23 December 2008
There are things we do every year, and there are things that we do only once in our lifetimes. I, personally, really like tradition — the things that happen the same way every year — year after year. I thought it would be fun to share about a few of the things we do each year.
A few of the things we do every year:
String popcorn and cranberries — This is kind of like a sewing project for the whole family. Pop popcorn, grab a bowl of cranberries, have lots of thread and a needle, and we’re set! Oh, and sometimes a nice Christmas movie helps. Wrap these garlands around the tree, and instantly the tree has extra beauty!
Listen to Christmas music — To hear the carols adds so much, I’m not sure what this time of year would be like without it.
Decorate the stairway — Simple, yet sweet. We hang garlands on our banister, with white twinkle lights. It is so cozy to walk down a softy lit stairway early in the morning.
Go to grandparents’ — A week or two before Christmas we go to Grandpa and Grandma’s and on Christmas day we go to Granny’s house.
Sugar cookies — Momma found the perfect recipe many years ago, and they are delicious! We cut them out in different shapes (bells, trees, little people, stars, hearts, etc.) and then we sit down at the table with wax paper all around, decorating them with a most delicious homemade frosting.
Christmas Eve — That is when we celebrate Christmas here at home. We eat a lovely dinner. Daddy reads aloud Luke 2. We praise God. Presents are opened. In the past our presents have been numbered, but this year they are labeled with literary names. What is fun about this is that we never know which present is for whom until we are ready to open them.
A few of the new things that we are doing this year:
Getting a real tree — This year we bought a real tree for the first time (at least for Bre and I). It is so sweet to have a real tree, and what a happy one it is! We mainly put homemade ornaments on our tree, since many of the others were too heavy for the real little branches to hold.
Set up a card tree — This is the perfect place to display all of this years incoming Christmas Cards. In the past, we have set the cards up on bookshelves, but they were continually falling over. With the card tree we have been able to hang them by ribbon on branches set up in a vase, and it looks quite artsy.
What are some of your traditions? Are you doing anything new this year?
I tell ya our only tradition is we don’t have tradition! LOL Honestly, I can’t think of a solid tradition we do.
Thanks for sharing yours. I bet you all have fun making your house a home and decorating it in the most elegant manner. :)
HUGS!
Hi E.
We always open presents on Christmas Eve. We always go to Grannys on Christmas day.
This year we are going to have a special meal of cornish hens….we each get a little bird on our plate. With a few fixings to go with! ! !
Merry Christmas!!!!
( I’ll let you know how it turns out )
We dont have very many.
We usually open presents on Christmas eve, and then do the whole Santa thing on Christmas, then we go to our grandparents and have a dinner and visit with family and open more presents.. and then we come home and sleep. x]
that’s mainly it. We use a fake tree that we put in the attic after Christmas, and then we use old ornaments for the tree, in which we use the same every year. This year we didn’t get out all the special decorations, just the Nativity, which we put little Jesus in the manger on Christmas day, to celebrate his birth, while people think He wasn’t even born on Christmas.
But we don’t have a ton, we just do the same thing a lot, just little fun things for the family.
Longing for the scent of a real tree after a childhood of fake trees, I started the tradition when I got married 20 years ago. Now, as years & Christmases pass where my husband would LOVED to have a pre-lit “hey honey, it’s UP!” tree, my kids just say NO!. LOL!
Another tradition we have is that each of us gets one new ornamnent to put on the tree every Decemeber. When my kids are ready to go off on their own (all too soon, as they are 16 & 13), they’ll have a little stock of ornaments to start their own trees.
Is there an easy way to make those popcorn garlands? I tried one year and my fingers hated me – only got enough done for half the tree! :)