32 Fun Christmas Books for Kids

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Sticking with more experience gifts for the holidays, I have read about children opening a new Christmas-themed book every day of December. The idea has been tossed around for a few years, and I have purchased a few books here and there, thinking I would complete the book gifting idea. Somehow, though, I always started collecting the books too late in the season, and I would give up before the second week.

This year, I am determined to be ahead of the Christmas avalanche. I know that fall is just beginning, and I haven’t even planned my Thanksgiving menu, but I’m going to start ordering or searching for great winter/Christmas/family books to add to our home library. 

If you want to jump on the bandwagon, I’ve listed out 30 of our favorite, or soon-to-be-our-favorite books. You can wrap them and set them under the tree. You can set them out on the Thanksgiving Day table to start after dessert. You can stack them next to your child’s bed and let him choose the order he wants to hear them. The options are limitless in how you gift the books, but the memories will be made none-the-less.  

Snuggle up. Grab some hot cocoa. Light the fire. Open a good book. (affiliate links included)

31 Fun Christmas Books for Kids

How to Catch Santa

The Littlest Elf

The Night Before Christmas

The Christmas Wish

Bear Stays Up for Christmas

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Little Blue Truck Christmas

The Polar Express

A Charlie Brown Christmas

The Christmas Sweater

The Snowmen at Christmas

The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree

The Jolly Christmas Postman

Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree

A Wish to be a Christmas Tree

The Spirit of Christmas

River Rose and the Magical Christmas

Fancy Nancy: Splendiferous Christmas

I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas

The Tale of Three Trees

Christmas Day in the Morning

Merry Christmas Curious George

Home for Christmas

Charlie and the Christmas Kitty

The Christmas Fox

A Pirate’s 12 Days of Christmas

The Nutcracker

Legend of the Candy Cane

The Sparkle Box

The Story of Holly and Ivy

Apple Tree Christmas

Socks for Santa

Any of your favorites not make my list? What should we add?

I am definitely not opposed to reading two books a day!

The Time I Decided to Donate Half of Our Toys

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I may be drinking wine.

I’ll let you decide.

I am DONE with a basement full of SHIT that is worth $234,957,478,470 – but yet can never be played with because:

a. “Mama, I can’t find all the pieces.”

b. “This part is broken.”

c. “I don’t know what to do” – because there’s too many things to choose from, duh.

d. “This is for babies.”

e. “I can’t find the charger.” One year later, “I still can’t find the charger.”

f. “I don’t like that anymore.”

g. “It’s not fair that we only have one, and Lyle is playing with it! I want one!”

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU*K. No. I am so freaking done.

As you know from following my amazingly non-consistent blog here, I have switched over to ‘experience’ gifts, and we had a KILLER time last year at Christmas in Colorado. But, that means that I didn’t purge ALL.THE.SHIT. before our trip.

Somehow another year has passed before my eyes. Veda is a toddler. Ollie actually grew hair. We’ve *almost* adapted to life in the midwest. But, I still haven’t purged the basement.

(pours wine)

Guess what I’m doing right now?

dun. dun. dun.

Did you see the picture up there? That is what is happening. No. That is not what the basement looked like an hour ago. Everything was in its place…. until I somehow needed to accomplish something. I swear you could see vacuum lines earlier today, but what fun would that picture be? Exactly. I’m here to show you REAL LIFE. So let’s get to work. But, alas, Rome was not built in a day, my friends. After tearing EVERYTHING apart, I laughed at myself and retreated upstairs. I may have overwhelmed myself on day 1.

Time Out: I do have a plan, here. I’m not just drinking and throwing shit out. (Although, that may get it done faster.)

Our ‘Experience Gift’ this year for Christmas is redoing our basement into a ‘big kid’ area from a little kid play room. Yes, this requires buying a ton of age-appropriate crap. We’ll be investing in a sectional couch, smart TV, Xbox, air hockey table, basketball arcade game, and an art/drafting table/craft area for Scarlett. Our family will *hopefully* chip in and fulfill the kids’ wishlists so that John and I can cross off the big items. But a basement overhaul cannot be completed unless the current state of the bottom floor changes.

What have I accomplished thus far? I’ve created a bonfire-worthy pile of kid crap to sort.

We’ll be donating a lot to local charities (The Ronald McDonald House, shelters, and churches), gifting some to neighbors and friends, and saving anything and everything that will continue to be loved by our little ones. Yes, we will still have a lot of stuff, but, with my new layout, I’m hoping to keep things better organized.

The best part of everything is that none of the kids are fighting me. They are actively wanting this change.

So cheers to moving forward in this parenting journey. Instead of having a play room centered around a play kitchen, we will soon have a game room with a corner play kitchen. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t crazy happy about giving my big kids a place where they feel big-a place that their friends will love, too.

 

When a Friend Goes Quiet.

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Sometimes a friend goes quiet. Sometimes you wonder why. Sometimes you write it off and let them be… because, who are you to reach out? Maybe they just want to be alone.

Reach out. Always reach out.

In this society of loneliness, mixed in with the demands of adulthood (and parenthood), it can be easy for a friend to withdraw from life for awhile. But, in these moments is when friendship is needed the most.

My Quiet

When skies turned gray and smiles frowned,

I felt as though we’d been drowned.

Seasons changed, but all stayed sick. 

We came to learn it was a tick…

Or was it really, after all?

That pushed us down and made us fall? 

Unexplained aches, pains, and tears.

My worries turned into true fears.

Doctors said, “We’re not sure, more tests.”

Then we learned: An Autoimmune Mess.

Now we start the road to heal

And hope that someday soon we feel – 

Sunshine in our souls again…

We’ve lost count of how long it’s been.

 

Hello, Dear Friends, Hello.

I am sorry for the long pause in my words here. It has been a long season of life here, and although, I would love to analyze every detail with you, I am exhausted by the thought. Perhaps, someday I will. And, perhaps, I will not. Either is okay.

I can say this, I am beyond thankful for our lifestyle and our strong immune systems. I am grateful for our choices, as this mess could have been – or would be – extremely worse than it currently is. Doctors are amazed at our overall health, and now that we have figured out underlying autoimmune issues, we should hopefully begin to feel normal again soon. With the help of a healing center here, we are all on tinctures and herbs that are (fingers crossed) killing off co-infections. Everyone is sleeping a lot; sugar, dairy, and anything processed is a no-go. But we have smiles that last longer than a few hours, finally.

As a mom, I have been a blubbery mess. I’ve watched my husband suffer from Lymes Disease this summer, and we learned that it is most likely the root of my son’s lifelong issues we’ve always been puzzled by. After many – many tests, we have unlocked autoimmune answers that connect all of us. It was finally time for me to stop ignoring my own underlying issues, too.

Motherhood is hard. I am giving my all, 200% of the time. But, this has knocked me on my ass, and I have significantly readjusted our lives. I am grateful that we had already slowed down, but now we are focused on happiness and health within each day.

I did, however, go quiet. I stopped texting. I stopped posting. I stopped doing anything more than working and going to doctors or keeping kids alive each day. I am so blessed to have an amazing cross-country friend who is living this same life out, and together we have laughed and cried. But, I have come to realize that our world today is severely lacking in real life connections.

This can be blamed on moving and living away from so many loved ones, of course. But, in all honesty, it is the state of our society.

It is easier to forget about a friend than it is to reach out to one.

We are all guilty. We all get caught up in our own lives. But, taking a few extra moments to harvest our true friendships may save our society, and model for our children what is truly important in life.

This experience has opened my eyes to many things. One being that I will protect ‘My Bubble” – my family – above all. Another being: it is time to purge… detox, if you will. Toxic elements of life can be let go of. Social media can be ignored. But, true friendships should be strengthened.

Pick up the phone and reconnect with someone. Sit down and share lunch. Bring a neighbor a bottle of wine. Let’s dig deeper than surface level. Let’s get to know one another.