It's not too early to talk about Christmas, right?

As the calendar turns to November and I put up the cornucopia, I start thinking about Christmas. I love Christmas. Christmas trees FULL of lights give me great joy.

We have some traditions in our home that I'd like to share with you. Here are the ones that I can think of:

1. When Advent starts our family devotions turn to the coming of Christ. We use an Advent wreath.
2. We draw a tree and use old Christmas cards to make circles to be the ornaments. We add an ornament to the tree each day until Christmas comes.
3. We decorate for Christmas when Advent starts.
4. Santa fills the stockings on Christmas Eve, but we open them on Christmas Day. We also tell the children that Santa isn't real and that Mommy fills the stockings.
5. The children get two gifts besides the ones that Santa puts in their stockings. They get one gift from Mom and Dad and one gift from their siblings.
6. We eat cinnamon rolls for breakfast only once a year and that is on Christmas morning.
7. We eat Christmas Eve Chili on Christmas Eve.

This year, both big kids have already asked for something from Santa. They asked for dance ribbons (a ribbon glued on to a stick). David, Jr. also asked for a coloring book from his sisters. 

Allyssa has mentioned the paper tree that we fill with Christmas card ornaments already. She's looking forward to that.

I like that we don't do many gifts. Allyssa's first Christmas, we decided that if we were ever broke  one year, we would still be able to come up with two gifts for each child, so we would do that every year. I like that the kids don't ask or expect a lot when it comes to gifts. They enjoy the gifts but even more they enjoy the Christmas Story and the traditions that make memorable celebrations in our home.