Today I'm thinking a lot about Christmas traditions and the things I actually remember from my own Childhood. 

I remember taking a crafting class with my mom and my little sister one year where we made and advent calendar. It was made from poster board and 24 match boxes.  We created a wintery down with the match boxes as houses. 

Come Advent for as long as I can remember, my mom would fill each of the little match box drawers with small treats for us. I think she still has the calender sitting around somewhere. 

I also remember making straw stars for the Christmas tree and baking cookies. These are the kinds of activities and things kids will remember. It's easy to think we need to get the most expensive toy, take a big trip for Christmas and overall get caught up in the consumerism of it all this time of the year. 

What we should be focusing on is spending time with loved ones and making memories. My friend Faydra wrote a wonderful post for us that I would like to share with you today. It's called "Things I wish I knew about Christmas when I was raising my Children". I know this is a busy time, but please take a few minutes to read through it. 

Today's Advent Calendar treat is my Breakfast Casserole cookbook. It's a free download on Amazon today and perfect for easy Christmas morning breakfasts. 

Please take a moment to click on through to today's Advent Calendar post to read more about the cookbook and what we've been up to.