Christmas Traditions
I thought that I’d share some of our family traditions. It’s always good for me to write things down- that way I can check back next year and make sure I covered everything. Growing up the only tradition we had was reading the Christmas story out of Luke. Not a bad tradition at all, but that’s pretty much the only one we really had. Because of that I’m a tad fanatical about our traditions.
The Christmas season starts the day after Thanksgiving. That’s when we put up our tree. Growing up we never had a set date- it was when my parents were in the mood to do it- and it drove me crazy! I could never understand why we couldn’t have the tree up as long as possible. I figure if we’re going to get all the stuff out let it be out for a while. Having said that we take it all down Christmas night or the day after. When Christmas is over I want it all back in the attic so I can get back to normal.
Our biggest tradition is Christmas Eve night. It’s jam packed. First we go to church for our Christmas Eve service. When church is over we come home and the kids have a present to open. That present is pajamas and a new toothbrush (as opposed to an old used toothbrush that we normally give them). I know that the toothbrush part sounds weird, but they LOVE it! Baby #1 said that he couldn’t wait to get his new toothbrush this year. No mention of all of the other toys he got last year- it’s the toothbrush that he remembers.
After they get their new pajamas they put them on and we load back in the car and go out and look at Christmas lights. We’re lucky that there are several neighborhoods close to us that have great light displays. We do a lot of light lookin’ throughout the month, but we save these neighborhoods for Christmas Eve.
We get home and the kids have to put their “reindeer food” out in the backyard (just in case you don’t know what reindeer food is it’s oatmeal with glitter). After that they have strict instructions to go to bed so that Hubs and I Santa can get their presents ready.
On Christmas morning we open our presents as a family and about mid-morning my family comes over for a breakfast extravaganza. Hubs goes all out and makes the best breakfast you could imagine. And it always has a theme. We started out with the Bed and Breakfast theme we also had Iron Chef were every dish had to have strawberries and last year every dish started with the first letter of the kid’s first name (Owen’s Oatmeal Bake for instance).
All of the kids get one special ornament to reflect what they were into this past year. My intention is to label them all with their name and year and when they get married they’ll get all of their ornaments and have a nice head start on their own Christmas ornaments.
I think that that wraps it up. I swear that I’m missing something, but if I do my kids will let me know.
Candace is a married, stay-at-home mom of three. Between dolling out snacks, “supervising” craft time, and trying to beat her husbands hula hoop score on the Wii she blogs atMama Mia
Our un-picture perfect experience with trimming the Christmas tree
So last night we decorated the ol Christmas tree.
In the forty-five minutes it took us to do this, I believe there were two spankings administered, a few trips to time-out, some biting, some pushing, some fussing, lots of crying, and one Mommy who angrily stood guard over the box of ornaments less a toddler or preschooler happen to fall into it.
I thought having the children help decorate the tree would be a great idea. This is the first year where they both can participate and both (slightly) understand what is going on. We finished supper early in anticipation of our decorating party. We turned on the Carpenter’s Christmas Album. I lit a cinnamon-scented candle. The mood was perfect.
I believe the children lost interest about ten minutes into the whole process as the husband and I attempted to figure out how to add more lights to 750 existing lights on our pre-lit tree (we love us some white lights). Miss E, in all her two year old glory, mingled on the outskirts while the boy attempted to “help” by randomly tugging on the light strand the husband was attempting to weave through the center of the tree. Finally I broke out the ornaments…only to realize about two minutes in that the majority of our ornaments are breakable and sentimental. I kept swatting away little hands who tried to eagerly snatch ornaments from their protective tissue home and toss them on the tree. I also attempted to make sure no stray hooks ended up on the floor. Then there was fighting over who got to hold what ornament (Curious George was a favorite among our little crowd) and who got to place items on the top or on the bottom of the tree.
It was not a festive scene, by any means.
I know that each year will get a bit easier with such tasks as decorating the tree and I won’t have to be concerned over the fact that the Sesame Street ornaments have a dangerously high level of lead or that curious little hands can cause our tree to come crashing down at a moment’s notice. I know we will eventually reach a year when Christmas isn’t quite as magical and when no one begs to watch “Elmo Saves Christmas” just one more time. I know I will no longer have to secretly redecorate the tree after the children are in bed because the majority of the ornaments hung on the bottom fourth of the branches.
As I often remind myself of a quote a friend shared recently; these days with young children can be quite long but the years are terribly short.
Those days when little fingers are pushing the button “just one more time” on the singing Disney ornament seem quite long. Quite long, indeed.
O Tannenbaum…Gesundheit!
November 29, 2009 by Texasholly
Filed under From the Editors
My husband and I have celebrated 18 Christmases together.
15 of those have been celebrated under the plastic boughs of a faux-tree.
The first few Christmases we had a fake fir for financial reasons. Once we were a bit more established (Christmas #4) we jumped in our Cherokee and drove to a local tree farm.
I love a real tree. They are so real. They are so tree-y.
We chose a beautiful tree.
Tied it to the roof.
Toted it home.
Set it in the living room.
Decorated it with care.
Stood back and admired it.
Around midnight the first night we both started to sniffle.
Odd. That we would both catch colds at the same time.
The sniffles continued throughout the entire holiday season.
Merry Christmas! sniffle. sniffle.
The sniffles were thrown out to the curb with the dead tree 4 weeks later.
Oh! Maybe we are allergic to certain Christmas trees.
Year two we toted home a different variety with the same results.
Merry Christmas! sniffle. sniffle.
Year three we toted home a different variety with the same results.
Merry Christmas! sniffle. sniffle.
By the fourth year (ya, we are quick learners…) we decided we were more fake tree folk because being merry is much easier when you can breathe.
Fast forward 11 Christmases to a gray minivan full of three boys passing a local Christmas tree “farm”* today:
Reid: Why don’t we get our Christmas tree there?
Me: We already have a tree! Remember helping me put it together?
Ryan: Those are REAL TREES.
Reid: Oh.
Ryan: You don’t want a REAL TREE because they are FULL OF BUGS and when you take them home there are SQUIRRELS and RATS living in them IN YOUR HOUSE…
I love it when I don’t have to say anything more.
*The Christmas tree “farm” is actually the pumpkin patch after a holiday make-over that I animated here. Oh, and guess what? Yep, there is an identical Christmas tree “farm” next door.
Black Friday in the ‘burb
November 26, 2009 by Texasholly
Filed under To Do in DFW, feature
I have lived in the ‘burb for 7 black Fridays. Each and every one has been celebrated in the same way. My oldest son and I go SHOPPING!
It all started because he wakes up early. I figured that since he was awake at ungodly hours, we should shop at ungodly hours.
It has become a family tradition. Ryan is now 8. He looks forward to it all year. He will tell others how every year he and his mom “get up in the middle of the night to go to the stores”. We shop then go out to breakfast. Most black Fridays we are back home before 9 am.
For us it is not about the actual purchases, it is about the event. I will pick up a door buster bargain if it is convenient, but if the line at the register is long we skip on to the next store.
This year we are doing all our early shopping in the ‘burb. I could have never guessed 5 years ago that we would have that many shops available in this area. What fun!
So, I have made this map. If you see us, please wave…
…and if you are hungry around 7:30 there are usually empty tables near us for breakfast.
The map is from our last year’s adventure. It is where you will likely find us this year as well. You may note that Wal-Mart is not on our list. We usually do the Wal-Mart overnight online specials instead of the zoo that Wal-Mart becomes on black Friday…remember, this is ALL ABOUT THE FUN.
Wafflepalooza
July 18, 2009 by Texasholly
Filed under eat, family, feature
I don’t cook much.
OK, I really don’t cook at all.
BUT I can make a mean waffle. Waffles at our house are a major food group. They take special priority and can occasionally be found at the dinner table.
*gasp!*
It isn’t all bad. The boys enjoy applesauce or a fruit topping on the first one and then the syrup comes out for all to enjoy. They really are good.
A few Christmases ago a family member gave us the fancy barnyard waffle maker. I figure that protein is implied when the kids are eating cows and chickens. The gift is well used. It probably is used more than my oven.
The waffle recipe I use is originally from the Oster Belgian Waffle maker I received for my wedding 17 years ago. I have tried a lot of other recipes, but this is by far my favorite:
LIGHT ‘N CRISP WAFFLES
2 egg yolks
2 cups milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup oil
2 egg whites, stiffly beaten
Preheat the waffle maker. I separate the eggs placing the whites into a small mixing bowl and the yolks into a large mixing bowl. I add all the other ingredients to the large mixing bowl. I pull out my hand mixer and first whip up the eggs until fluffy. Then mix the other ingredients with the hand mixer until they are combined. I then fold in the egg whites with a spatula.
That is it! Pour the batter into the waffle maker…
Mmmmmm.
Dinner? is served.*
*also works well for breakfast!
More yummy recipes can be found by visiting Rachel at A Southern Fairy Tale where she hosts Mouthwatering Monday .
When Holly isn’t trying to pass off breakfast food as dinner to her family, she is at June Cleaver Nirvana.
