We always bake a birthday cake for Jesus' birthday... usually an angel food cake... after we open gifts we have birthday cake for breakfast... we even sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus. We always tried to make sure the children kept in mind the reason for the celebration...
I, too, have fond memories of finding trinkets and fruit in my stocking. When my sisters and I were old enough, my older sis suggested that the three of us fill Momma and Daddy's stockings. They agreed and it was great fun. We would fill their socks and cover them with a sheet and head to bed. About the second year of this, my sis said, "hey, let's hide the fruit," knowing that fruit had become the mainstay of stocking-filling. We left a little note in the fruit bin of the fridge: "ho ho ho"...
only to find potatoes, onions, and carrots in our stockings with a note: "ho ho ho!"
We've had a lot of fun with that one over the years...
Christmas is coming!!!