Holiday Traditions

The holidays are in full swing and as much as I lament their rapid approach every year, once they arrive I remember how much I love them. Starting with Fall and Halloween all the way through New Years.

We all have special things we do that become part of the woven fabric of our celebrations.  I thought I would share a few with you.

Halloween - is naturally the springboard for every thing to come. Traditons have changed over the years as the boys grow out of one thing and into the next, but things that never change include

• Decorations - we decorate the front yard every year. Some of our decoration have been with us for a long time, some are newer, some exhaust the course of their lifetime and get replaced, but trahter new or old, we always decorate. 
• Pumpkin Carving - every member of the household does a pumpkin every year and we have made it a tradition to get our pumpkins straight off the vine.
• Corn maze - This too has become a tradition, and rain or shine, not a year goes by without it. There is certain to be comedy involved when I participate.

Thanksgiving - And the countdown to Christmas begins. We have a few traditions here, but we are flexible to expanind them and frequently change things up, however slightly, no two years are exactly alike:

• Pumkin Pies - are always homemade. I tried short cutting it one year and going Sara Lee, It didn't work. Back to the homemade. We also tried spray whip cream one year, but it too didn't fly, back to the cool whip. :)
• We always share three things we are grateful for and no two people can repeat the same.
• We don't do yams or cranberry sauce in our house, but reserve the right to respectfully decline if you offer it at yours. :)

Christmas - Oh Christmas. So many traditions, where to begin.

• Everything begins the Weekend after Thanksgiving.
• Beginning December 1st through the 25th, we watch a Christmas movie together every evening as a family.
• Fresh cut tree - always - and since moving to the northwest, we mean truly "Fresh Cut" we trudge through the forest (or tree farm), pick our tree, cut our tree and carry our tree back to Jeff's truck.
• Santa Tree topper, homemade tree skirt (20 years old), genuine lead tinsel, wreath on the door, lights in the yard and on the house.
•  We buy a new Santa decoration/ornament/representation EVERY year in honor of my dad who played Santa for many years at the school district and for his grandchildren.
• One New ornament EVERY year for each member of the family (future daughter-in-laws and grandchildren will be included).
• Pajamas for everyone, on Christmas Eve, under the tree. This is the ONLY present opened on Christmas eve and they must be worn for opening presents and Stockings Christmas morning.
• Christmas Morning, everyone must wait and together we go into the living room. Stockings First. Then presents. Then Breakfast. 
• Christmas Afternoon - we all go to a movie together.
• Day after Christmas - the tree and decorations come down and are packed away until next year.

Other Traditions, I thought might fall by the wayside but the boys love them and so they continue:

• Easter baskets and Egg hunt on Easter Sunday.
• Fourth of July Fireworks stands - though we admittedly purchase significantly less than we did upon first arriving in the Northwest (wow we used to go overboard). 
• Homemade birthday cakes
• Corned beef for St. Patrick's Day

I love that we have traditions to pass on to the next generation. Things my children have embraced and which are so much a part of their holiday celebrations, that they just seem natural.

What are your traditons? Are they similar to mine, or completely unique to you?

Happy Holidays,