Our 10-year old has been begging us every day for a week, and we've decided tonight is the night. We will go out and find our Christmas tree. With this event planned, I got to thinking (stop here if that scares you) about the things that have become holiday traditions at our house. In fact, for the first time ever, I made a list (and checked it twice) then decided to share it with you. Aren't you lucky?
1. Christmas tree farm--we chop down our own tree at a farm a couple miles from our house. We ride the tram to the trees, bundled from the cold, wielding an axe, then spend 30 minutes trying to agree on which tree is The One. Which leads me to our 2nd tradition:
2. Singing to the tree--We must sing to the tree before we hack it down. "Oh Christmas Tree" is the tune of course, and though our children enjoyed it when they were young, they now just roll their eyes while we sing. Okay, I roll my eyes too and Kevin sings a solo.
3. Ornaments--Every year each of our boys pick an ornament that represents something unique about this year. A cross for a spiritual highlight, a Leprachaun for their first Notre Dame game. It can be anything they remember as special about the year.
4. Cookies--Every year the boys and I bake Christmas cookies and decorate them. Their favorite shape is the Colts logo. We used to make buckeyes until 2 of them developed peanut allergies.
5. Christmas Bureau Families--Since we have so much to be thankful for, we give to three struggling families. What a joy it is to give!
6. Annulal Mid-December Meltdown--This one features me, an impossible to-do list, a box of Kleenex, and a sympathetic husband.
7. Christmas Dinner--two days early. Since we travel over the holidays, we have our family Christmas early. Cornish hens, mashed potato casserole, corn, yeast rolls, and St. Jullian's sparkling grape juice is the menu for the night.
8. Home for the Holidays--all our family is in Ohio, so each year, we pack up the presents and head south. Our boys have never spent a Christmas at home!
9. The Muppets and John Denver--a CD given to us many Christmases ago has become an annual tradition. We never hop into the car for the drive to Ohio without it.
9. The Christmas Story--my dad reads about the true meaning of Christmas from the Bible before we sit down for our Christmas breakfast, always on Christmas eve morning. It's a wonderful time to stop and remember the reason for the season.
10. Light-Up Middletown--a drive-through park, decorated with Christmas lights, has become an annual tradition. One year, we couldn't make it until the park was closed for the night. We drove through anyway and called it "Lights Off Middletown".
11. The Manchester--a very elegant Christmas Day buffet, just our family, my dad and step-mom. A quiet and delicious way to end the season.
Labels: Christmas Traditions
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8 Comments:
Having always had an artificial tree growing up we decided to cut down our own trees once we were married. It was such a fun tradition until a couple years ago we realized our son was allergic to the trees. :0/ We just thought he always got a cold around Christmas every year. LOL. We're a little slow.
Sounds like you have a great holiday season planned out, Denise. Hope it's a fun and safe one for all of you.
Wow! What wonderful traditions!
I love your traditions, D! We've never had a real tree, but that whole tradition thing with cutting down the tree sounds like such fun!
Great traditions! I love the part about singing to the tree! :)
Oh my gosh, what fun traditions, D! Loved reading them.
I think our traditions are going to change this year. I want Dave and Donna to figure out what they want for Alexa and we'll go along with it.
I adore Cornish game hens! I think I'll try those this Christmas. Since my biggest tradition keeper, my son, loves them too, I think he'll go for it. :)
The tradition I hate is the Christmas puidding - the English kind. No one but hubby likes it. When the kids were little, we used to hide money in it (wrapped safely in wax paper). They are loads of it back then, just to get a few dimes and maybe a quarter.
Then my hubby got the idea to put a $100 bill in wax paper and hide it in his cheek then pretend to "find" it in his pudding.
The kids went nuts. The next year, my nephew kept trying to get Uncle Terry's piece of the pudding. Terry didn't "care" which piece he got, which further frustrated poor nephew. LOL
It wasn't until they were abtou 20 that we revealed how lucky Uncle Terry always got the $100.
snicker.
Those are some wonderful traditions! When I was growing up, we lived in the country and always used to be able to just walk our own property and find our Christmas tree and cut it down. We have an artificial tree now.
Wow, Ane, you don't have to put money in my food to get me to eat it. What a tradition! LOL.
We have a tradition of "going to find the Christmas tree" as we have had the same beautiful artificial pine for 20 years now. Chris goes through the house with boys trailing him and then gets it out--piece by piece--to put up, talking up a storm about "a fine tree." Two boys are out on their own and insisted on coming home the day we put up the tree this year. Some of the ornaments are older than they are!
But because Chris sometimes has to work on Christmas and Christmas eve(and he has to this year) most of our Christmas traditions are more about "the season" than the day itself.
Oh, and for my dad (now deceased)I always put an orange in each stocking. Dad was really poor growing up and that was the best thing to him about Christmas was having an orange. That's one thing for me.
Love your traditions, Denise.
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