Christmas is right around the corner! Like most people, I LOVE this time of year and so look foward to all the decorations going up in our home and in public places, the holiday smells, the electric feeling that is in the air. I especially LOVE Christmas traditions.
Here is where I would love some feedback. Shoot me an email or leave me a comment and tell me what are some of your family traditions. I plan to do a post soon, highlighting everything I receive. Maybe you'll be inspired to adopt a new one!
Every year, my parents buy our girls a new ornament to grace our Christmas Tree, and every year, our girls get to help put those on the tree along with the other decorations. We make it a family thing to decorate our tree. :)
ReplyDeleteI buy the girls new Christmas dresses every year, then take them out for a Christmas card photo shoot.
Mike *Always* cooks dinner on Christmas. He is an amazing cook.
We don't have a ton of traditions quite yet, but every year, as the girls get older, we get more and more of them.
There has to be other things we do, but it's early, and I can't remember. ha ha!
Just this morning I sent out invitations to our annual wassail party! I don't even know hom many years we have done this. There is hot wassail, Christmas goodies, and lots of good company. My parents used to have wassail parties when I was growing up, and this year our son and his wife are hosting their first wassail party!
ReplyDeleteI'm making ornaments for a Jesse Tree this year. It's more to get us in the habit of teaching our kids during Advent that the holiday is about Jesus. As our children get older, I hope they'll enjoy putting the day's ornament on the tree each day during December and hearing how the OT points to Christ.
ReplyDeleteOther than that, I do like to decorate the house, make a garland of Christmas cards we receive, and have yummy things to eat and drink.
I can't wait to hear all the feedback, I'm looking to add some new traditions! Our only unique one came over with my great grandparents from Norway. The grandmother (or in my case mother) hosts a "magic nuts" party on Christmas Eve for the grandchildren. Each child gets a bag of walnuts, when they crack them open there is a gift instead of a nut inside. We LOVED these growing up... though my mom has found it much more difficult to find tiny boy gifts than girl gifts to fill the nuts with! We used to get jewelry, stickers, candy, money... it was so fun! We go to Christmas eve service, then go to grandma's for my mom's AMAZING eggnog and Christmas cookies, decorate a gingerbread house and open magic nuts :)
ReplyDeleteOh we love Cmas traditions. The most important one we do is with our niece and nephews. We take them to pick an Angel from a local Angel tree, we take them shopping for their Angel and then they return the gift for the needy boy or girl. We've done this since they were 4 years old- they look forward to it and have learned it's better to give than to receive (even at a young age). Then later that night we have pizza and make tons of Cmas cookies while staying up late. The next morning is filled with a big breakfast and Cmas movies.
ReplyDeleteMy mom buys a special ornament for each of the grandkids based on what is going on their life for 2008.
Rick and I open our stockings right before we go to bed Cmas night-- that's right, we wait til the last possible moment to open them - just a little way of making the holiday last a little longer.
Hang our miseltoe up in the same place!
I bake lots of goodies and give to friends, families and neighbors!
Josh, the girls, and I don't have many of our own just yet. This will only be the second year we've been away from our families for Christmas.
ReplyDeleteSome that I did growing up was opening one present before we went to bed.
Playing Christmas music and decorating the tree together.
My Dad always made us waffles and when we got old enough whatever special coffee drink we wanted.
We always went sledding Christmas day. That would be a little hard to do here and I think it will be the thing I miss the most.
My most favorite thing that I convinced my siblings to do when I was in junior high was to sleep together on Christmas Eve. We would all crowd into my room with air mattresses and blankets and always ended up staying up too long because we were laughing about something!