Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in Dallas, TX

"It's Christmas time," my two-year tells me this morning. I smile knowingly that she has plugged in the Christmas tree lights all by herself - again. We go over the rules and hazards, and then run off to dress up Mrs. Potato head - for the third time.

Donning a Christmas tree in our family room has been a longtime tradition of ours, bouncing back and forth between real and fake trees, and depending on my eco-mood. This past weekend, we followed suit and headed out on the windiest day of the year yet, to buy a tree. Anxious to return indoors, I snapped photos of the kids running in between aisles of trees draped across each other. The kids picked, pulled, and measured up again 2-foot trees and 8-foot ones. We finally agreed on one, tied it to the top of the car - and drove home. When my husband pulled it down from the car, as I imagine hunters do with game, he dragged it across the lawn and into our foyer. It was dinner time, and ingredients needed to be prepped.

The tree, strung in a white netting, layed on the floor. I was busy pulling strings of light a part while the kids went through the boxes of ornaments. Wooden ones. Handmade ones. Glass and ceramic ones... all too delicious for a child's hand not to touch, despite my warnings.

After dinner, we sipped on hot cocoa while my husband untied the tree to begin our annual decorating tradition. He picked it up and noticed an ornament dangling from it's top. Our daughter took the liberty to start decorating.

I find it very amusing how innate these sort of activities seem to be. She was too young to remember last year, and yet, how quickly they grasp the concept of bringing a tree home, decorating it with funny looking things, and then staring at it while it glows on our living room floor. Nonetheless, our hearts melted. And we were comforted by our kids and their excitedness to welcome the holiday season their own way.

What ever you decide, tree or no tree, fake or real - it's all about the experience and how we choose to celebrate it. Make it your own, by planning fun things to do as a family. Whether sitting around the table and stringing garlands of cherrios for the mantle... or decorating gingerbread houses - the winter season brings us many creative ideas and ways we can spend together as a family.