The Schmitt Family: Christmas Traditions

I love tradition! It was really important to me to start some Schmitt Family Christmas traditions while our children are young. My hope is that they will always remember our traditions and pass them on to their families. Here are a few of the Christmas traditions we have started in the Schmitt Family.

My mom bought The Night Before Christmas for Carson on his first Christmas and we have read it to him each year on Christmas Eve ever since.

I love this book! It is very interactive and has little treasures in it to make the activity fun for many ages and many years to come! I am excited that Mom will be able to read it to Carson this year on Christmas Eve!

A new tradition we started this year, at the encouragement of many of our friends will small children, is the Elf on the Shelf. I just love the idea! The elf is just another way to encourage small children to be on their best behavior before Christmas. Each night the elf makes the journey to the North Pole to tell Santa how the kiddos behaved that day. The next morning the elf mysteriously appears in another location in the house and the kids hunt for him each morning.

This is where our elf, Buddy, appeared this morning. I am not sure Carson has quite caught on to the idea but we will see how it goes over the next couple of days.

This new addition to our Christmas decor wouldn't be considered a tradition so to speak, but I am looking forward to putting it out each year! I turn the days back each morning when Carson is eating breakfast and we talk about how many more days are left before Jesus' birthday!

I always loved putting cookies out for Santa each Christmas Eve when I was young. I had hoped to find a real cute plate and cup set but couldn't find one this year that would not break the bank. I found this one at Dollar General last night for $1. Can't beat that. Ha! I look forward to putting out cookies and milk with Carson this year.

I was really looking forward to starting the Advent Calendar and reading the Story of Christmas with Carson this year. I really wanted to teach him what Christmas was all about and he is loving it! Each night he asks for his Advent story. I found this great Advent Calendar online.

There is a little book for each day of the Advent that shares the Story of Christmas. My hope was that I would find a calendar that would hold these little books and a little treat for the kids in it.

I found one that I loved at Pottery Barn but couldn't bear to pay the price. My mom fell in love with it too and decided that she would make one for us for next year. I am so excited about that! She will make it even more special :-)

I still wanted a calendar to start the tradition with so I found this one at Hobby Lobby for half off - $7! It is just big enough to put a small piece of candy in it.

My parents started a Christmas Tradition for our family back in 1977. However, we did not learn about it until 1998 when my sister Tara was married. We learned that my parents started collecting dated Hallmark ornaments for each of us each year. We were given the set of ornaments when we were married. This is such a special collection for each of us. Now that we are married we purchase our own ornaments to add to the collection. My parents have since started purchasing a ornament for each of their grandchildren every year.

Here is the ornament I purchased for the Schmitt Family this year. I thought it was fitting since Carson is so in to trains.

Here are a few of my favorites. This is the one we purchased after we adopted Luke.

It is hard to see in the picture but the year 2006 is on one of the dog bones.

This is the one that we got after we purchased our first home. The year 2005 is on the door mat.

This one was from our first year of marriage. The heart hanging in the middle has the year 2004 and the base of the tree says "Our First Christmas".

This is one of the oldest ones. This was from my second Christmas in 1980. I just love this little tea pot.

I don't normally hang the "Baby's First Christmas" ornament from the year of my birth in 1979 since it is very fragile and old (ha!).

And finally, this is not really a tradition but something I am sure our children will remember each year. I used to play with one of these Stackable Santas when I was young and loved it! I know there is a name for it and for the life of me I can't think of it.