Today’s family tradition is the Christmas Card. I haven’t gotten mine out yet this year, have you? I know I’m not alone since today, at gymnastics, several Moms were busy signing, stamping and licking envelopes.

No matter who broke we are, we always send our cards. I like to take it as an opportunity to touch base with people we otherwise lose touch with over the year.

Do you include one of those family newsletters in your card? We have, on and off. This year I’ve waivered. We had so much go on in 2007 that it seems like a good idea to update those who have been out of touch and may not even know we moved across the country! But I just don’t feel braggy and I can never figure out a good way to do those letters that make it interesting for folks to read. I sort of feel like saying “if you want to know about our year, read my blog” haha.

Do you include pictures? We’ve done this every year now for a few years. I love receiving pictures from friends and family! I look forward to it all year. So please send me pictures - I promise to adorn my refrigerator! This year my plan was to make the picture into the cord through Shutterfly or Walmart or some such place.

Do you ever make your own cards? We did this one year and NEVER AGAIN! Waaaay too much work. It stops being meaningful when it becomes an assembly line.

I’ll tell you one cool tradition we have kept on and off. We have had the kids all sign their names and had the group signatures made into a signature stamp! My intent was to keep them from year to year and a neat sort of memento of the kids growing and changing signatures over the years. You can have it done pretty inexpensively at a local shop. It’s a lot of fun!

So get out those cards! And please, send me one! Thanks

This is like the meat and potatoes of toys. Blocks. Every child must own some.

The wooden kind are the best, imo. They are also the most expensive. When Dalton was little we bought him a starter set and then, each birthday or Christmas, he asked for more. Now we have a decent sized collect to pass along to each children and, eventually, our grandchildren. They hold up unbelievably well (if you don’t have chew-y puppies!!) and ours look brand-new despite years of playing.

Blocks are in that category of open-ended toys that I love so much. They have no “goal” which means the sky’s the limit. Kids will play with these until they have graduated out of toys and they can start playing before they can even crawl! They are worth the investment.

A couple things about wooden blocks. It pays to see them in person before buying or at least ask a few questions. There are some really junky wooden blocks out there with rough edges or worse, teeny sizes that are actually choking hazards and not nearly as fun as the big ones. We personally love these wooden blocks.

But there are other options if you don’t want to go the plain wooden block route. You can go to cheap, but traditional, Lego (or duplo) route. Addison LOVES her Duplos although my boys never touched them.

Or you can get these really cool tree blocks that I’ve always wanted. They are literally made from pieces of tree, sanded smooth and level. I’ve considered making them in the past but I’m not so good with wood. I’m not sure they are as versatile or as long-lasting and open-ended as the good ole plain wooden blocks but they are cool in their own rite.

And then there are cool architectural building blocks for slightly older kids as well.

But it really doesn’t have to be any more fancy than a standard set of blocks. Definitely a staple in a child’s play diet!

Today’s family tradition is Sugar Cookies!!!!!!!!! I think pretty much everyone has their own favorite recipe and tradition. I actually don’t have a favorite, per se, I like to try different recipes every year.

Do you sprinkle sugar on your cookies and then bake them? Or do you bake and the frost and maybe sprinkle sugar on the frosting? I grew up always sprinkling sugar on and then baking so this is also how my kids do it. We’ve done the frosting thing a few times and it has its own charm but the cookies are SO hard to store and keep fresh, I think. So we stick with sugar-then-bake.

I inherited all our childhood cookie cutters, which I love. I have also added to the collection. Last year I invested in some really good gingerbread men - a huge one that measures about 9 inches tall and a smaller version. If your kids don’t like gingerbread (and many don’t!) they can still have fun decorating gingerbread-style men made out of sugar cookie dough!

Here is the sugar cookie recipe I plan to use this year (which I used the last few years as well) passed along from my friend, Joy (skipping the frosting part):

Ingredients:1 c sugar
1 c marg or butter softened
3 oz cream cheese softened
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg yolk
2 c (generous) flour