Holiday Traditions. - Red Oak,TX

My son is 11yr. old it is just the two of us but we plan a night and cook cookies then after that we go out and drive around looking at christmas lights. On another night we go to a nursing home and pass out candy canes--we get sugar free for diabetics and regular sugared for the others while doing this we walk through singing christmas carols. We do this because you would not believe how many people in nursing homes that have no one who visit's them!! We also work in the salvation army thanksgiving/christmas dinners. It is fun to help out and also teaches my son to be grateful for what he has because there are so many others that have to do without. You can usually find sugar free candy canes at walgreen's drug store.

We have a few traditions. We always bake cookies together. Each kid has the sugar cookie they have been decorating for years - one puts the silver dragee on the blue bells, another puts yellow sugar on the yellow stars, etc. We also try to find a night to drive around and look at Christmas lights, drinking hot chocolate. On Christmas Eve one of their presents is always new pajamas - helps the Christmas Day pictures look better. We also do the German tradition of hiding a pickle ornament on the tree. Not sure we do it right, but we have Santa move it and the first one to find it gets to open a family type present, usually a DVD. Of course, we watch Christmas Story and It's a Wonderful Life.

We also have The Christmas Story marathon tradition- classic!

we dont have any, but our neighbors get up xmas morning and make pull-apart breakfast rolls in the shape of a wreath. they also make pretzels with a chocolate kiss pressed into the middle, then fill up a jar with them and give them out as xmas gifts to friends and family.

My children are "grown-ups" and we still have to do everything!!!! It is wonderful though! We invite friends and relatives to participate. My kiddos are 32, 27, and 20 yrs. old. And two of them are married and their spouses love it too! So starting with Thanksgiving...I pull out all of their turkeys and placemats from elementary school!!! Yes, I still have them. Make sure you put their name and year on them...and laminate if you can! We have a blessing before our meal and before dessert, I make everyone go around the table(s) and say what they are thankful for. It is heartwarming! During our Thanksgiving, we also pull names for our Christmas gift exchange. We have such a large family and all appreciate this. We divide the names into age groups: children, teens, young adults and adults. We put a $20. or $25. limit on the gift. And we decide whether we will exchange these gifts: Christmas Eve, Day, or day after. Christmas, well, I put all their ornaments from grade school on the tree...yup, I still have all of them. I have saved all of their Christmas books and I put those on the coffee table...I catch my kiddos reading them every year. We also do gingerbread houses. When they were young, they were very simple, and as they have gotten older, more elaborate and competitive! CVS and Walgreens have great candy selections for the special candy/decorations. We buy the bulk candy at Walmart. We take photos every year and put them in our Christmas book. We celebrate Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day (we make an Irish dinner...corned beef with cabbage, etc.), Easter (We invite everyone over to decorate eggs and cookies and have a buffet dinner. I put newspaper on all of our tables and supply all the dyes and ask everyone to bring their boiled eggs and a dish to share. I supply the cookies and decorations. We do this the day before Easter or even earlier. Our immediate family does the egg hunt on Easter Sunday after church. We dye over 100 eggs! My husband and I hide them first. The best part...the kids hide them for my husband and I. Sometimes we can't find them all!!), Halloween (chili and all the fixings and cornbread...everyone brings their pumpkins and I have all the cutting utencils, patterns/stencils/ and tealight candles. We take photos of all the lit pumpkins when it is dark outside!) There are some holidays that we don't celebrate, some that we invite relatives and friends, and some that we don't. Sorry this is so long, but I get great ideas from all of you wonderful mommas!!!!

A few days before Christmas we go on a Christmas Train of Lights trip with my mom and sister in my home town. After that it is Chinese food to celebrate my sister's birthday. On Christmas Eve we go to Mass and have a few friends over for appetizers. We try to invite neighbors and friends from church who might not have family close by. We started this to remember our neighbors who did this for me when I was a child after my father died. Then the kids put out the cookies for Santa and get to open a present, which is amazingly always brand new cozy PJs, which they love. In the morning it is presents for the kids and lots of coffee for the grown ups. Then a very cozy day at home.

Last Christmas Eve our dear dog died suddenly (undiagnosed cancer though he had been carefully examined two months before) , so I hope I can find a happy way to remember him....it was a hard Christmas for all of us last year because of this, especially the kids.

We have a lot! We watch one Christmas movie every evening in December. We bake cookies. On Christmas Eve we get dressed to the nines and head over to my mom's for turkey dinner and presents on my side of the family (this used to be done at my grandma's before she passed - I don't remember NOT going in all my 29 years!). Christmas morning we have a breakfast of sticky buns and hot chocolate (this we started once we had kids) after the girls tear through their presents. Then we dress up again and head over to my hubby's mom's for another turkey dinner and gifts with his side of the family.

It's busy and exhausting but SO much fun and all about the most important thing - family :)

Every Christmas Eve I read "The Night Before Christmas" to my kids right before they went to bed - I started this when they were little, so they would go to sleep with "visions of sugarplums" dancing in their heads! Sad to say my daughter has long outgrown this tradition, but my (15 year-old) son still asks for it, and I am more than happy to oblige!
I like your idea of reaching out to someone from your past - I have recently re-connected with some long-lost cousins and it just makes me feel good inside :)
All the best for a wonderful holiday season!

My mom and MIL come over and we do ginger bread houses. Not only do we use the candy that comes with it, but we buy extra M&M's, peppermints, etc. then we put them on a cardboard (long enough that the house sits in the middle and there's a front and back yard), also wrap the board with thick x-mas paper. Then we use a jar of frosting and make it look like snow on the ground. Get little x-mas figurines and use those too. Be creative with it, don't just use the little bit of candy you get with it.

We usually do this by the 2nd week of December so they can sit out and enjoy them the rest of the month. Also make sure you get a pic of them with them by the x-mas tree. And we don't eat ours since they sit out so long, maybe you can, but I'm a little funny about that.

I spend a whole day (week before xmas) baking cookies..lots of them. Now that my daughter is old enough, she takes it on. We do xmas eve dinner, then we have to run out and spread some reindeer food so santa will know the way to our house! The kids HAVE to get the cookies and milk for santa. You should see the plate of cookies they leave!!!

Every xmas morning, my husband and I will drag feet. I mean we purposely make our children WAIT until we have had our morning coffee. I know it's torture..but it's a hoot! They're bopping around going nuts waiting. Remember those digital cameras that you had to slip a 3.5mm Disk in it? I would have to go through every disk (had like 20 of them) to make sure I had room for pictures! Drove the kids nuts!

Since my husband and I don't have family anywhere close, christmas day is pajama/game day. There are things everywhere and we just walk right over it, play games with them and eat all our leftovers from the night before. No work for me..just fun! All in our pajamas!! I have done this every year!!

This year..sadly..my husband is deployed and will miss Christmas (my favorite time of year) with us....but I have to keep up the tradition and make sure I drink my coffee extra, extra slow!!!

The Christmas Eve Book

Start a new tradition with your children this year and open one present on Christmas Eve. A toy would not make a good choice as you do want them to go to bed before Santa arrives. A better idea would be to open a new book that you can read to them before they go to bed? As bed time arrives let your little ones know if they take their bath, brush their teeth and put on their pajamas like good little boys and girls that they can open one present in bed after they leave out their cookies and milk for Santa. For some of the younger children who don’t completely understand what Christmas is yet, this may give them a little taste of what is to come when they wake up in the morning.

I love this idea of a new Christmas tradition that will grow with your child no matter how old they get. As they do get older the tradition will be expected and even anticipated to see what book they will be opening on Christmas Eve. It will foster a wonderful appreciation towards books and reading and create a very special time that you can share with your children and look forward to every year.

For my entire article about The Christmas Eve Book, including some great Christmas books for your children this year check out my website at

It Takes a Village...
http://www.ittakesavillagedallas.com/It_takes_a_village/B...

VillageMom

We purposefully barbecue tri trip teriaki kabobs or rib eye steak on xmas- because we used to always do a ham. But being december it is months since we had bbq so it is fun to have it in the winter. If anyone plays music, do some music together. sing hymns. We like to go for a walk to look at neighborhood lites. Kids always get to open one gift on xmas eve.