New Christmas traditions

I cannot believe that Christmas is next month. We are just days away. I am not one of those people who wants to just skip Thanksgiving and I do get annoyed at Christmas stuff in the stores in September, but the holiday takes a lot of planning to give my kids the Christmas I want them to have as children and I don't want it to sneak up on us so I began planning in early November.
     This year is going to be special now that Graham is a little older and also because Owen is old enough to understand more and do more. Christmas is always a little crazy for us because we always travel and never have Christmas at home so I like to have lots of Christmas traditions that we do throughout the month of December just as our family of four.
     I am adding two traditions to some of our normal ones this year. I think we may still do the Christmas book advent because I really enjoyed that the past two years. I may swap out some of the books for a couple new ones, if so. If not, I will just have the books out and available for reading throughout the month. 

     The new traditions for this year are Elf on the Shelf and a Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) Advent.
     I never thought I would do Elf on the Shelf. I'm not big on trying to con my children into behaving during Christmastime, but I have seen all the cute things people have done with their elves throughout the season and I think it will be fun to surprise the kids every morning with their elf's antics. Owen in particular should get a kick out of it now that he is older. I plan to print out a calender of the month and write down my ideas for what the elf will be doing each day to make it easier on me.

      Our second new tradition will be a Random Act of Kindness Advent. I found this idea at Emily Ley's blog and bought the set of 25 printable cards with RAK challenges on them, plus 25 "You've Been RAKed" cards. All proceeds from the sales of the RAK Advent go toward the Cystinosis Research Foundation. Last year, Emily raised $10,000 for the foundation. I am so excited about letting Owen help me to bless others with thoughtful surprises. I think we're going to have a blast. He may not understand it completely, but if it helps me get into the spirit and he learns by modeling my behavior, I can't ask for more. You can purchase your own set HERE.

     What are some of your family traditions during the holidays?