What holiday traditions are you starting/continuing this yr?

lady_tytah

Imn super geeked for the holidays this yearr. Why?! Dont really no. 

Anyway,  thinking ahead this time. Our normal traditions involve allot of hubs famiky but nothing of our own famiky rituals so I plan on bringing in some culturally since we're AA by adding Kwanzaa.  I also plan on doing stuff I did with my famiky. Reading Christmas stories, hand made tree decoratios and such. 

Have yall started to think about it?

CourtneyEeps

I actually am thinking about it because I think our LO's will be old enough to enjoy some of the holiday fun. Last year he was still a baby blob...

I want to do the pumpkin patch thing and hay ride for fall and do the carriage ride/tree lighting stuff that happens around Christmas time in our town.

alake

We are hoping to spend Christmas in Miami this year. It isn't going to be a white Christmas but that is ok!!

lady_tytah

alake said:

We are hoping to spend Christmas in Miami this year. It isn't going to be a white Christmas but that is ok!!

That still sounds like fun. I'm in Ga.  There is no white Christmas

Andreabks

As we've already been to see both my family and DH's family this year, looks like we're doing the holidays on our own this year.  

I do an ornament for some activity from each year. probably going to do a beach ornament for this trip down south.

we'll probably have some of the inlaws out for Christmas, but otherwise just a quiet year this year.  we were invited to a huge family thanksgiving but its here in Los Angeles and as we are down here right now, no way we can drive back down in just a few months.

rp-chicago-mom

We are in DC for thanksgiving and that makes me sad because I love thanksgiving and cooking with my Dad and there's no way in Hell my parents will come but FIL is coming. The cool thing is that H and he aren't hell bent on any traditions because FIL is British and H is just not like that. So, I have complete control over the menu and can make it a little different. No one is going to insist on their favorite cranberries or pumpkin pie versus apple pie and vice versa. I'm happy and sad.

Christmas is wrought with tradition. Traditions I like are:

new PJs on Christmas Eve
Boxing Day party hosted by us
Swedish Sausage for Christmas Eve
Baking 5,000 types of cookies
Making caramels

CRey13

We do a traditional thanksgiving with H's family. We also celebrate St Nicholas day on December 6th. We usually get pjs, chocolate, and an ornament. We go to mass on Christmas Eve and then celebrate with H's family. Christmas Day we spend with my family. Starting around the 22nd my family bakes about 17 different kinds of cookies/bars to pass out to friends and family.

rp-chicago-mom

Sharona1700 said:

The only tradition my family has had is a huuuge thanksgiving spread. We will do that again this year. I started the new pj thing for H and S last Xmas. I liked it, so I think we'll do it again this year as well. I also want to do the whole pumpkin/apple picking/hay ride thing this fall. I was doing some scoping out of places to try.

YES to apple picking. Can't wait. I love eating an apple right off the tree. There's nothing like it. 

MoFree

We are a Jewish family and I want Lila to grow up with a love of the religion and traditions. We celebrate Shabbat every Friday night by lighting candles, saying prayers, singing a song and eating a special meal in the dining room. Since we are such a small minority in a very Christian area it is important to me that Judaism be a part of her life and not just celebrating Hanukkah rather than Christmas.

I am looking forward to giving Lila a gift on each of the eight nights of Hannukah, having her "light" her Velcro menorah, singing Hannukah songs and reading her age appropriate Hanukkah stories. When she's a little older I hope she will help with the holiday food preparations.

Mrs. Rohde

We LOVE the holiday season!
September: we go apple picking at a bunch of orchards a few hours away. We make pies, cookies and sauce with said apples over the course of a week. It's a grand old time!

October: we go to a pumpkin farm and choose out pumpkins, hay ride and corn maze. We make pumpkin pies, cookies, bars,etc. We decorate the house with orange and yellow lights, bats, spiders-nothing gross/scary. More like cute decor. Friends of ours throw an annual pumpkin carving contest/party that DD and enjoys and we all have a blast. Every Halloween we try to do a theme for the whole family for our costumes. We started a neighborhood trick or treat walk with the kids around us when DD was tiny and we all have fun! Then once the kids are in bed we have the adults over for a bonfire and drinks/snacks in the front yard while we make the teenagers work for the candy they should be buying themselves. Work=performing a skit, song, dance or answering trivia questions like in Jeopardy. We give out good candy.

November: jackolanterns get put away and the scarecrow decorations come out. Since there is no real fall in SoCal we pretend on chilly (less than 70 degree) days with jeans and hoodies. We make lots of soups and chilis. We alternate thanksgiving dinner each year between my family and DHs. On my off year we host my side a week before and on DHs off year we host his family a week before. So we have two full thanksgivings each year. Black Friday all fall decor comes down and Christmas goes up. We also get our tree that weekend. We usually do Disneyland in December but I think this year we'll go in November and hope for a smaller crowd.

December: we usually decorate our tree the first of december. we have a calendar we put up for DD to count down the days til Christmas and each day we do something fun/special like: DDs birthday (her 5th this year will be big!), baking, make new ornaments, visit friends/family, Christmas lights walk, Nutcracker ballet, north pole breakfast, new jammies, etc.The first Saturday we always host our annual Christmas party for our friends. This year is our tenth year and we are so excited for it. Each year has been a different theme and we all have a blast Christmas Eve with my family and Christmas morning on our own until about 10 when we head over to my BFFs parents house for chipped beef and gravy and presents with them-they're my second family. Christmas dinner with DHs side. My bday is the 26th so we'll have cake and just chill.

Wow. That was long. Sorry guys. :P

lady_tytah

I love it @Mrs. Rohde. We're not that established and I wish we were.

Mrs. Rohde

Thanks! @lady_tytah
It takes some time and planning but I love and look forward to it every year. DD has been asking me "how long until the holidays" since June!

lady_tytah

Nene is the same way. I just can't wait till we have more

PaisleyRuth

Hopefully I will get more into the holiday spirit this year & attempt to really do things with the kids.  I found that DS still didn't understand that much last year, at almost 2, but this year at almost 3 hopefully moreso.

--We may go to a pumpkin patch type thing this fall (it's hard, because DH works an extra job every Saturday in September & October).  

--We may get together with friends again for Halloween, with a little fire pit in their driveway, giving out candy & such.

--Thanksgiving we always have both of our families at my dad's house for the whole shebang.  Maybe I'll have the kids help me make the sweet potatoes, since those are my job every year.

--We celebrate December the First in our family - just a little holiday my grandmother made up to give little presents that help you get ready for the holidays (kids might get a Christmas coloring book or pajamas or something).

--Hopefully my sister & I will make Christmas cookies, and try to include our 4 total kids.

--We'll probably continue the tradition we've started of having DH's parents to our house Christmas morning, and then everyone going to my aunt's house for Christmas dinner.

--We'll spend time around New Year's hopefully at the beach with some good friends of DH's family.

Yay, this is getting me excited!

lady_tytah

LucyD1029 said:

Every year for as long as I can remember, I've decorated a gingerbread house on Thanksgiving.  I'm hoping to get DS in on the action this year if he can promise not to eat all the candy!  We also go apple picking every year at the same orchard.  I have great pictures of my giant belly in 2010, DS just learning to walk in 2011, and DS with DD in 2012.  We'll have to add another babe next year! 

I'm hoping we're in our new house by Christmas 2014, so we can decorate cookies on the giant island I'm requesting.  We'll see!

All that siunds awesome. Hubs did a gingerbread house and man with Nene last year but she kept sneaking and eating the candy lol. 

WhtRssnGrl

We have zero traditions b/c it's just has always been just me and DH, so I'm hoping to start something this year.  I like reading all of these posts.  It makes me excited for the holidays.

JayandEmm

We celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah since most of my mom's family is Jewish and my dad's is not. We do Hanukkah at my mom's every year, usually on the last day, and open gifts and light the menorah, have a big feast, prayers, ect.

Christmas is usually just with my dad since his family is estranged. We also have a tradition with friends on Christmas. One of us will host, we have a potluck, play games, drink wine, and have a "white elephant" gift exchange. This year is our turn to host!

PurrCrasher

We have a recording studio in our house and DH and I have always recorded an impromptu song on Christmas every year since we've been married. This year we will have the babies join in in some way. They LOVE playing piano and DH's drumset (we bought them the cutest noise cancelling headphones for their birthday!) so we'll see what happens. I'm sure it'll be a hit!

lady_tytah

Haha, noise canceling headphones