With little kids, staying up until the official New Year begins is out of the question.  So, we improvise and throw a bit of a New Year’s celebration just for them!  Here are some ideas to try out this year…add your own as well!

• Our favorite is to set our clocks three hours ahead.  The kids get the sensation of midnight without it actually BEING midnight.  We blow horns, throw streamers, cheer and dance.  Then, it is time to head off to bed while it is still actually a reasonable hour!
• Serve up kid-friendly snacks for that New Year’s eve bash.  Pinwheels are easy to make and yummy for kids.  Simply roll your favorites in a tortilla, slice and serve.  We’ve had peanut butter and jelly pinwheels, cream cheese and ham pinwheels, and frosting with sprinkles pinwheels - let your kids help prepare them, too!
• Another great snack for New Year’s eve is pigs in a blanket.  Roll Little Smokies sausages up in crescent rolls for a yummy surprise. 
• We pull out our goblets for the kids to use on New Year’s eve as well, although last year we avoided near-disaster by using plastic ones for the first time…it was a good thing, too, because they wanted to toast the New Year with the “clink” of the glasses!  Serve up sparkling grape juice or the like for those little revelers.
• We take a family picture on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.  It is a great scrapbook opportunity to usher in the new year in photographs!
• Our older son, now 9, invites a friend to come and spend the night with us.  The more the merrier, and we all have a wonderful time.  Two years ago, we had the other child’s entire family stay with us until after “faux-midnight” to celebrate. 

What are some of your ways to celebrate with kids?  Leave a comment and share!

This is a great treat for Christmas morning - or any other morning for that matter!  It is easy and fun (and messy), so be sure everyone gets involved in creating it!

1.25 c sugar
1T cinnamon
3 cans biscuits
1 stick butter, melted
1.5 lbs powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla

Cut biscuits into fourths.  Mix 1/2 cup sugar with cinnamon.  Put mix on biscuits.  Drop biscuits into well greased bundt pan.  Mix melted butter with 3/4 cup sugar and pour over biscuits.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Drizzle with a powdered sugar icing you can create with the powdered sugar, vanilla and a little water if needed. 

Our church is offering up a wonderful ministry this holiday that literally anyone can do on their own.  Try out a few of the recipes posted on here and you’re on your way to a new holiday tradition.

Our church is creating small bundles of cookies (2-3 in each bundle) to hand out on Christmas Eve.  The idea is to take them and deliver the bundles to those that are working that evening - the pharmacist, the policeman, the convenience store worker, the grocery clerk, the hospital staff, the fireman.  It is a way to spread a little holiday cheer (no matter what holiday that person celebrates) at a time that they probably don’t get to celebrate much.

And, think of the wonderful message this relays to our children - that it is better to give than to receive, and while the cookies might be yummy, someone else may enjoy them as well.  And that is a wonderful lesson to learn this holiday season.

This is a great little, light cookie that is perfect for dessert, snacks, and even breakfast!  It is very easy for kids to make, yet tastes like it came from a commercial bakery.  It is sure to be a favorite with everyone!

2 T butter, melted
2/3 c sugar
1.5 t ground cinnamon
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, 9 x 10.5 inches, thawed.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil.  In a small mixing bowl, combine 1/3 c sugar and cinnamon.  Stir until blended.  Sprinkle some of the remaining 1/3 c sugar on a work surface.  Unfold the thawed puff pastry on top of the sugar with one of the short sides facing you. Generously sprinkle more sugar on top of the puff pastry, and spread to cover.  Using a rolling pin, roll out the pastry, continuing to sprinkle with sugar as you roll.  Roll out to 10×16 inches.  Brush the melted butter onto the pastry.  Then sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Press it down evenly.  Starting from a long side, roll up the pastry, jelly-roll style, stopping just before the end.  Press the edge to seal the seam.  Cut the roll into 1/2 inch slices, placing about 2 inches apart on the baking sheets.  Bake each batch 12-14 minutes.  Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before moving them to cooling racks.

This is a terrific recipe for children to help with!  It requires no baking, yet it is yummy-sweet and delicious all the same!  We love to make these each December and hand them out to our neighbors.

2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup milk
3 cups quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a saucepan, mix sugar, cocoa, margarine, milk and salt.  Heat and bring to a boil; boil for one minute.  Add teh remaining ingredients.  Mix well.  Working quickly, drop by teaspoonful onto waxed paper.  Allow to cool before removing from waxed paper.  Makes about four dozen cookies.  Can be stored at room temperature in a sealed container.

Note: the peanut butter is optional.  It will, though alter the consistency of the cookies and makes them stiffen quicker, so be ready to quickly drop onto waxed paper! Enjoy!

A few years ago, we got our son involved in the gift process of our family.  Each year he (and now his younger brother) creates gifts for family and close friends.  They involve little, if any, money.  However, they are some of the most treasured gifts that have been given and received in our circle.  Here are a few of our favorite (homemade) things that will hopefully spur a few activities of your own to try.

1. Desk Accessories.  Our favorite is the tin can pencil holder.  My husband made one for his dad when he was little, and now my son has made one for my husband, sure to be a staple on his desk at the office.  Clean a tin can (those with the pop-top lids are good choices - some Campbell’s soup cans are like that now - or use a can opener that leaves a smooth edge to avoid injury) and allow to dry.  Then, cover the outside of the can.  You can either make a cover for it out of paper and draw a design on it, or you can take thick twine, cording, yarn or string and wind it tightly around the can.  Top off the gift with a few new pens and pencils and a note on the bottom of the can with the name of the creator and the year. 
2. Ornaments.  We actually have quite a few homemade ornaments, but our favorite is the CD ornament.  We used a free CD that came in the mail and cut a circle out of a piece of paper smaller than the CD.  My son drew a holiday scene on it and we glued it to the CD.  To make a hanger, we hot-glued a bent paperclip to the back.  We have also made these ornaments with pictures of the boys cut into a circle and glued to the front of the CD.  The mirrored surface of the CD looks wonderful on a tree, reflecting the lights.  Another easy ornament is a popsicle stick snowflake.  Take three popsicle sticks and glue their centers together, fanning them into a snowflake.  Paint them white and sprinkle them with glitter.  The glitter also makes a good reflection of the lights on a tree.
3. Plant markers.  My parents are avid gardeners, so my kids made them markers for their garden last year.  We took seed packets that we had planned on giving them as part of their gift and scanned them into the computer and printed them out on heavy card stock.  I took them to my local office supply store and had them laminated.  Then, my boys used rubber cement (under my supervision) and glued them to large craft sticks.  We lined them in a flower pot with the actual seed packets, a hand shovel and some work gloves, all picked up at our local dollar store.  The entire gift cost us under $6.
4. Jewelry.  If you have a child who loves beads, this is a great way to teach him or her how to turn something they enjoy into a gift for someone else.  They can make something simple such as a bracelet or necklace, or they can create a beaded bookmark.  Place knots about 8 inches apart on a piece of nylon string to keep the beads at either end so that the mark will sit easily in between the pages of a book.  Give the bookmark along with a book for a unique and thoughtful gift.
5. Photo frames.  What parent or grandparent doesn’t love a picture?  Find a favorite snapshot.  The options for creating a frame for the photo are endless.  Make a frame out of either of construction paper or heavy posterboard.  Then, the possibilities open up from there.  Cover the frame in fabric pieces, shells, twigs, stickers, torn construction paper for a mosaic look. colored sand, even glitter.  Complement the photo with the colors and medium chosen.
6. Decorative trivets.  Go to your local hardware or home improvement store and purchase some simple, white tiles.  Paint handprints on the tiles, and use a paint pen to place the name and date of the child.  We even added “Grandma’s Little Helper” and “Aunt Lynn’s Best Buddy” to ours.  While they are not washable, they make a great keepsake and decoration for the kitchen.

Do you have any ideas for holiday gifts you’d like to add?  Please leave a comment and share it with us!

Wonderbrains has an excellent selection of craft kits for children that can be used for making gifts as well.  Check out their wide variety of ideas!

Here’s a great idea for cute, inexpensive yet personal gifts for relatives, friends, teachers and even yourself.  Your kids will have a BLAST making them and giving them away.  They make beautiful tie-ons for gifts, ornaments for trees, or even a hanging air freshener for your car.

For Cinnamon Ornaments, you just need two ingredients: a cup of applesauce and 1 (4.12 oz) bottle of ground cinnamon.  Combine these two ingredients in a mixing bowl.  It will become quite doughy, so be prepared to mix by hand.  It is a lot like making bread!  Once the two ingredients are well-mixed, roll out the dough until it is about 1/4 inch thick.  Don’t make it too thin or the ornaments will break.  Use cookie cutters to cut the dough in whatever shapes you would like.  Use a straw to punch a hole in the top of each ornament.  Set aside on a cookie sheet or other smooth, solid surface to dry.  It takes about 2-3 days for the ornaments to fully dry out.  I like to turn mine over after a day or so to make sure they dry evenly.

Once the ornaments are completely dry, tie them up with a pretty ribbon for hanging.  This recipe makes quite a few ornaments, depending on the size of the cookie cutters you are using, so get ready to give plenty away!

This time of year always makes me nostalgic for my childhood; building snowmen (okay, one year we got to build snowmen around Christmas - I live in Texas…it is a rarity), getting together with family, doing little things with my mom and dad, making lists, shopping, wrapping gifts, and on and on.  Holidays of any kind tend to do that to us - they bring us back in touch with our past, and we should use that nudge as more than simply a nudge.  Consider it a shove.

If you have children - of any age - there is no better time than the present to create memories and traditions of your own.  Years from now, your children will reflect upon the corniness, the hilarity and most likely the sentimentality of it all and realize that moments such as these are what bind us together.

So, in light of this, here are my family’s traditions.  Not my family that includes my parents and my brother, but my family NOW - the kids and my husband.  Here’s what we do to create that feeling of togetherness and routine every December.

1. You Can’t Count Down Without A Countdown Chain!  This is, quite possibly, my son’s favorite activity.  We take red and green construction paper and cut it into 1.5 inch strips.  We then staple each strip into an interlocking ring with another, creating a paper chain.  We put enough links on it to count down until December 25th (but you could do this with other holidays and events in December as well), then each day we pull off a link from the chain.  He loves to create patterns with the colors in the chain, and this year, we’re adding a phrase or activity to each link, which will help us focus on our family a little more each day.
2. Let There Be Light(s) - And More Lights!  Our neighborhood is exceptionally well-decorated this time of year with lights, deer, scenes and designs.  We usually choose a couple of nights to walk around the neighborhood, taking in everyone’s decorations.  It is great exercise, the kids get a chance to burn off some energy, and our pace is such that we can truly appreciate each display.  On chilly nights, though, we pack into the car and make our way around.  Bring hot cocoa and a few cookies along for the ride to really set the mood!
3. Fa La La La La…along with our light-looking, we enjoy stopping at neighbor’s homes and treating them to a few songs.  Sometimes, we get our next-door neighbor’s kids to join us and make it a little choir.  The older residents of our street LOVE to see our kids come around, and it is a wonderful way to reach out and contact those who live near you.  We also like to pair this activity up with the next one…
4. Cookies And Candy And Cake - Oh My!  The kids help me choose about five or six of our favorite holiday recipes, and we spend a few days putting them together.  Then, we bundle them in colorful bags, pretty plates or holiday boxes and deliver them to the neighbors.  It is a gift from the heart and our kitchen, and each year is a bit different, depending on the choices the kids make!  Stay tuned for holiday recipes to be posted in the near future!
5. Tis The Season To Be Giving.  The main lesson we drive home in our children during this time of year is to share with those less fortunate than us.  We do this in several ways.  We typically give food to our local food bank via our church, but during December, the boys and I make a special purchase of food for the food bank, and then they help make the delivery with me to see where the food goes.  It is an eye-opening experience for them and is a lesson that they carry for a good long while.  We also participate in Toys For Tots, Salvation Army Angel Tree or Blue Santa.  We allow each child to choose an angel or Santa from the tree that is about the same age as they are.  Then the children shop for the child.  It means a lot to our boys to give back, especially when it is someone like them.  Another activity we do is to sit down as a family and create cards for nursing home residents.  Then, on a Sunday afternoon, we make a trip to the local nursing home and deliver our cards.  To watch the faces of the residents light up is enough to put me in the spirit any time of year!
6. And Speaking Of Cards…another favorite tradition of ours is to take our old Christmas cards from the prior year and turn them into placemats!  I cut posterboard down to placemat size, then the boys have a ball digging through old cards to make a collage of holiday cheer on their placemat.  When the pictures are all glued down, I cover the mat in contact paper to protect it, and our table is ready for the holidays.

What are your favorite holiday traditions?  Leave a comment and let us know!