Christmas Traditions

We have some Christmas traditions, and are adding more this year. Eli's four and will be remembering things from here on out, so I figure whatever I want to be traditional Christmas memories for my kids, I better get the move on to get the tradition going.

One thing Eli wanted to do this year, was string popcorn. I think he saw it on a commerical, but he asked about it several times, so I figured that was easy enough. Except that I have never done it. My sister was home Friday night and she helped Eli pick the ones that already had holes through them, and after a little while he got the hang of picking them himself. He worked on it for probably an hour. He used popcorn, raisins, and cheerios. Someone at work suggested using cheerios, so it would be easier for Noah. Turns out Noah didn't really have an interest in stringing anything, he mostly just ate all the food. And Simon too, it was my job to keep them out of the popcorn, and away from Eli which was a feat in itself.

Here is his "action" shot he asked me to take:

• I want to start a Jesse Tree, but don't have all the stuff for this year, and am not quite organized enough for that just yet, but I am gathering things so we will be ready for next year.
• This year I made Peppermint Bark, thanks to Jenn at Frugal Upstate, and I think that will be my "thing" to make. I've been looking for something and I think that's it. Plus it was a big hit with my family. I'm still tweaking the ingredients so it is just right, so that's fun.
• We have started reading "The Night Before Christmas" so that the boys will know it when we read it on Christmas Eve.
• We do leave cookies and milk for Santa, but we thought this year Santa might like some Christmas cupcakes. They have the funfetti Christmas mix at Aldi for cheap so we might do that. The boys think the colors are fun, and it would be nice to have something else on hand for the people that will drop by on Christmas day.
• We stay home on Christmas day, usually Tim's parents come over and sometimes my mom is over (depends since she doesn't drive) and with my dad it's always a guess as to what he will be doing.
• I usually roast a turkey on Christmas day so we have it to eat on all day and it will feed whomever stops by. Tim gets one from work every year after Thanksgiving, so that's the one we use.
• Christmas Eve is at Tim's parents house with his grandparents, brothers and their families, so it's a good time. Our kids are the youngest by a lot and the older kids have a great time with them, so it's a lot of fun. We enjoy it too, I think that's more fun for Tim and I than probably anything else we do over Christmas. For me it's because I've been a part of that for a long time (13 years this Christmas) and it's been more stable than things with either my mom or dad.
• My Dad's family gets together the Saturday between Christmas and New Year's and it's a crazy house. My grandma doesn't have a real big house and she has 11 kids plus spouses and over 40 grandkids and now over 20 great-grandkids, not everyone comes of course, but boy does it get crowded. Mostly we just eat and hang out. Grandma makes a mass of one thing and everyone gets to pick. Last year she made pillows, she's done pot holders, doilies, ceramics, rosaries, soap, ointments, you name it.
• I take a picture of the boys in front of the same fireplace in our house every year on New Year's Day and it's fun to see how much they grow each year.
• The boys make presents for all of their grandparents (I would say what they are doing this year, but I know some of the grandma's read this blog!) This will be Noah's first year making something. I want to instill the importance of giving and giving handmade gifts are always treasured.

Well, that's mostly all of our traditions as of now, but more will be added, like stringing of popcorn and the Jesse Tree as time passes. I look forward to making rich memories for my kids as they go through childhood.