Dear Santa

The countdown is on.  There are only 10 days left until Christmas.  TEN!  My family is desperately trying to fit in all of our favorite Christmas traditions, and we're running out of time!

Writing letters to Santa is one of those traditions.  Everybody has an opinion on Santa, of course. Our children know the real reason for the season, but Santa is also a part of our celebration.  Santa just adds to the magic of childhood, and we all know that childhood is fleeting!

Every year, my kids think really hard about what they would like for Christmas, then they sit down to write their letters to Santa.  This is usually an independent activity, but this year, I decided to start a new tradition!

Instead of working on Santa letters alone, I decided to make it a family activity.  I set up a Hot Cocoa Bar next to the Christmas Tree, told the kids to gather around the tree, and I passed out everything they needed to craft their letters!

 

The kids were excited to write their letters, but they were looking forward to the hot cocoa, too!  I used a set of mugs that belonged to my Grandma, and the cups that held the toppings were from my childhood. It was a nice walk down memory lane for me!

Instead of using plain paper this year, I found some really cute Santa Letters on Blue Mountain! Although Blue Mountain gives you the option to create the Santa Letter on the website and print, I opted to have the kids write the letters on their own!

You may have noticed that Liam was strapped safely in his high chair.  There was a good reason!  The Hot Cocoa Bar would have been too much of a temptation and the letters would have been crumpled.  I gave him his hot cocoa early, so he didn't mind much.  It turns out that shaking hot cocoa all over yourself is a REALLY fun activity!

While Liam splashed around in his hot cocoa mess, Dylan, Lexie, and Lily worked really hard! 

Dylan, who now believes in the spirit of Santa, was a good role model for his younger siblings! Lily signed her name first, told us exactly what she wanted her letter to say, then happily signed her name again.  Lexie finished her letter quickly and took over Liam's letter.  Before long, all four letters were written!

Dylan, Lexie, Lily, and Liam celebrated the start of our new Santa Letter Tradition with some hot cocoa!

I collected the letters, and we put them in our special Santa Letter pouch.  It's hanging on our tree and the letters will stay safe until we go visit Santa! 

Although I captured some picture-perfect moments of a fun new tradition, I just want to point out that life isn't always perfect! We did have to briefly pause for this:

Oops.

No worries.  We all recovered quickly!

 Dylan, Lexie, Lily, and Liam really enjoyed the new Santa Letter Tradition. They happily wrote their letters under the cozy glow of the Christmas Tree, and they celebrated with hot cocoa! This tradition is a keeper!

You can find the adorable Santa Letters we used at www.bluemountain.com! There are even letters your child can color. Santa himself apparently uses Blue Mountain, because I spy a Letters FROM Santa option, too!

Blue Mountain also offers eCards, cards you can personalize and print at home, free downloads, a gift shop where you can add a gift card to your eCard, stationary, and postcards. 

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*DISCLOSURE:  I received a membership from Blue Mountain in exchange for including their product in a post.  The ideas and opinions are my own.