Christmas Decorating 101.

Today I hung my Christmas dish towels. Well, I gotta be honest. I simply washed them and hung them up again because we use them all year long. Yep. We're those people. I'm thinking about keeping our Christmas tree up through Valentine's Day. Heart-shaped ornaments, anyone? :-)

I dunno. I love Christmas so much that back in July I was planning how I'd hang the lights on our new house. We know how well that turned out.

Last year at this time, I was on strict bed-rest (can you believe my twins will be ONE in a week?) which meant the kids decorated the Christmas tree themselves. They loved it. I looked the other way. Besides, I had more important things to do like incubate twins.

So, this year, I'm bringing back 2006's "Red & Gold Tree." What do you think?

Each year I try to build something new into our Christmas traditions. This year, we're doing an Advent Calendar. The kids are sooooo excited about this. I've filled some of the doors with candy and others with little notes like: Make hot chocolate with Mom. Or: Bake gingerbread cookies with Daddy. Each day the kids take turns opening the door and discovering the special treats.

The Advent Calendar has turned out to be a simple but meaningful way for us to remember Christ's birth. Before we open the door, we talk about Jesus and what a special gift He is to us. We say a little prayer and then the children open that day's door.

I think this is going to be the best Christmas, ever!!

What are some of your family's Christmas traditions? Please share!!!