Cheryl (My mother in law) and I were “talking” tonight about Christmas traditions and it got me thinking about all of mine growing up and the ones I want to keep alive with my kids.
To start our Christmas traditions….. Every Thanksgiving night we pull out our collection of decorations and put them out in the living room. Its always lots of fun to start the season! We have a couple very nice Nativity sets that we set up too, to remind us of the true meaning! Spring has always watched Santa & the Tree bears too, and we still do that. A few days later Brian and the boys put up our Christmas lights outside.
One thing for us has always been getting our Christmas tree. Growing up we would always go to Green Thumb (still do) and we normally do it on Dec. 1st. Now we still go with my family, and all the Married families that can go, try to go too. We all pick out our special tree and load them up in one of the guys trucks, then we go to Acapulco (right next to Green thumb) for dinner. Then Peter & Levi help us put them up (awwww the many funny tree memories). We had some pretty funny times putting up tree’s growing up. Too many to type out! One special thing Pop started when Gregory was a baby is getting an ornament each year for him, and now he gets all the grandkids one each year. Its very cute and sweet! We tag them and have all Pop’s ornaments in a special box. Much FUN!
Brian & I have always decorated the tree the night we get it. Always stringing the lights first, then the homemade apple garland that I made for our first tree (now 9 yrs old). Then we put on all the ornaments. We have those special ones (kids homemade ones, Brian’s special childhood ones, and some we got on our honeymoon too). Then a Christmas star to top the tree. Its a sparkly gold one we got as a wedding gift.
We go to my mom’s normally a couple days after TREE DAY and have a wassle (well that’s what we call it). We decorate her tree and have a fun time with that! She puts on the elves first (after the lights). She has one elf for each of her children, and now one for each of our spouses and their grandchildren (pretty soon its going to be all elves! LOL) . Its lots of fun. We pull out all those special ornaments that we had as kids and all the MANY homemade ones that she still wants on the tree. Lots of fun we have! Its getting louder and louder each year with more kids & more people… but still fun 🙂
I always remember advent calendars. My mom would get us a new one each year. We would get to pick the one we wanted. So we do this with the boys too. We have an advent where they pull out a decoration and put it on the tree and I still get one of those old fashion ones with the little window to open and shine up to a light. Also this year we added a new one, with little doors (one for each day) and a little surprise inside. The boys will learn to share in opening the door each day. Adam is especially excited for this one, since he picked it out.
We always take the boys to see Santa and get their picture with him.
Christmas light looking is lots of fun. We know of a couple really good streets that do an awesome job! Brian remembers seeing “santa” in the sky on certain nights. It was a helicopter that looked like santa’s sleigh.
One thing we’ve started is TREE TIME ( I know … Hope laughs at us…) but yeah… Tree time. Before bed… we sit around the tree, read Christmas books, or just look at the ornaments and talk. Some of the most “funnest” times we have! You know, this kind of started with me and Faith I think. Starting around Christmas time we would actually decorate our room. We had one of Mom’s old Nativity sets , the Rodolph house and lots of other fun stuff… and we had a little heater… and each morning before school we would get off our beds and snuggle by the heater and just chat about whatever. I remember it always being around Christmas time though. Our heater time memories. Fun!
We have several family get togethers before Christmas. Normally Brian’s mom and sisters come over to our house for food fellowship and fun. Then we go to his dad’s for our gathering there too. Always have some great times and its nice to spread it out on many days 🙂 The boys think so!
On Christmas eve (growing up) we would always go to my Aunt Carolyn’s to exchange gifts, have yummy fancy finger foods. So I carry that on and have my family over and we exchange gifts that night. With 6 of us and our spouses we do a name drawing and buy for one person. We do that exchange that night. Hope gives to the boys, and we give our gift to her girls (so far that’s all the kids that come). We started last year in reading the Christmas story from the Bible. Gregory read with us last year and we will continue this tradition with all our family get-togethers. We value this and think its very important and don’t want to ever forget why we get to celebrate this time! Can’t forget to set cookies and milk out for Santa and reindeer food (carrots). Then its to bed early! Yes we believe in Santa in our house! And he comes through our heater 🙂 lol
Brian is still a kid! Seriously. He wakes our boys on Christmas day! Yeah… I know??!! We get up that early! Normally around 5:00!!! I remember growing up getting up sooo early. All of us siblings would be just gathering in one or an others room WAITING to go out. We would hear mom and Pop up (getting the Christmas music on, fire lite etc…) Always seemed like we waiting forever to get to come out, and then youngest got to go first. Those were some FUN times! Lasting memories! 🙂 I can remember a couple of my favorite Christmases. Brian remembers sitting in the hall with his sisters just waiting at the door to go out in the livingroom. Sometimes he would stay up all night, just couldn’t sleep.
Ok…. I can’t think of many more right now… but I’ll add them in the comment section if I think of others. Now………. please comment with some of your special Christmas traditions, or memories! What are you doing with your family this year? What do you remember doing with your kids?
Love, Spring
Oh forgot…. we always watch Charlie Brown Christmas, Garfield and some other special Christmas movies. Last night we watched the Santa Clause one. Love that one! Brian and Gregory are a KICK to watch them… they laugh sooo hard!
We have an advent calendar that is a nativity scene. Every day, Ben gets to put up one piece on the felt nativity scene. He also has a chocolate advent calendar.
We have a magic cookie jar. Every night, after dinner, a cookie magically appears in the jar. Ben thinks that it is Santa.
We watch the Santa Claus on Christmas eve. It played a few times on TV before that, so he had already seen parts of it a few times. When we watched it on Christmas eve, Ben turned the TV off when Santa fell off the ladder. He would cry every time. It is really sad, but cute. He is so tender-hearted at times.
Can’t think of much more right now…..and it is bed time. 🙂
Cute Shannon! The cookie jar thing is a cute idea!
Oh… and we always go out to Peter’s for nachos, a bon fire and to watch Chevy Chase. We have done this for YEARS!!! This year will be the first year we don’t watch the movie, we’ll have to watch it on our own! Peter knows all the “crude” parts and forwards them since we have kids in the room! But this year we won’t be watching it. But we are still gathering out there for a good time!
wow, lots of traditions spring!!! We are just beginning ours!! One thing is making a gingerbread treat, last year we tried a house, this year we made a tree, another one is going to see the lights, we decorated the day after thanksgiving, we ALWAYS watch a Charlie Brown Christmas and Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer, we get each other christmas jammies every year, and open one present Christmas eve. Mike is such a kid too, he has us sleep on the couch so we can be by the tree and then he wakes me up at like 5 am to open presents and then I usually go back to sleep! We always get each other a pair of shoes too!! We always have our family gatherings too, of course! We hang stockings for the dogs and then put treats in them the night before and give them to them on Christmas morning for them to “open”. That’s all I can think of for now but I am sure there is a lot more!!!
Don’t all the trees start to dry out while you are all out at dinner? I haven’t read the rest yet, but was puzzled so I thought I’d ask!
Wow it sure sounds like you guys have a lot of traditions with Springs family!! Too bad you guys can’t get over to Camarillo more to include Dad and Donna in all the merriment.
Brian and I don’t have any traditions as of yet, but I’m sure when kids come along someday we will have our own special traditions that we both remember from our childhood days and incorporate those into our holidays!
Sarah,
We would LOVE!! to go over more to Camarillo to share in this merry season!
Our tree’s have never dried out before. We SAW them off some before putting them into water when we get home.
Laura & Sarah… What about growing up? Anything you want to carry on with your kids? Brian couldn’t think of a lot of things…. let me know… maybe it will jog his memory ! 🙂
I’ll think about it some and get back to you as far as traditions from my childhood. 🙂
So why don’t you guys head over there more? I know Dad and Donna would love to see you a lot more!
Umm…decorating the tree together…advent calendars for sure, I always looked forward to the advent calendar, I remember being bummed I couldnt smell because there was a Mrs. Claus’ kitchen calendar we had… I remember certain Christmas window stickers, and always being happy to see our ornaments we made for Dad on his tree, I dont think I remember “traditions” so much as really fun times all together!
I LOVE reading about your traditions! I am going to write up a post about ours, we have so many great ones too.:)
Alrighty well here I go with my memories of family traditions growing up. Might be the same as Laura’s 😉
I remember the big multicolored flashing star we had on top of the tree. There were the advent calendars we had…I remember a few different ones, but definitely the scratch and sniff one. Dad always handed the gifts out on Christmas morning so everyone had one to open at the same time….he still does it to this day 🙂 We had Christmas stickers for the windows…actually we had Halloween ones too. I remember we each had a train ornament with our name on it…don’t know what ever happened to those. Getting dressed up for church.
Okay well that is all I can remember for now…if anything else spiffy comes to mind I’ll let you know for sure!
Got to look into that scratch and sniff advent! TOO COOL!!!
As far as the train ornaments… we have a couple 🙂 Brian’s included. We also have some others he made that we put on the tree 🙂 Very precious! And the little santa house he loved growing up.
Yes the scratch and sniff was cool! It was the kitchen one I think Laura referenced. There were all these different kitchen smells like cookies and candy canes in a jar etc.
And I just realized I forgot the most important memory of all 😉 Laura’s gold bell. Brian knows what I’m talking about and I’m quite shocked that Laura isn’t deaf now. It was a bell that played different Christmas tunes and quite loud…Laura would walk around the house with it right up to her ear. I can’t believe I almost forgot about that one!! 😉
So I’ve searched some for a SCENTED ADVENT calendar. If you ever find one let me know where you can get them! SOunds like fun! So, Laura, do you have the bell??
I’ll be sure to let you know if I see anything like that Spring! 🙂 I know we loved it so I’m sure Adam and Gregory would too!
Oh and I don’t know if Laura has the bell, but I might have destroyed it or something because I hated listening to it all month long!! I think I might have blocked it all out. 😉
Oh gosh, THE BELL! Of course I remember it! I had it at Dad and Donna’s and that is the last time I remember having it, it might be tucked away in a box somewhere, gosh I love that thing and no I am not deaf!! Mom and I talked about these things last night and I seem to remember those reindeer ornaments, and mom, there WERE more then two! Even though I probably didnt love it as a kid, I love it that dad hands each kid a gift and we open them one at a time, its his tradition! And Sarah, of course I remember the Halloween and Christmas stickers!!
I almost forgot…………a christmas chain. Ben and I are making one today or tomorrow. We just use construction paper to make links that we connect together to form a chain. We make 25 links, and then every day of December, we break off a link. It is a visual countdown towards Christmas. I did it many years as a child.
Shannon, what do you remember as a kid around the holidays? Any special christmas traditions?
We did not have many set traditions that I remember. I just remember always loving Christmas tree smells, lights, sitting by the Christmas tree and reading at night, decorating the tree, decorating Christmas cookies, the Christmas countdown chain, occassionally making ornaments. I loved going to my grandmother’s house(my stepmother’s mother) and making pierogi (polish dumplings). If not making it, we were eating it.