmas light displays. Oliver loved all the blow up Santas and snowmen (they are quite popular in our neighborhood).

Movie and hot cocoa: We didn't have any plans for Christmas Eve night this year, so we decided to stay in and watch a Christmas movie. We tried to find a movie that Oliver would enjoy on the Amazon Prime instant movies, so Nick picked out Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol. However, Oliver only wanted to watch a train movie, since he's slightly obsessed with watching trains at the moment. We tried to get Polar Express but it wasn't available, so Oliver ended up picking out Thomas & Friends: Merry Winter Wish. Let's just say it wasn't exactly the most interesting movie for Nick or I to watch, but Oliver thoroughly enjoyed it. I also made this yummy peppermint hot cocoa to go along with the movie.

That's it for now! I need to go to bed so Santa has time to stop by our house. Merry Christmas!!