My girls are off on Thanksgiving Break and I actually love it.  Less stress, less homework, less deadlines.  As soon as we finish Thanksgiving, of course, it is on to Christmas Fun and Activities.  Twitter Moms has asked what our Top 5 Holiday activities to do with our kids and I knew I had to share.

I am very blessed to have my Mom living nearby.  When it comes to doing fun things with my girls, she is my partner in crime and at the beginning of December we calendar the great activities we love to do with my girls to make sure they happen.  Sometimes Brett joins us too and it becomes a Family event.

1)  Make Something Yummy:  One of the things we do is make something yummy.  Last year it was Graham Cracker Gingerbread houses.  We got all of the supplies out and let them be the designers and it was a blast!

2)  See The Sights:  Another thing we do is go to see something.  Sometimes we go to NorthPark Center and see the Trains, sometimes we go the Galleria Mall and watch the Ice Skaters, other times we have gone to see the Festival of Trees in McKinney.  This year we are going to the Gaylord hotel and convention center in Grapevine to look at the beautiful decorations.

3)  Catch the Lights: A perennial favorite of everyone’s is driving around to see the lights.  Lights people have on their home and the lights up in Dennison that we can drive through.  Best of all, it’s free!

4)  Doing Good: Each year we choose something we can do with them that will benefit others.   One year we took them to purchase a couple of toys and then drove by Grapevine Mills Mall for the KSCS 96.3 Dorsey Gang’s Lonestar Santa Toy drive, other years we have made cookies and taken them to the local Fire Department.  Jury is still out on this year as there are so many choices.

5)  Catch Some Culture: So that my girls can grow up with an appreciation for talent and the Arts, we try to go to something like the local ballet studio’s rendition of The Nutcracker, listen to Christmas Carolers on the Square or go to our Church’s Creche exhibit.

Just writing about it here has me enthused.  My Mom is going to Branson to see our friends so you can bet as soon as she gets back it will be time to get out those calendars and make those dates!   Stay tuned for pictures and reports of our Family Fun!

What do you do as Family Holiday Traditions?