Sunday, December 18, 2011

Silent Sundays: Traditions!! Traditions!!

 I am happy to see that I am not the only one with UFO's all over my house.
Several people commented about their UFO's and I am in glad company! :)
Now, I would love to hear what Holiday Traditions you all have and I will share a few of ours.  I believe traditions are important.  They kind of tell a story, of who we are and where we've come from.  
"Traditions, traditions. Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as... as... as a fiddler on the roof!"

Ornaments:  Every year, each of us gets a new ornament, when we decorate the tree, we read through our list and each of us takes turns putting each years ornament on the tree.  Needless to say, our tree is very eclectic.  I love it!!
No tree is complete without Chewbaca.

Ahh...the year of the Sock Monkey!

Homemade Gifts:  I love hand making gifts.  I always try to make some gifts to give.  This year I am working on a fun little gift for my daughter, I will give you a small glimpse, once I am closer to getting it together...I'd better hurry.  YIKES!!

Christmas Lights:  We pick an evening and drive all around town, looking at all of the lights, while listening to Christmas music, then come home and have hot cocoa.


Cookies:  My mom has the most amazing recipe for cookies, every year we'd go to her house and make dozens of cookies and decorate them too, this year (since we moved) we are on our own, but we will keep up the tradition.
These, we did with my mom, see how nice they are.
Our cookies this year...not quite so professional looking.

But yummy, anyway!
Movies:  Of course, we always have our favorite movies that we watch during the season.  Charlie Brown Christmas, The Christmas Story, Elf, Muppet's Christmas Carol, The Grinch, Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, Home Alone...and many more. We always watch It's A Wonderful Life, on Christmas Eve...we usually fall asleep too.  I don't know the last time I made it through the entire movie.  



Christmas Morning:  Wake up at 3 a.m.  My husband is usually the first one up, he is so excited, like a little kid.  He makes coffee, turns on Christmas music, tries to make as much noise as possible, hoping everyone will hear him and get up. haha!  
This was 3 years ago.  Last Christmas photo of all of us together , before my daughter got married.


This our current Christmas family photo, with our future daughter-in-law.

So, what are your traditions??
I leave you with a couple of lines from Fiddler on the Roof!
Perchik: "Money is the world's curse."
Tevye: "May the Lord smite me with it. And may I never recover." 

12 comments:

  1. Ooooh, I love this! But, 3:00 am? LOL. That sounds so sweet! Our traditions at this point are just to stay home Christmas morning, and not be on the road. A Christmas at home is what I didn't have as a kid and what I want for Kendra ;) I hope you and your beautiful family have a perfect Day - and tell your DH to sleep in until 3:30 ;) xoxoxo

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  2. I love this post Heather ;o) I have a big smile on my face ;o)
    A few of our traditions are, watching It's a Wonderful Life, White Christmas and all the old cartoon Christmas movies.
    Mom makes her homemade perogies, buns, Christmas cake, squares, everything! LOL!
    And, we have special friends that always come over Christmas eve.
    Merry Christmas my friend ;o)

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  3. "It's a Wonderful Life" is an absolute classic! We watch it every year, usually trying to find it on a regular station vs. Netflix. Not sure why, I think it's because of the memories we have in watching it as we grew up.

    We're in trouble this year. Might have to break down and rent it, as we haven't been able to find it on any schedules. Ha!

    Hoping you and yours have a great holiday, Heather!

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  4. I love "It's a Wonderful Life" while I eat Chinese food with my Jewish hubby.

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  5. Traditions in our household include: the family visit to the Christmas Tree Farm to choose and cut the perfect tree, visiting the Christmas lights at Butchart Gardens, driving around the neighborhood to see the lights, and a leisurely turkey dinner at home.

    "It's a Wonderful Life" is a beautiful movie, and a poignant message at any time of year.

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  6. Great Traditions!! I see so many similarities to what we enjoy, too....eclectic trees.....driving around looking at lights with Christmas carols playing on the radio, favorite Holiday movie nights....

    I love that your Hubby is the first one up....my daughter and I are the ones waiting for mine to decide when it's time for the festivities to begin...haha!

    Wonderful family photo, too! Love them both :)

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  7. Kristen, haha, I know. He's used to getting up early, so it's kind of normal for him. I know what you mean, I prefer to stay home on Christmas day too. I think it's nice to just relax and enjoy the day together.

    MLC, thanks! Sounds like you have wonderful traditions too. Yummy foods, good friends, joyful movies. Good times! Merry Christmas to you too.

    Bryce, thank you. I love that movie too. We finally just bought it, because it was easier that way. Have an amazing week. Hope it is joyful and triumphant.

    Shelly, sounds like a wonderful tradition! :)

    Botanist, cutting down your own tree is awesome. I'm hoping we can do that next year. Sounds like you have some good times too. I agree, I love the message of that movie. It is classic and timeless.

    Cameron, we definitely have a lot of similar interests. :) We just love to be together and have fun. That's what matters. Thank you!! :)

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  8. Such wonderful Christmas traditions! We have so many as well! Decorating the tree,Christmas cookies...going to Grandma's house! My mom that is :) Just yesterday, we went to her house, picked out a tree we, & my sister's & my nieces & nephews all took part in trimming it. I suppose it's just one of thoes things, growing up decorating *our* tree...has now become a tradition for the entire family :)

    Happy Holidays to you & your family Heather! xoxo

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  9. Thank you Heather for sharing your traditions. I think your cookies look wonderful! For us, since the boys are grown up, we only have a couple of traditions still going. Each year I make different kinds of fudge, we all get a new ornament, Christmas morning is spent at my house with eggs, ham and fried potatoes and I always hide the "Pickle Ornament" in the tree. The first one to find the Pickle gets the Pickle Present! It's an old Polish tradition and everyone loves it.

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  10. ok, ahhhh, I am confused. I remember you told me about your daughter, but three boys? Wha??? I thought two boys? And how can you have a grown up daughter? YOu're so youthful!

    I love Christmas, but I didn't have many traditions growing up. I didn't really have a very childlike childhood. But I try to with mine, and the mere exhaustion from life, and my hubs is not so Christmasy, makes it hard to really go at it big time. We do a lot of crafting our own decorations, and we do make cookies, although not so lovely as yours at your mothers!!! WOW ... and we do drive around looking at lights, and we eat lots of holiday treats! I like to listen to holiday music, mostly the Muppets and John Denver, and watch lots of holiday movies. I only wish I had more energy to put into it! Oh well, I super hope my kids feel what I do put in!

    I love your post! And you're fabulous!

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  11. Joanna, I think it is wonderful to have those traditions, no matter what age we are. It is really nice when you can all get together and share them, as a family. My family is spread out, so it's rare that we are all together anymore. Sounds like you had a great time trimming the tree together. :)
    Merry Christmas to you!! :)

    Robin, yummy. I love fudge, but still haven't attempted to make it. I was spoiled with my mom being so close, she would always make it. I want to try it soon, I have an old recipe that was my grandmothers, we call it Grandma's Funny Fudge (I don't know where that name came from) but it's orange and super yummy. I love the pickle tradition too. We had one, but it got lost in the move somehow. Time to find a new pickle, haha!! Merry Christmas and blessings to you.

    Danielle, haha, I have a daughter who is married and 3 teen boys. They're a hoot. And thank you, my goofy kids keep me young. We laugh a lot, I think that helps. :D
    I think it's great that you've begun your own traditions with your kids. It has to start somewhere, right? :) My hub was the same, not too many traditions, so we made our own together. He really gets into it. You are so crafty and creative, I'm sure your kids will cherish the memories of all the art days and eating goodies and making homemade decorations. My kids still love doing that. I like to hang snowflakes from the ceilings. Those are always good memories. :)
    Merriest Christmas to you and your cute family! :)

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  12. Whata coincidence! watched Fiddler on the roof a couple of days ago! My Christmas tree is filled with pictures. I try to make new picture frames every year and it's getting a little crowded! Have ablessed Christmas! :^) patsy

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