10 on Tuesday

10 Favorite Holiday Traditions

 

I love Christmas so this one is easy – actually I could go on forever…..

1.  Decorating – I love to decorate the house with simple Christmas decorations.  It seems the older I get the less clutter I want in my house.  So for the holidays I like to use fresh greens, pinecones, candles and berries. 

2.  Cutting down a fresh Christmas tree.  We have always done this and look forward to it every year.  We have had snowy years and rainy years.  And then there was the year when it was 70 degrees and the boys wore shorts.  The boys still talk about how riding in the van home tons of tiny spiders came out of the tree.  We found out that because of the warm weather it made the spider eggs hatch.  We had to bring the tree home and hose it down and then let dry…ahh memories!

3.  Christmas Stockings – We do not have a mantle so the stockings are hung along the stairwell to the second floor.  My boys both have stockings that were made for them by an old family friend – handknit and given as a baby gift – so special.  While my husband and I have stockings, I would love to knit us special ones as well as ones for our DIL and future DIL and a soon to be born grandbaby.  Maybe 2012 is the year!

4.  Baking cookies – I loved baking with my boys as they were growing up.  I use to make all sorts of fancy cookies but then realized we really only ate a few kinds.  So for the past few years my baking has been limited to our favorites – snickerdoodles, chocolate chips, oatmeal and sugar cookies.

5.  Making Pierogis – this is a family tradition eaten on Christmas eve.  My husband and I were both raised in Ukrainian families and this is a big tradition for both of us.  So the weekend before Christmas we put on Christmas music, open a bottle of wine and make homemade pierogis.  I make the dough, heel peels the potatoes and grates the cheese, I roll and make the pierogies and he cooks them and does the cleaning up – a joint effort. 

6.  Looking at Christmas Decorations – we use to do this with the boys – make hot chocolate, put on Christmas music and drive around and look at Christmas decorations.  I miss doing this.  Maybe hubby and I will do one night this holiday season.

7.  Christmas Music – my favorites are Oh Holy Night and Silent Night.  At Christmas Eve at our church the mass ends with the lights being dimmed, the church is filled with candlelight and the congregation sings silent Night.  I well up with tears each time as it is so beautiful!

8.  Christmas Cards – with so much communication done these days electronically I can honestly say I still love to send and receive Christmas cards. 

9.  Christmas Angels – this was a tradition started by my great-grandmother.  She bought porcelain angels for my mother and her sister and later for me and my sister and cousin.  I bought for my boys – although it was harder to find boy angels.  Now I will continue the tradition next year for our first grandchild.

10.  Snow!!! – I love snow during the holidays – enough to make everything white but not hinder travel.  One year it snowed really hard and we couldn't go anywhere nor could anyone get to us.  We had a makeshift dinner as I hadn't counted on not getting to my in-laws for dinner.  We walked to the nearby campus and went sledding all afternoon - just the 4 of us.  One of the best Christmases ever!

11.  Christmas Eve dinner- is very special to us.  Both of us were raised Byzantine Catholic and there were many traditions related to Christmas eve dinner – no meat, 13 dishes 9 representing Christ and the 12 Apostles, traditional foods – some I make – like fish, mushrooms and pierogis – some I do not – like pickled herring.

12.  Christmas morning gift opening – I loved the early anticipation of opening gifts Christmas morning.  Hearing the boys sneak up early to see if Santa came then running upstairs to wake us up.  This will be the first Christmas morning ever where it will be just me and my hubby.  While we will have family over later for dinner the morning will be just the two of us.  This will be hard. 

So traditions change over the years as families change and merge and grow.  Children marry and now have to split holiday time with in-laws – which is all good but hard sometimes as well.  Next year will be an exciting Christmas as we will have a little one in our family for the first time in years as our oldest son and DIL are expecting in Feb 2012.

Merry Christmas to All!

Comments

[Beth]

How exciting to be expecting a grandbaby!

I loved reading your list. Silent Night makes me cry, too.

[Kathy]

I can't believe I left Christmas cards off my list. That is such a big part of the season...seeing photos of friends, family, children. My grandmother collected angels. Such a nice tradition.

[hearts812]

Thanks Kathy! I left things off my list as well...like putting out my Christmas dishes the weekend after Thanksgiving
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[Dianne]

O Holy Night is my favorite Carol too. It always brings tears to my eyes, especially when I hear it in church when my heart is a little more open.

[Beverly]

Lovely list!

[mk]

Ugh! I left off Christmas music. Finding the holiday channel on my XM station in the car, but not listening to it until Thanksgiving...I live for it!

[Carrie#K]

Congratulations on the Grandbaby!

My mother and I drove around looking at Christmas decorations last night. Some of them were amazing.

Pierogis! Yum!