Our Favorite Christmas Traditions November 30, 2017
Thank you to My 1st Years for sponsoring today’s post!
Christmas time is our favorite time of year as a family. There’s something so magical about this season, and we absolutely love listening to Christmas music on Pandora, eating Christmas cookies, and just enjoying this time of year together. As the kids get older and our family gets bigger, we’ve been creating more and more Christmas traditions as each year passes. Today I’m sharing some of our favorites with you, and I would LOVE for you to leave a comment with some of your own as some inspiration for us going forward!
1 // North Pole Express
This is our FAVORITE tradition every year! We started going 2 years ago, and it’s a blast every year. Our local steam train basically reenacts the Polar Express, and we take a ride to the “North Pole” to meet Santa. The kids wear their Christmas pajamas, and there’s hot cocoa, Christmas cookies, photos with Santa, and singing Christmas carols. I’ve heard many states do the same thing, too!
We recently received these adorable holiday pajamas from My 1st Years that “magically” 😉 arrived personalized with the kids’ names! And there was a little something for mama deer, too. My 1st Years has a wide variety of personalized holiday items for your children, which is the perfect gift every year to celebrate the season. Landon and Noelle are wearing these Gray and Pink Reindeer Print Pajamas, and I’m wearing the Mommy Deer Grey Christmas Jumper. They’re adorable for wearing this time of year!
2 // Seeing Christmas Lights
There are a variety of different spots around the state that we like to drive to and see Christmas Lights. The kids absolutely LOVE this, and it kills some time in the cold weather too (while keeping warm!). I personally love having a cup of hot cocoa in the car while listening to Christmas music, too!
3 // Christmas Movies
My favorite part about this time of year is watching all of the classic Christmas movies I watched as a kid. Landon has yet to see them all, but his absolutely favorite is the Polar Express. It’s also very similar to the North Pole Express we go on every year as a family at the Essex Steam Train, which is why he loves it!
4 // Baking Cookies
Another one of my favorite memories from this time of year is baking Christmas cookies with my mom. We used to make COUNTLESS amounts of cookies and fudge to gift to our family, and also indulge in all season. 🙂 Now that the kids are older, I’ve been enjoying doing this with them too! I have plans to make my favorite paleo chocolate chip cookies, as well as some sugar cookies for the kids to decorate!
4 // A visit from Santa
When I was really little (I’m talking like age 5), I remember having big Italian Christmas Eve dinners at my grandfathers house every year. After dinner, Santa would come to the house with presents and candy canes for all of the kids! It was so fun, and I love looking back on those photos. This year I learned my neighbor is actually the town Santa at the Christmas tree lighting, and he offered to come by as Santa for our kids too! I’m hoping this can start a new tradition they look forward to every year.
5 // Reading Christmas Stories
I get the kids new Christmas books every year, and we love reading them all season long and especially before bedtime! They especially love books that make noise, and Noelle is very fond of anything that requires lifting a flap (although then she likes to rip the flap, soooo. Haha). I love making this time of year the most magical it can be!
6 // Advent Calendars
My mom always did an Advent calendar for me and my brother, and it’s something I continued with my kids too. This year we were gifted the Ann Voskamp Advent calendar from my mother in law, so we’re looking forward to doing that during the month of December!
I love making new traditions every year, too, so I would love to hear what YOU do with your family during the season!
If you’re looking to gift your child (or someone else’s!) with something magical these season, you have to check out everything My 1st Years offers! Most items can be personalized, which makes it extra special for the recipient. I love these adorable pink booties for a girl and this absolutely precious reindeer robe! There are also the cutest onesies for babies, like this one that says “Snow Cute!” If this little man was here, I would scoop it up for him! I also thing this Personalized Round Table and Stool Set is the perfect gift for toddlers and older kids for a playroom! And with gifts for all ages, My 1st Years will gift “The Magic of Family Time” to any family.
Shop my favorite “magical” gifts from My 1st Years below!
Omg where is the Pom Pom blanket from ?! ????
Marks and Spencer!
I loved this. Very sweet and cute. We also like to watch all the Christmas movies, but we specifically watch through the Harry Potter series. We also take our kids to see the lights. Another fun thing is I take the kids to get daddy chocolate covered cherries-it was a special tradition my husband had done with his father (his dad had died unexpectedly and at Christmas time too), so my son wanted to keep the tradition going and still remember grandpa in it too. Today I plan to take them to the holiday train for the first time, which is I’m hoping similar to yours, although I don’t think we get to go inside it. My brothers and I also go to my parents house and make cookies with the kids and decorate them and inevitably have a flour fight. My husband and I specifically every Christmas Eve watch Just Friends and wrap Christmas presents. I couldn’t tell you why we love that movie of all the Christmas movies, but it’s hilarious and we have a good time. Thanks for sharing. I really liked this!
What sweet traditions and many familiar to my family. I am a soon to be grandma but love your home and sweet family pictures and ideas. We have a Polar Express train ride about 35 minutes from our home and look forward to taking our future grandson there. I hope your kids enjoy Santa. Our youngest daughter (now 25) was very scared of him as a little one. Lol. Merry Christmas!
Sounds so fun. We are doing the Polar Express for the first time this year. I am so excited to see how the girls react. I love that PJ shirt you are wearing!