Hi, my name is Cyndi! I was born and raised in California, and am now living in the beautiful state of Oregon with my husband and our five children (ages 9, 8, 6, 4, and 18 months). I am currently a stay-at-home mom, and enjoy documenting our everyday life through the art of photography.

During the holiday season, building hands-on traditions is no easy task. Even though it can get busy, those hands-on moments are the ones we will cherish for years to come. That’s why we build them year after year. One of our favorite things to do is create ornaments for our Christmas tree.

With five children, things get chaotic; tempers flare when they need mommy’s help all at the same time. Of course, there is only one of me and five of them, but with a little patience and determination, we get through it.

While the week consists of early mornings, school, homework, sports, and a bit of play, we manage to find the time to come together and find that balance that allows us to put aside all of the things that will not be remembered in the years to come. We don’t allow the chaos of juggling everyday life to interfere with our goal of strengthening our family connection by creating memories together.

Sure, we face difficulties. How can we not? After all, I am outnumbered. However, our determination has helped us to continue these traditions that create a stronger bond between all of us. Sundays, in particular, can be very special for us. Sundays are when we find more ways to come together and work towards our objective of creating more hands-on traditions.

Here are a few practical tips on making time for holiday traditions:

1. Get together with friends and/or family to share ideas on how to better use the time you have to create these positive memories.
2. Another helpful approach is to have the children work with each other as a team. This means not just relying on mom, but turning to a sibling for help and encouragement.
3. Lastly, it is important to instill in children a sense of pride in everything that they create on the basis of their own hard work and creativity.

If you liked this post, check out the others in this series:

• The Most Important Thing: Hot Cocoa for Breakfast
• The Most Important Thing: Cookies for Firemen
• The Most Important Thing: Home Is Where You Make It
• The Most Important Thing: Hands-On Family Time

To learn more about Cyndi, check out her blog and Instagram profile. Pass by again tomorrow for more tips on marking up the holidays with creativity and time creating together!