Some of the best ideas for Christmas come from long family traditions that have been passed down for generations. We wanted to share a few of our own, and hopefully add of few of yours.

Fun In November and December

Starting around Thanksgiving, or shortly thereafter, the excitement of decorating the Christmas Tree has already begun. The festive mood starts with the delicious aroma of a warm kitchen chock full of delicious goodies made with love and care. For lots of people, Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the holidays...all the way to the New Year.

Shopping also traditionally begins around the end of November. Everyone has heard that the Friday after Thanksgiving starts the Christmas shopping frenzy.Some people truly enjoy the crazed rush to the stores, while others like the quiet after hours shopping, or online shopping that affords more quiet and solace. Whatever your preference, Holiday shopping is a real treat for most folks. A time for giving, for thinking of a wonderful present to the ones you love.

Many people enjoy 'name drawing' for growing families. What better time to draw names than when everyone is together at Thanksgiving. Sometimes its even fun to put a certain limit on the amount allowed to be spent. It definitely makes a person become more creative with their gifts! Another neat idea is to have a "no grownup gifts allowed" drawing. Perhaps a man once enjoyed toy trains as a boy. Or a woman used to really have fun collecting Barbie clothes. Simply choose a toy or gift that person would have loved to have gotten as a child. It may surprise you how much of the 'child' in them and yourself comes out!

Don't forget to try out some delicious recipes during the holidays. Boys and girls alike enjoy helping out in the kitchen when making an especially tasty treat.

Make some quick easy cocoa with a little twist! Take plenty of your favorite powdered cocoa mix, add crushed peppermint, or a little cinnamon, or perhaps a bit of nutmeg for a quick stash of holiday tasty treats!

The Night Before Christmas

One of the best parts of Christmas Eve has to be looking at all of the Christmas lights! No matter your age, Hunting for Christmas lights is not only fun in itself, but you can make a game of it with the kids! Depending on which side of the vehicle one was sitting on, you get to count the light display on your side only. At the end of the trip, you count who has the most displays while looking out of the vehicle. There's no real winner here, however, because the fun is from those gorgeous lights, after all.

Since the sixties, a neat little idea came from my Mom. After all the kids are asleep on Christmas eve, she would sneak into each of our rooms, and lay our very full stockings at the foot of our beds. That way, she told us years later, we would let her and Dad sleep in during those wee hours of Christmas morning. We didn't care what the reason was, only that the fun began even before we got out of the bed.