Twas the night before Christmas

Okay, so I know that it technically is already Christmas (Merry Christmas!), but I don't count it as legit until I go to sleep and then wake up.

This mama is still awake -- doing some last minute work in the kitchen and completing R's present.  Nothing says love like procrastination, right?  ;)

I got the idea from pinterest.  You can find it here.

We are celebrating Christmas morning as a family with R's mom and stepdad who are staying with us.  Then we will be going over to my parents' to spend the rest of the day with my family.  We didn't get G much since he is still so small and I knew he would be getting way too much from everyone else.

I have thought long and hard about how I want to celebrate Christmas with G and with our future children. I love Christmas, but I don't love all of the commercialism and consumerism that comes along with it, aka "I want, I want, I want!"

We will do Santa and the elf on a shelf, although our elf will be nice and won't get into any mischief around the house.  But we won't be giving gobs of gifts because I don't want them to lose sight of what is truly important - giving to others.

I read another blog lately that had such a good idea that I am going to steal it.  They give their children 4 gifts each every year for Christmas: something you want, something you need, something you'll wear, and something you'll read.  And lastly, each child has to give something to someone in need.  I loved it the instant I read it.  Other than small things in their stockings, how many presents can one child need?  Especially with grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.

I love the idea of teaching children to give to those less fortunate.  R already told me before we had G that he wanted G to have to give up one of his toys on his birthday and on Christmas.  I love the idea of adopting a family or child for the holidays -- there are so many local programs that cater to this.

I also love the idea of having a "giving" advent calendar, where you count down to Christmas and do one good deed each day.  So much more fulfilling than eating a chocolate in my personal opinion.

Anyway, this year we have kept it low key and have a nice little tree that G loves to look at and touch softly.  Hehe... we talk about that word a lot.

In keeping with the tradition of getting an ornament every year, I found this one for G...

And a mini Starbucks cup for R (so appropriate!)...

Ah, our little tree!  I've become quite fond of it and will put it up every year regardless of whether we get a big one or not.

I wasn't able to actually hang our stockings because of a certain sixteen month old.  He is tall enough to grab them and pull them down, and I was worried about my new stocking holders (and our floors).  I decided to spruce up the mantel with all of the lovely cards we have been receiving.  Our New Year cards came in today, so those should actually make it out before 2012.

I hope you and yours have a wonderful day full of family and love.