Thursday, November 29, 2007

Holiday Traditions

A recent Austin multiple moms post brought up the topic of holiday traditions. I love traditions and look forward to carrying on some old ones and creating new ones for our growing family.

I've always enjoyed going to midnight mass on Christmas Eve and remember getting to pick out one present before mass. I'd look for the box with a squishy top, a clear giveaway that it was a baby doll and a perfect present to take to mass.

Several replied that everyone got new PJs on Christmas Eve. I love that idea. And makes for great Christmas day photos.

Leaving cookies and milk for Santa was also high on the list. Our Santa prefers Chocolate Chip.

And I liked the idea of visiting the Christmas Tree farm as a family to pick out the tree. We have a good one nearby, Elgin Christmas Farm with hayrides. Not sure if the kids are old enough to enjoy that yet. One memorable Christmas we spent at my Grandparent's farm and stayed in their tiny farmhouse. We cut down a cute little Charlie Brown Christmas tree and decorated it with a few candies and whatever we could round up. It was pretty chilly and we didn't have heat but we bundled up and it was a lot of fun.

I'd also like each child to get or make an ornament each year. Last year I made heart ornaments with each child's handprint using crayola's magic maker clay.

Here are Will, Evan and Lily last year with our new Christmas Stockings.

Please share your favorite holiday traditions.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I remember getting PJs on Christmas Eve...I didn't know anyone else had that tradition! I think it's really fun :) My mother used to also pick out special ornaments for each of us every year to show our interests or changes in that particular year.

Now, I love cozying up with my family and dusting off the Christmas movies that have been pushed to the back of the cabinet off-season; my kids especially like the DVD set of the Original Christmas Classics (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Frosty the Snowman, just to name a few)! You can get this limited keepsake edition set at any place that sells DVDs, and it even comes with a bonus music CD! You can also get it at http://www.christmasclassics.tv. I work with Classic Media, and I hope you check this set out!

You have some great traditions here...sounds like everyone's going to have a lovely holiday!

Smooch said...

Christmas eve 1 present rule was the best. We also made a big deal about the stockings. We also did one gift at a time - so we had to watch what everyone got.

Other traditons - russian tea cookies (powdered sugar covered) and brunch casserole on Xmas a.m. You can assemble it the day before and just pop it in the oven on Xmas, so you don't have to cook anything.

Love the idea of watching the old school claymation movies. When was it that they showed the Wizard of Oz? Was it Xmas eve?

Denise said...

My favorite is the Christmas Eve one present rule but our rule is it has to be the smallest present under the tree.

The other thing that I have always done is buy everyone one new ornament each year. It is always something that suits the person it is bought for, the ornament marked and that person is responsible for putting it on the tree.

Lastly, every year we pick one of the kids to play "santa" on Christmas morning. It only works when they are a little older but even the teenagers still love it when it is their turn to play "santa".

Happy Home said...

thanks for sharing candace, jenny and denise. good ideas!

jenny - do you have any good breakfast casserole recipies? i think i need to try a couple out and make my own special version.

Happy Home said...

candace - we got the set. perfect idea, we have been rotating through the movies each night. the kids like rudolf and the elves the best. it is fun to have some xmas music in the house.