Planning for Christmas yet?

I think it's been revealed on my blog more than a few times in the past couple months that my thoughts drift to Christmas almost as soon as Pentecost has passed.  In reality, I actually start to think about next Christmas about one day after Christmas has passed.  I'm a planner through and through, what can I say?  But for the sake of argument, I'll place the blame on the people in our neighborhood who decorated their house for Christmas on September 12th this year.  I have no idea why they're decorated for Christmas before Halloween and Thanksgiving, but they are.

Most of the year I try to keep my longing and preparation for Christmas quiet, but as my mind drifts towards wanting to wrap presents, I'm also thinking about new ways for my family to celebrate the season with more meaning.  Last year we added a home made Advent wreath to our decorations and holiday traditions.  This year we'll be sporting a real Advent wreath on our dining room table since the homemade one was a hit.  I'm even going to make a better effort at doing a Jesse tree with the girls.  Last year's feeble attempt didn't exactly get off the ground, or printer tray for that matter.

We'll also be helping the girls explore their Slavic heritage this year by introducing an old Christmas tradition: Oplatki.  Oplatki was a tradition I had heard about in the past but I was unaware that it was also  practiced by Slavic people until recently.  After learning more about the tradition of Oplatki I decided it would be a great way to to teach our girls about their great grandmother's heritage while underscoring the importance of togetherness and unconditional love for family at the same time.  Something tells me the girls are going to go nuts over the Optlatki wafters embossed with a picture of the nativity.  They both have a thing for nativity scenes at Christmastime.

Have you given any thought to how you'll be celebrating this Advent and Christmas with your family?