Middle of the Week.

Wednesday is here again. We were at a potluck last night & helped with crafts & decorations for the church. What a great family time! Doing projects & putting up Christmas trees. I've been doing a lot of reading & getting inspired to put a lot of *thought* into Christmas. Not just frantically running around trying to get through Christmas, but savoring the days. Enjoying the moments. Making time for traditions. It'll be a hard one this year with Daddy gone for the whole holiday time, but we'll have our little Christmas on the 22nd. We'll savor the time we do have. What are your traditions? I was reading the comments on another blog on Christmas traditions & I loved all the fabulous ideas. So I ask you.... what are your family traditions? Old ones and new ones you hope to create this season?
We open one gift on Christmas Eve (usually new PJs to slip on for the night), Christmas morning we open stockings & have a big breakfast & then usually take off for a long family walk. Once we get back home we open the gifts under the tree & then savor the afternoon's quietness. Kids playing, playing games, sipping hot cocoa. We have a advent quilt that gets hung on the wall (I'll have to take a photo to share with you) and inside each "house" is a slip of paper for each child. It's a clue to where they can find their "treat" for the day. They love it. They study their little clue and then run off in glee in search for the goodie that day. I typically just have a little treat in the actual house, but with three of them now there's not too much room. LOL. I put in a few clues last year and they LOVED those days when the house had paper inside & they knew they got to search for their treat. So this year I think I'll do that for each day. A little more planning on my part, but sure do love to see those smiles! We also have a Christmas Eve service that we attend and have a big Chocolate Fondue at Grandma's house. Mmmmmm. Lots of Christmas baking. Christmas Shoeboxes. Trip to Vernon to visit my family. Silver Star Mountain. Drive to view Christmas lights. I love this season. I read about picking someone who is less fortunate and making them feel loved the whole month through. I guess like a secret santa. A card in the mail. Some goodies. A gift. Makes us realize how blessed we are and how we can make a difference in someone's life.
Enjoy the season. It's here :)

Stamp Set - Season of Joy, Snow Burst
Paper - Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Creamy Caramel
Ink - Vanilla Craft, Bravo Burgundy, Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa
Other - burgundy grosgrain ribbon, burgundy eyelets, stampin' dimensionals, punch.
Here's another attempt at a *brown* Christmas Card. I cut out the tree and popped it up. I sure do like this stamp set :)
Merry Christmas!
.j.