12 Days of Christmas: Preparations!

Over the last several weeks, we've had a blast preparing for the holidays. Some observations about the boys and general highlights from this year:

• Ben loves the "balls" on the tree. When decorating, I gave him the non-breakables to hang. He tossed a few around the room and then would march diligently to the tree and attempt to hang them up. He loves touching the ornaments but is good about not pulling them off.
  
• Cal is having fun learning Christmas carols. He's pretty good at Jingle Bells. He sang Frosty the Snowman at school (loves to yell, "Thumpty, thump, thump") and in the car enjoys Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. I yell out the add-ons after each line such as "like Pinocchio" or "like Monopoly." Out of the blue, Cal started this one: "...will go down in history. Cal: "Like Oregon State!"
  
• Lights are a big thing this season. We talk about all the lights we see on our drive to and from school. Ben says, "ly-sss" and Cal gets very excited even for the houses with one strand blazing.
• Henry the Elf continued his annual visit to our home. Cal enjoyed looking for Henry every morning, but Henry's presence still did little to influence Cal's behavior. I think next year, if Cal is "naughty" I'll remove a present or two from under the tree. Then return them, once he demonstrates positive behavior.
  
• Ben is enjoying falling asleep to "Christmas in the Crib" and "Christmas Lullabyes" every night.
  
• Cal enjoyed carrying wrapped presents down the stairs and placing them under the tree. Both boys did awesome not touching or attempting to open any gifts.
  
• I started a few traditions this year:
  

1. The boys will get to open 1 gift on Christmas Eve...jammies! And this year, they have matching red and green stripped pjs! Too cute!
2. Cal and Ben take turns opening the advent calendar each morning. They split the chocolate treat.
   
3. Every year, each will get a new holiday ornament. This year, Cal got a Mickey Mouse wreath and Ben has a Winnie the Pooh. I've labelled each box, so that they won't get confused later in life with who's is who's....or argue about it.
   
4. I created a holiday book basket. We added "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," "Twas the Night Before Christmas," "Room for a Little One" and "Olive, the Other Reindeer."
   
5. The book basket includes our family's holiday card and Santa pics photo album. We have a copy of every card we've sent starting from 2004 - the first year Alan and I sent out joint cards. I include any pictures with Santa, as well as the Woodward cousins annual photo taken on Christmas day. I hope to include any letters to Santa, etc. in the future. So fun to see how our family - and the boys- have grown over the last few years.