A new Christmas

This is our first year making a new tradition for my kids and I.  I am divorced and we live 1,000 miles from their dad, and hundreds of miles from any of my family.  Tradition used to be that Christmas Eve Eve we would go stay the night at my parents and on Christmas Eve we would all wake up (my sister and her kids and my brother and his kids too) and open gifts then my mom would cook a big lunch/dinner for us.  Then on Christmas Day we did our own little family Christmas.  In 2005 my brother passed away and that tradition started to dwindle.  My sister-in-law stopped staying the night and wouldn't make it till late in the morning to open gifts.  So now that tradition is void. 

This year being a new type of family with my children I want to make it extra special.  My kids are 7, 6, and 4 but they already figured out that Santa was not real.  Between learning about Jesus and saying that there are to many Santa's around that are not the same person he had to be a fake.

This year I think we are going to do our own Polar Express.  I want to get the kids ready in their jammies and go for a ride in the van looking at the wonderful Christmas Lights.  I found this on Pintrest and it made me want to do it more!  http://miraclemama.blogspot.com/2011/12/making-memories.html

 

As a kid my dad worked a lot and long hours.  So while he was gone on Christmas Eve we would beg my mom to let us open at least one gift.  She finally started letting us but we had to wrap it back up and put it back under the tree before my dad got home.  Eventually he found out and we started having Christmas on Christmas Eve instead.  I am unsure how I want to do it with my kids now that we have started a new life.  The time is slowly ticking down but I will soon have to decide.  When do you have your Christmas?

 

Another thing I aways do is take my kiddo's pictures.  Seeing as I am a pretty penny pinching mama I don't normally ever go get pictures done unless they are having a free portrait deal.  However the older the kids get I am finding it even harder to do than when they were babies and wouldn't look at the camera.  Now it is "stop touching me, you are to close" or such shrills coming from their mouths.  So it is the 10th of December and I only have my 6 year old pictures done and a no so good picture of my son.

 

 

 

So tell me what are your family traditions?  Are you going to implement anything new this year?