25 Books of Christmas

We have a wonderful free-cycle group in my local community where members of the community give away items that they no longer need and sometimes even hold giveaways for some great products. It's a great way to get rid of items that you no longer want or need and give to someone that could use it. I've been lucky enough to have given and received many great items on this site. It's always heartwarming to see others helps those in need and the kindness on the site makes me so happy to live in such a great and caring community.

Several weeks ago, a kind woman posted a giveaway on the site for a 25 Books of Christmas gift that included 25 children's books, basket, wrapping paper and tape to be used the 25 days preceding Christmas. The premise is to unwrap and read one book a day leading up to Christmas. It's a great way to promote reading with your children, grow your child's library and a great bonding experience daily. There were many, many people interested in offer so she picked a name from the long list of those interested. I WON! :) To say that I was excited is an understatement. Anyone that knows me well, knows that I'm a bookworm and I can only hope that our son follows the same path.

All the books and goodies to wrap it up!

Wrapped and ready to read! 

We've had a great time picking out a book each day and reading a new book. There have been some great ones, but so far Little Blue Truck is definitely a favorite. This is definitely a new tradition that I think that we'll be doing each year while our child(ren) are still young. I plan on making sure to pass along the random act of kindness next year and offering a similar gift to the group.

Do you have any holiday traditions that your family participates in or traditions that you're hoping to continue/start? 

First snowfall and holiday love

I can't imagine a better way to welcome the month of December than with a light snowfall.  I woke this morning to an inch or so of snow on the ground and huge, slowly falling snowflakes.  The first snowfall of the year is always something I treasure and this morning I sat here with a steaming cup of coffee and just watched as it came tumbling down.

I love all the seasons, but there is always just something spectacular about winter that I love (I know, I'm one of the few that actually love winter).  Maybe it's being cuddled up with the ones you love inside a cozy house, all the baking and yummy food that comes with the season, snowboarding, ice skating, sledding or just the feel good feeling of the holidays.  Whatever the reason, I love this time of year.

One of my favorite things to do to welcome winter is getting everything decorated for Christmas.  We spent the day after Thanksgiving pulling everything out of the garage and decorating the house.  We've slowly been building our ornament collection over the years.  We've started the tradition of buying an ornament every time we go on vacation.  It's always a great trip down memory lane when hanging the ornaments on the tree.  I love looking at each one and having a memory or person associated with it.

These are the same bells that we had at our wedding.
Each table had a set of them hanging off
a chair.

The gingerbread man is one that my sister
made years ago in school.

Our wonderful friend's bought us this as a
wedding gift.  They're now getting
married this summer. :)

Saying"hi" in the reflection.

Ryan's manly ornament

Forever ornament from Angie after our engagement.

The moose from our trip where we
got engaged.

See what I mean about wanting to cuddle
up with those you love?

Do you love or hate winter?  Is there anything in particular that you are looking forward to this holiday season/wintertime?