Hellobee

I love celebrating Christmas. I love Christmas music, decorating, and treasured family traditions. But Christmas is not a joyful time for all. There are many who do not celebrate Christmas, and the Christmas-centric culture is very difficult to escape, which can make those who celebrate something else or nothing at all feel like outsiders. Even […]

For the last few years, I’ve tried to plan gingerbread house building parties sometime during December. I gather all the supplies, pipe in the Christmas music, and let the kids cover the houses (and my own house) in sprinkles and powdered sugar. And I always make a hot drink to sip while building. I’ve done […]

A while back I made a post about Christmas books because I know a lot of families like to do advent calendars with books. Here are some newer ones you can add to your shelf this year! A World of Cookies for Santa – I think exploring and learning about other cultures and places is fantastic […]

My son just turned 8 this month, and I wonder if this will be the last year that he believes in Santa. Since we moved to the Philippines two years ago, we started downplaying Santa because we couldn’t explain why Charlie and Olive got so many presents for Christmas while many local kids didn’t get […]

Handmade Christmas ornaments are lots of fun, but they’re even better when they give kids the opportunity to practice their fine motor skills! These six printable ornaments start with a base and get embellished with bows, buttons, and stitches. Some parts of these need a bit of grown-up help, but then kids can work on some […]

Since I grew up in an immigrant family and largely had immigrant children as friends, I didn’t experience many holiday traditions growing up. I never even believed in Santa because I woke up in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve when I was 5 and saw my mom wrapping a present, then woke […]

Halloween is over so let the Christmas season begin! I made an advent calendar for the kids last year, and they loved it so much I’d like to keep the tradition going. It really builds the excitement leading up to Christmas Day! Last year I bought 24 Pokemon figures and individually wrapped and labeled each […]