We're the family that has many...
- Christmas eve mass
- wake up and read the note that Santa left for the girls. Still do this...and they're in college
- always open the stockings first
- cinnamon buns for breakfast
- Kelsie always has green wrapping paper...Courtney always has red. That way there were never any names written on the packages from Santa (wink wink)
- look for the hidden pickle on the tree (click here for history of the pickle lol )
What are some of your Christmas or holiday traditions?
Thanks for sharing,
~Karen~
hi there, we have the tradition that we throw a dice to see who gets to open the next gift. that way everybody shares the moment when a gift is opened, and it's far less hectic and much more special. here in germany we open the presents on christmas eve, in the evening when it's dark. usually we watch a movie beforehand, have a nice hot chocolate and some cookies, leave a plate outside with cookies and a glass of milk for santa. and a wee note, of course... and before it gets dark we usually have a wee walk around to give some small things to neighbours and friends...
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mickymunchkin
Just a few traditions:
ReplyDelete-toothbrushes in stockings
- chocolate coins
- Krispy Kreme doughnuts (this one has changed as they have closed down the closest one TWICE. Now cinnamon rolls)
-Church on Christmas Eve
-peanut butter rawhide bones for the dogs (hey! everyone loves traditions!) Merry Christmas!
We have lots of traditions, too. Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve; baby Jesus isn't put in the manger of the creche until Christmas Eve; our wisemen travel the living room until they arrive at the creche on Epiphany; we always open stockings last; blueberry muffins and scrambled eggs for Christmas morning breakfast; tree top angel that was on the tree when I was growing up is on my tree and will be passed to my youngest son; 6pm Christmas Eve open house at my parent's house; only tree lights and candle light at home on Christmas Eve; each opens one gift on Christmas Eve and the rest are saved until Christmas morning.
ReplyDeleteI am sentimental about traditions! Thanks for sharing yours.
ReplyDeleteWe all get at least one book for Christmas and we get to open it on Christmas Eve. We do muffins and juice Christmas morning and stockings always come first. And we have the pickle, too.
ReplyDeleteMy fiancé and I are entering the second Christmas together as a blended family and are still trying to invent traditions that our kids (he has two, I have one) can enjoy together. It's not easy to "create" a tradition!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was Just a wee little girl, my mother started buying my sister and me glass ornaments with the kind of top that you can pull out. After Christmas each year, we would write on teeny paper strips what we got for Christmas, what was special, parties, whatever. Those then got put in our ornaments. I continued the tradition for our son and included his milestones for the year, my hopes and dreams, and christmas events.
ReplyDeleteI still have some of "my" ornaments 50 years later and he has his. When an ornament breaks, the little buried treasure in each one can make me giggle or make me cry or both. The year of the big 10' Christmas tree crash was full of emotion. There is something so innocent in the writings of a 16 year old who is in love and a 10 year old and a new mother.
Love those traditions!
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One tradition we have is from the day after Thanksgiving through the New Year we have candle light dinner or dessert. Our kids loved it and now we are starting it with the grandkids.
ReplyDeleteEach year is a bit different now that our boys are getting older. This year we may forego the Christmas eve service (likely trip to visit a relative in rehab 2 hours away). Susan Branch's coffee cake recipe from her Christmas cookbook is always on the menu. Yup, we still do stockings for the boys -- and now 2 out of 3 are in college. Our town is going to have caroling on the green on the 18th, so that's a new tradition I hope to add.
ReplyDeleteWhen my son was about 3 years old he could figure out what gifts were by the way they looked. That was the last year I put real names on packages. No one knows whose are theirs. I use cartoon, Christmas, names like stinker. He is now 34 years old with 2 children of his own. My daughter is 38 years old with 3 children. The oldest grandchild is 13 the youngest is 4 and they all love this tradition. I keep the master list hidden of course. One of the kids said the other day I wonder who is stinker this year? I also have these little nutcrackers that open & I put a few fives, tens, & a twenty dollar bill in only one. These are hung on the tree Christmas eve. When we do gifts this is for the grownup kids with spouses. Each one chooses 3 of them & before opening they have the opportunity to trade. It is fun when all the kids are cheering their parents on. They then open them. The kids remember who gets the "big bill" each year. This is just a few traditions. When my son was born he almost died with spinal meningitis at Christmas. We didn't celebrate that year until he came home in February. I decided then Christmas was always going to be a time to be happy and thankful for everything.
ReplyDeleteWhere do I begin?
ReplyDeletePierogies and mushroom soup for Christmas Eve dinner, then mass, wake up to open stockings first, then opening gifts one at a time, it takes hours, Santa writes a list of clues for someone to have to find one of their gifts (our boys are 36,34,31, and 28 plus 8 grandkids) then crepes with raspberries for breakfast. By now mom is tired and we still have the whole day together. Fun times.
Our morning starts with stockings opened on mum and dads bed I have done this as a child and as an adult now my adult children do it with their children its on my bed this year as all the family is home,we open the presents under the tree next, one at a time (takes awhile) then its out to the veranda for fried ham and egg bread(cut hole in bread and use as an egg ring) for breakfast washed down with a little bubbles and orange juice Coffee is inside if its a hot morning or if the flys are bed. Then its lunch at about 2 and well tea is whatever you can get yourself when you want it.(I've had a big day)
ReplyDeleteHahahaha! Your traditions are special. We began using made up names for the packages when the children were toddlers and now part of the fun Christmas morning is figuring out who the to and from represent. To Cornelia from George is a gift from Biltmore Village for our daughter from her father, or to Sporty from Wind is a frisbee for our son. The kids are in college and now work at making the to and from names into riddles to solve before the gift is opened. We also have a pickle ornament that began 20 years ago when we told the children they would get fuzzy pickles from Santa . . . . We have a Santa tree topper and each year the topper is placed by one of our two kids, daughter in even years and son in odd years. This makes the tree decorating a family time that we look forward to even more as they grow.
ReplyDeleteDoes it get any better then Christmas and all the traditions?
ReplyDeleteStaying in pjs all day long
monkey bread
the photo of the kids (even now as they are adults) coming down the stairs in the morning
I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!
I heard to song the other day with the line that went something like "baby Jesus gets jealous of Santa Claus this time of year." Good to read that isn't the case for many here.
ReplyDeleteWe're a blended-faith kind of family -- we celebrate Hanukkah with the candles and small gifts each of the 8 nights, but we also celebrate Christmas with one big family gift and a tree decorated with either angels & snowflakes or whimsical candy ornaments. We forego the stockings, except when we're visiting grandparents. Christmas eve is "Grand Appetizer" night (clam chowder -- yes I know it's not kosher, smokie sausages, etc) and Christmas morning we have an egg casserole -- all on the "good" dishes. We read the story from Luke 2 before opening gifts. My parents always gave me a new ornament each year, and I'm continuing the tradition with our 3 kids.
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed looking back through your many posts and would like to request a little information. May I have the name of your Christmas dishes? I really like the Christmas Tree design and notice it doesn't have the Santa at the top of the tree. Manbe your design is still available for purchase! Thanks for any info you can provide. I really enjoy seeing all of your decorating.
ReplyDeleteWe, too, do the pickle ornament. Since I'm the one who hangs the ornament, I'm not eligible for the special gift. It has to be something that would appeal to a now teenaged boy or his dad, so I get a movie theater gift card for two Imax tickets and snacks. Whoever finds the pickle gets to choose the movie. The day after Christmas, father and son go off to see the latest blockbuster, and I get a few hours of solitude. On their way home, they pick up Chinese take-out for us. (I like that part the best!) Stockings are another tradition for us. I made huge stockings for everyone, and we fill them up with inexpensive things from the drugstore and the dollar store. Each item is wrapped, which uses up all those odd little scraps of leftover wrapping paper. (These scraps, when wadded up, make good ammo for the wrapping paper battle that inevitably breaks out once the last gift is opened.)In the toe of each stocking is an orange, which has been a tradition in my family since my great-great-grandmother was a child. Her family was very, very poor, and with ten children, the best her parents could do was an orange and a piece of candy in the stockings on Christmas morning. All of the generations of women in my family since that time have quietly slipped an orange into the toe of the Christmas stockings, grateful that we are able to provide more for our children than little Fredericka Otilia's mother could. And since my grandmother's time, it has become a new tradition to make a donation to The Santa Claus Girls, a local charity that provides gifts for children who otherwise would have nothing.
ReplyDeleteWe always have cinnamon buns on Christmas morning. Stockings first are a must. Our special thing is that we all wear grinch pj's on Christmas eve. The same pair every year and only on that day. Can't wait!
ReplyDeleteHi there, Very sorry but this has nothing to do with your wonderful "Thoughts on Thursday" but a "thought" on your Blogging Tips which I have found soooo helpful by the way!! On tip number 11, you say you were stumped by the link part....did you ever solve this? because last night I I managed to do the link. If you did solve the problem ignore this :) but if not and you want to get in touch, please do. Now, I'm a beginner at blogging and this is probably more fluke than skill. Once more, thanks so much for your advice on blogging....you have been a lifeline to me! Suzy x
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic idea, COLOR GIFT PAPER! Love it!
ReplyDeleteNot know nothing about pickel till now, it is funny.
Our traditions come on the 6th of january, it is the wise men day (día de los Reyes Magos) in Spain. I will talk about it in my blog (ty 4 the idea... one more time, haha!)
Karen! After all these years I never knew you did the pickle. Adam's family does that too! Kristin sent me a picture of the dessert party - wish I was there :) Love and miss you - Kari
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