Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone (ha!), we've moved into Christmas mode. If you're at all like my husband, you've just raised one eyebrow and are looking at me (well, at my blog) with a certain expression that seems to say you're one of those people? Yes, I guess I am. I never thought I'd start the holidays this early, but a couple of things keep happening year after year that make me start them this early. (1) I keep planning my Cookies & Cocktails party for the last weekend of November and surely I should decorate the apartment for that, and (2) we fly out a week before Christmas; and since I'd like the three of us to have a small family Christmas before we leave, the build up has to start sooner rather than later! At least, these are the things I tell myself.
So, yes we're in holiday mode. And being in holiday mode makes me think about all the things I love to do during this time of year. All the holiday traditions. For some reason, I've given this - the idea of special holiday traditions - a great deal of thought this year. No doubt because this will be our first Christmas as parents. I want to make the holidays as memorable for Denis as my parents made them for my siblings and me. Which traditions will Jon and I bring from our own childhoods to share with Denis? What new ones will we start? Most of this, of course, will just happen naturally and in a few years' time we'll soon discover what our family's traditions are.
In the meantime, I've decided to kick off the holiday season with a Christmas calendar. An advent calendar with a twist. Rather than sweets or gifts hidden away behind tiny little doors, our calendar is filled with books and activities. Special things for our family to do and see and read - all related to the two upcoming seasons: winter and Christmas. Each day's activity might be as simple as making hot cocoa together or something a bit more involved like going to see the lights of Kobe that the city puts up this time of year. We'll end each day by reading a couple of Christmas/winter stories by candlelight.
Hopefully, this will make for some good memories this holiday season and turn into something we do every year. A tradition!
the calendar
(I still might need a hand-quilted one, Mom!)
the books
the trunk
(soon to arrive and soon to be filled with Christmas books)
