I have always loved Christmas and love getting in the Christmas spirit early by listening to Christmas music and putting up decorations around the house. This year has been so much fun because Micah & Caleb are getting onto the spirit with me and getting excited about Christmas. We have been watching Christmas videos like the two VeggieTales Christmas specials, the old animated Grinch show, a Disney Christmas sing-along, a new one called The Very First Noel, and their new favorite “A Wowie BOZ-owie Christmas”. We haven’t gotten to a Charlie Brown Christmas yet, but we plan to. We have been listening to Christmas music and the boys are learning to sing a lot of classic carols like Away in a Manger, Jingle Bells, Deck the Halls, Joy to the World, Go Tell it on the Mountain, O Christmas Tree, and We Wish You A Merry Christmas. They also love listening to the VeggieTales Christmas albums. Micah especially has gotten really into decorating, especially the Christmas tree. We even got a mini tree and decorated it with lights and tiny ornaments and put it in their bedroom. They love to play in their room in the evening after dark with just the tree lights on. We have had fun making Christmas crafts like paper chains to countdown to Christmas and ornaments and magnets to give as gifts and sticker and coloring pages to decorate the house. We have also been reading Christmas books. Caleb’s favorites are Christmas Mice and Away in a Manger. Micah really likes The Legend of the Candy Cane and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. They have enjoyed playing with our Santa, elf, and reindeer hats. We also have a couple different countdown “calendars” that they like to do each morning. One has 24 Nativity characters/pieces to put on a felt banner each day. The other is a snowman with 24 little drawers which I filled with little goodies like stickers, tattoos, candy, tiny toys, pistachios, and tiny ornaments. That one is of course their favorite to open each morning and discover their little treat for the day. We also try to talk about the true reason for Christmas often, how we are celebrating Jesus’ birthday. We have even practiced singing “Happy Birthday to Jesus”. And they have a Little People Nativity set to play with. We can’t wait till Christmas. Only 8 more days!