Let the Christmas Countdown begin!

December 1st is a big day for us - the opening of the Advent calendars, the decking of the halls, and the day the Christmas tree goes up. We love our festive family traditions and even as the children are getting older, finding new PJs and a family movie DVD left by the elves under the tree on Christmas Eve is still fun and exciting for them and it makes our celebrations special. Those are the things that the children will remember when they've grown up, so it is important to me to keep them going every year.

Memories are worth far more than any gift, so let me share with you our Christmas Bucket List for 2014.

Making edible gifts for teachers is good fun for the kids, cost effective for me, and a little bit more personal than just handing over wine or chocolates. We make up big batches of our favourite recipes (like Christmas Rocky Road, and white chocolate & cranberry fudge) and take them to school during the last week of term for all of the teachers & other staff to enjoy.

Do kind things for people who are less fortunate or have found themselves in difficulty, and remind your children to do the same. We will be donating to a food bank again this Christmas (as has The Boy and Me) as well as some toys to our local Salvation Army. It is so important to teach our kids kindness, and the joy of giving as well as receiving. We are not well off, but we can still find a little extra to make someone else's Christmas a happy one.

Watching Christmas movies is one of our favourite things, after we have decorated the house the kids argue between them as to which one we will watch first, & we grab our duvets and pile on the sofas. We can't get enough of festive films throughout December, they really help get us into the spirit.

Baking & decorating Gingerbread houses is another yearly tradition. Getting the kids involved in the kitchen is a top priority for me, and baking for Christmas is the perfect opportunity to teach them vital skills as well as let them be creative. Our houses are never the prettiest but the kids have so much fun making them that, well, who cares what they look like!

The children (er, and the grown ups) all look forward to eating our freshly baked Christmas candy cane cookies with their Snowman soup on Christmas Eve before we watch a film. Their triple chocolate gooeyness with a hint of mint is just the thing to enjoy with a steaming cup of hot chocolate!

During bathtime on Christmas Eve, the Elves sneak in and leave a DVD, & a gift each for the children to open, which is of course their new pyjamas. The year before last they all had Christmas onesies which was very cute (& funny) but generally we just pick something nice and that we know they will like.

We leave out a mince pie and a carrot for Father Christmas and Rudolph, and hang up the stockings ready for them to be filled with goodies. I am a little sad that it is only E who believes now, but on the other hand the older kids play along and make it special for her which is lovely, it still keeps that magic and I really do hope that we can hang on to that for a few years to come.

How do you celebrate the festive season in your home? I'd love to hear all about your traditions and plans for Christmas!