Well, this year I was bound and determined to not let this happen. So after many days of thinking about how I can avoid being a Grinch, it came to me that I needed to think of others and not just my kids. I needed to think of those outside my family.
So, I brought up the idea of going caroling. Not sing caroling. Chime caroling! I made up some 3x5 cards with 4 songs. Two easy and two difficult. The kids were not really excited about this idea. Probably because I intended to go out every night. We averaged 3-4 families Mon-Fri.
There were many times the kids did not want to go, but by the time we finished seeing the look of surprise and pleasure on the different families faces, we kind of got addicted. It became our goal to go to as many people in the ward boundaries as possible. Member and non-member.
Along with our music we gave some type of homemade bread or rolls. Our favorite bread to give was a loaf that we braided then sprinkled with sesame seeds. We figured I went through 50lbs of flour in 20 days. Our total count was 73 households.
My attitude this year was very relaxed and calm. (Even with making fresh bread every day.) When I put others before me I felt the love of our Savior more. Everyone is important in the Lords eyes.
It also helped that the gifts were simpler this year and few in number. I put more thought into a single gift instead of buying lots of little things. Really, we don't need a single thing! All of our needs have been met. Besides the more stuff you have the more you have to take care of.
I hope that this will become a tradition for our family.
Christmas Eve P.J.'s. I use the same couple of patterns each year and it's fun to see how many inches I have to add for the kids. 
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