Traditions

This time of year obviously has me thinking about all the traditions that we have as a family. Last week, my daughter had to write about one family tradition that revolves around Christmas, and it got me thinking about what are traditions are and where they came from! I'll share a few below...

1. The Advent Calendar- when my daughter finished 1st grade, her teacher gave her a handmade advent calendar. Both my kids had the same teacher for first grade, so she knew our family really well and was a very special teacher. Her own kids (I think) had made this felt calendar years ago but had outgrown it. She passed it on to us and both my kids love it but my daughter adds a piece to it every day. For each day leading up to Christmas, you add one more "piece" and in the end, you have a nativity picture. It hangs in our kitchen every year and I am thinking that there's no way I'll pass this treasure on as it is full of special memories!
2. Ornament Exchange- every year, the girls in my daughter's class have gotten together for a mother/daughter ornament exchange. It is fun to look back at the years of ornaments. This year, my daughter received a HUGE candy ornament that is too big for the tree, so it is hanging from our dining room chandelier. It makes me smile!
3. Holiday lights- each year, we take a trip to one or two local light displays as a family. One has a petting zoo where a cute zonkey (zebra-donkey) resides. Christmas isn't complete without seeing the zonkey!
4. Two trees- we have two Christmas trees. One is the family tree with all of our special and breakable ornaments. This tree contains decades of memories. Every year, we take out the ornaments and recall where each one came from-some from my childhood, many my kids have made, and we add to it each year as well. We also have a purple tree since my favorite color is purple. This tree is just for fun and not nearly as meaningful, but we have a good time decorating it as well.
5. Buying an Ornament- Every year, my family and I go somewhere- usually the beach. No matter where we travel, we each pick out one new ornament per person each year. These are proudly displayed on the family tree. If I can manage to let go of them, I plan to give both my kids all their ornaments when they grow up to start their own tree. SOB!
6. Food- of course, this would be a tradition. Sausage balls, sugar cookies, cocktail smokies, pigs in a blanket- these are the holiday foods that we only make at Christmas time!
7. Luke 2- every Christmas Day, for as long as I could read, I have read the Christmas story from Scripture at my family gathering. This has since been passed on to my oldest to read- very special indeed!
8. Charlie, the Elf- if you haven't invested in an Elf on the Shelf, you are missing out! This cheeky elf comes out the day ofter Thanksgiving and hides in a new place every night until Christmas Eve. He comes with a cute book to read his story to the kids. Kids are not allowed to touch him or he'll lose his magic, but they get to find him every morning. Charlie hides in many interesting places! You're never too old for an Elf on you shelf! ;)
9. Holiday Movies- Instead of It's a Wonderful Life or Miracle on 34th Street, we ALWAYS watch A Charlie Brown Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. If yo know us well, this will make perfect sense!
10. New Year's Together- early on, my husband and I purposed that the only people we really wanted to be with on New Year's Eve were each other and our children- a tradition we've never regretted. So instead of getting a babysitter and heading to a party, we party at home with the most important one's in our lives and have crazy fun!