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ismommy
11-11-2005, 11:40 PM
Post yours here.
I picked up a special plate for our family after reading about the red plate here.
Helene
mommy to Isabella
and Gunner
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/candle.gif

ismommy
11-11-2005, 11:40 PM
Post yours here.
I picked up a special plate for our family after reading about the red plate here.
Helene
mommy to Isabella
and Gunner
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/candle.gif

brigmaman
11-12-2005, 08:55 AM
We don't have many for just our family right now so I'm eager to hear what others do. We'll leave cookies/carrots for Santa for sure.

himom
11-12-2005, 06:16 PM
We listen to the exact same CD every year while we decorate the tree, and again while we're opening presents. When my brother and I moved out, we each got the same CD so we can play it for our families.

We do the "Advent candle" thing. Every Sunday in December leading up to Christmas we light one more candle until on Christmas day they are all lit. Each time we light one we spend about a half an hour together as a family singing Christmas carols, talking, etc and we also have a brief devotional about what Christmas really means. Helps keep us focused on stuff other than presents and how much money we're spending, and it helps reminding the kids that there's more to Christmas than Santa Claus.

The kids open one present on Christmas Eve. It's ALWAYS pajamas. This was a tradition started by my Mom because she wanted to make sure we looked good for pictures the next morning! After a while we caught on but it was still fun to at least get to rip something open, even when we already knew what it was going to be. I'm going to start doing this with DS.

Can't think of anything else....when I get my stuff out I'll probably remember more!

bnme
11-12-2005, 07:05 PM
I love these types of threads and love hearing all the ideas!

We do new the PJs for everyone too & leave cookies for santa. As kids we always saved stockings till after breakfast so we had something to look forward to.

This year I plan to start an advent calendar (magnetic/wood nativty scene) and decorating cookies with the kids.

brittone2
11-12-2005, 07:24 PM
I love the holidays :) I've gotten some good ideas from www.organizedchristmas.com

Some things we are starting this year:

Advent Calendar

A different Christmas/holiday/winter book each night leading up to Christmas (we've started collecting some at yard sales, some he already has, maybe add a few from the library, and I want to pick up a few cross cultural books like a book on Hanukkah to add to that. As we build our collection I'd like to do one book a night for the 24 nights leading up to Christmas. Books will be wrapped to add to the fun :) I may eventually make this part of the Advent calendar by numbering the wrapped books and hiding numbers in the Advent calendar...so it will be a surprise which book we read each night.

Some ideas I've picked up from that site to do down the road:

Jingle Bell jaunt...when kids get older, you have them go to bed as they normally would. In the meantime, load up snacks, hot drinks, etc. for the car. About 10-15 mins after the kids go to bed, you ring some jingle bells and everyone goes for a ride in the car to look at lights (in their PJs). Hokey but I thought it sounded like fun.

Advent chain-make a paper chain and each day you tear off a link....on the links you can write "experience" gifts...breakfast with dad today, bake cookies with mom, etc. Some people also do a random act of kindness type thing and do a nice deed for a friend or loved one each day of Advent.

bluej
11-12-2005, 08:07 PM
I love that Jingle Bell Jaunt idea! My kids would totally love this!

We give pj's every year as well. Funny how popular of a gift that is :)

We do gingerbread houses. Sometimes I buy kits, sometimes we do them from scratch.

We do the advent calender. We usually get it started a few days late b/c my kids have a ditz for a mother (I guess that can be a tradition all on it's own eh?).

We start decorating the house the day after Thanksgiving. I'm trying really hard to let go of the tree and let the kids have more of an active part in decorating it. It's really hard for me to do this.

LD92599
11-12-2005, 08:41 PM
Breakfast at a local diner in the morning (my mom, sis and I started this the 1st christmas after my dad died and we've kept up with it), followed by slowly opening gifts, etc.

I also want to start w/ an advent calendar this year and we're hoping for good December weather for a several weekend day trips for holiday events!

Laura
mom to William

LKibala @ optonline.net
[img]http://lilypie.com/baby3/030305/1/2/0/-5/.png

Corie
11-12-2005, 08:50 PM
We always do the Advent calendar! I remember doing
this as a child and loved it! :)

My husband and daughter make a Gingerbread House.
It turned out great last year!

My husband and I started this tradition and we continue
it with the kids. We do a Christmas puzzle. (We usually
start the puzzle in the first part of December and work
on it every evening. Great family time!)
I buy the brand of puzzle called Springbok. Springbok
makes a Family Puzzle. There are only 400 pieces and
the pieces range in size from small, medium, and large.
It's nice because everyone can participate.

This website has a great selection of the Springbok
Family Puzzle.

http://www.puzzlesforsale.com/categories/400_piece.htm


That's all I can think of for now! But I will add more
as they pop back in my head. :)

bunnisa
11-13-2005, 01:38 PM
Well, we'll be out of town again this year so we haven't really had a chance to begin our traditions, but here are a couple we'd like to do:

Christmas Eve (just us) Homemade soup & homemade bread for dinner. Reading the Christmas story. Spending time in front of the fire eating cookies and drinking cocoa. New jammies for everyone.

Christmas morning (just us): We'd love to have guests over later in the day, but I don't know how likely it is -- our relatives are scattered everywhere. 3 gifts per child. One "gold" (large, most expensive) gift, one "frankincense" gift (investing in their relationship with God, so music, a journal, Bible-related toy etc) and one "myrrh" gift (investing in their future, so things that are practical and skill related, i.e. tools, cooking gadgets, etc)

When the children are older, we'd like to volunteer on Christmas day.

Bethany
mom to one and one on the way!
http://lilypie.com/days/060226/0/8/1/-6/.png
"And children are always a good thing, devoutly to be wished for and fiercely to be fought for."
-J. Torres

mamicka
11-13-2005, 03:57 PM
Love your gift ideas - did you come up with this on your own or read about it somewhere?

I also want to volunteer when they're older.

Allison

deenass
11-13-2005, 06:25 PM
We celebrate Shabbat every week, by lighting candles and saying blessings over wine and challah bread. We also saying a blessing over our son, which is something that MIL used to do each week for DH and his sis. When they moved away she used to call and say the blessing over our answering machine.

A few weeks ago, after saying our blessings over candles, wine & bread DS said "now you bless over me." We were surprised but think it's sweet that he "gets it". I like that we have a special time to let him know how special he is!

Corie
11-13-2005, 08:38 PM
When I read that your MIL used to call and say
the blessing on your answering machine, it
brought tears to my eyes. (happy tears)

chiqanita
11-13-2005, 09:45 PM
We also listen to the same song every Xmas since forever....Feliz Navidad by Jose Felieciano...over and over and over again. It used to drive us all nuts when my father did that but now it warms my heart. We knew it was time to open Xmas eve gifts when he pulled out that record...yes, it was a record and he played it on a r-e-c-o-r-d p-l-a-y-e-r.

I love the pajama idea...I will be starting that this year.

We'll also be starting the Advent candle tradition and discussing the real reason for the season...JESUS!

We also attend midnight mass but won't be doing that until my little angels are older. Until then we'll just stick with daytime services...love to hear the trumpets on Xmas day!

crayonblue
11-13-2005, 10:12 PM
I really like your gift idea! A great way to make 3 gifts really special and to avoid over-buying.

CecilysMom
11-13-2005, 10:29 PM
I LOVE your pajama idea! Too cute.

deenass
11-14-2005, 07:29 AM
Yeah, she died 8 years ago and I think DH and SIL would give their right arms to have saved one of those messages!

HeatherW
11-14-2005, 11:35 AM
My sister and I always heard the doorbell ring when Santa left out PJs at the front door!

Now, my DH and I have our neighbor ring the doorbell and leave PJs on the doorstep for our DD.

It is a lot of fun, and pics are cute, too!

H

Emmas Mom
11-14-2005, 03:26 PM
Where's the "red plate" thread, I'd like to read about that.

I think this year we're starting an advent calendar (they have a cute wooden tree type one at Costco), since DD will be about 27 months. Also one totally cheesy tradition I've had since I was little is to watch that Snow Miser/Heat Miser claymation(?), stopmotion(?) movie every year. Usually when we're decorating the tree. Not sure when we'll do it with DD, since she still doesn't really sit down to watch anything, but it should be fun. I also love to watch It's a Wonderful Life during the Holidays & sometimes The Sound of Music (don't ask me why that one). :D

ETA: We've always done one gift on Christmas eve too. Never PJ's but that's a cute idea...do you guys give PJ's to all the Mommy's & Daddy's too or is it just the kids?

Mermanaid
11-14-2005, 03:38 PM
I have received PJs on Christmas Eve every year since I was born (and that's a long time!). I love doing this and will continue it for Mallory.

Corie
11-14-2005, 03:40 PM
Kristine,

Here is the "Special Day" plate thread.
There were some really cute plates mentioned. :)


http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=37&topic_id=266962&mesg_id=266962&listing_type=search

Mermanaid
11-14-2005, 03:44 PM
Over the last few years, my parents have started two new traditions:

1. Caroling. A large group of friends and family get together and walk through the neighborhood and sing. My parents live in a town with quite a few elderly residents so it's a nice way to bring some cheer and company to them.

2. The "pickle." Mom hides a glass pickle ornament on the tree and all the kids try to find it first. There is usually a prize for the winner. It's an old Polish (or German?) tradition I think. She picked it up when they lived up north for a few years and loved the idea of it.

Mommy_Again
11-14-2005, 06:28 PM
We have two, started by my parents when I was a baby (I can't remember NOT doing these):

1. One of the last things we do Christmas Eve is curl up next to my Daddy while he reads "The Night Before Christmas." My father gave us our own copy on DS's first Christmas (talk about tears!). We still carry on this tradition, only Will is curled up with us too.

2. After we were well asleep Christmas Eve, my parents would place a wrapped book at the foot of our bed. This was a special gift from Santa's elves and it was supposed to keep us in bed for a little while longer Christmas morning while we read it.

bunnisa
11-14-2005, 06:55 PM
>Love your gift ideas - did you come up with this on your own
>or read about it somewhere?
>
>I also want to volunteer when they're older.
>
>Allison

We read about it somewhere, but modified it slightly. The original article had the "myrrh" gift as something for your body - bubble bath, perfume, etc. But since Myrrh was given to the baby Jesus to represent his future (myrrh is used for embalming), we liked the idea of investing in our childrens' futures better. Bath & body stuff makes better stocking stuffers, IMO.

The symbolism of the original 3 gifts is so profound, we just loved the idea of representing them!

Bethany
mom to one and one on the way!
http://lilypie.com/days/060226/0/8/1/-6/.png
"And children are always a good thing, devoutly to be wished for and fiercely to be fought for."
-J. Torres

chiqanita
11-17-2005, 06:56 PM
Oh I love it....love any gift that involves books.
Hope you don't mind if I borrow that tradition for our family!
I have several bins of books just waiting to be read.
Thanks

JacksMommy
11-18-2005, 03:50 PM
Thought I'd add mine on to bump this up, I'd love to hear more traditions!

We watch It's A Wonderful Life every year. We also make loaves of cinammon bread and give it out to friends and family in lieu of cookies. My mom always made rice porridge with an almond in it on New Years morning - the person who gets the almond will have an especially good year.

With DS, we've started doing an Advent Calendar - we got a great wooden one from Hold Everything that actually has room for small toys in it etc. It was a big hit last year.

I love the book on Xmas morning idea and the special plate - we will definitely be instituting those.

Laurel
WOHM to Jack, 6/4/02
Baby Madeline 12/14/04

KBecks
11-18-2005, 04:18 PM
I LOVE THE SNOWMEISER/HEATMEISER!

And the easter one with the irontail bunny.

Where did you get those?

bostonsmama
11-18-2005, 05:09 PM
Because we're a "multi-cultural" family (my husband is part hispanic and my step siblings are Filapino), we do a few things. I like to start the holidays off with some cookie baking. I love my German heritage, so I make hilda cookies (like a soft shortbread w/ jam and a cookie ring topped w/ powdered sugar over top). I also make molasses crinkles (my grandmother's signature cookie) and chocolate brownie biscotti w/ whipped cream topped hot chocolate or cappuccinos.

I always pick up a German advent calendar w/ little chocolates inside. If december falls at the end of a cycle I usually open up quite a few days at time and end up feeling VERY guilty!

Since we have a fake tree, every year I convince my mother to buy a fresh one and the day after Thanksgiving we go out to Lowes and buy our favorite frasier fir! We then make peppermint tee and decorate the tree to Christmas music. I can't wait to have my children join us in this tradition: the pink noses, chilly air, fresh cut pine smell...ahh! The next day I put up my own fake tree at my house and offer cookies to everyone who helps me decorate it.

This year, I'm starting a new tradition. Every other Christmas DH and I go to California to be with his family and we always order beef or chicken tamales in honor of their heritage. Today, Peter and I were very ambitious and made our own from scratch (soaked corn husks, ground harina masa and all!), and we hope to make this a new holiday tradition with our children so they can always respect their geneology.

Christmas Eve is dinner at my mom's w/ pancit, cho pao, and lumpia to honor my step sibling's Filapino heritage. Then we go to a service like Midnight mass (Protestant Candle lighting hymn/carol sing and small story), one Christmas present to be opened, then stockings and one gift btwn PJ and I in the morning, breakfast at mom's house, then family gift exchange there. Christmas dinner follows w/ all the trimmings around 3pm.

ETC signature ;)

Larissa
who is getting into the holiday spirit

***Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. Oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh, hey!***

"Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them."
- James Baldwin

HannaAddict
11-18-2005, 05:36 PM
Can I come to your house for chocolate brownie biscotti and cappuccino and hot chocolate??? Or tamales? Pretty please. :) Everything sounds so good. How hard was it to make the tamales? I would love a recipe that you have already tried and liked. I actually bought a bunch of corn husks and masa about a month ago with the intention of trying to make homemade tamales but haven't been brave enough to tackle it yet. My little guy loves TJ's tamales and I've had a few wonderful homemade ones at some little restaurants over the years. I think I read our current President has tamales for Christmas Eve dinner as a family Texas tradition too.

Kimberly

kijip
11-18-2005, 07:05 PM
My parents (remember I was born in TX) have a great tamale recipe and my husband does great mexican hot chocolate if you just want to drive to Ballard!

crayonblue
11-18-2005, 07:17 PM
Yummy! Can you share that tamale recipe???!!! We used to have tamales on Christmas Eve when we visited my grandparents in Corpus Christi. I haven't had home-made tamales in YEARS!

bostonsmama
11-18-2005, 07:18 PM
Well, there has got to be some magical touch that Mexicans use when making tamales b/c it sure took some finagling to get the recipe to turn out right. Tonight we used chicken broth and a cup of canola oil instead of 3 cups of lard!! I'm betting that has something to do with it. Also, we made a make-shift steamer out of stock pot and steamer insert, so it could have been way easier (we're not sure why it took so long for them to cook).

Here's the recipe we used:
6 cups Maseca Instant Corn Masa Mix
6 cups chicken broth
1 cup corn oil
2 tsp salt
3 tsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 large rotisserie chicken
2 cans 14oz green enchilada sauce
1 can Rotel w/ chiles, drained well

1 bag corn husks

Yesterday I roasted a whole chicken w/ garlic & olive oil, then shredded it at night and combined it w/ the enchilada sauce & rotel in a large bowl to marinade covered overnight.

Today, we soaked 3/4 pkg of corn husks in warm water--it's hard to keep them from floating but a big food can (washed) will keep them down, 10 min should soften them nicely. In our Kitchen Aid mixer, we added the top 6 ingredients & blended until well moistened speed 2-30sec, speed 4 60-90 seconds).

With a rubber spatula/scraper, we spread from about an inch or two down from the rounded top part 1/3 cup of maza mix into a 1/4-inch thick layer in the shape of a bullet. We put 3 tbsp chicken mix in the center and also stuffed half with a green manzanilla olive in the center. To wrap, take the left side and pull it over towards the right side, making sure a layer of maza completely covers the chicken mix. Then, pull the right side, which should still have a little maza on it, over and around the left (folded over) side and wrap it as far around as possible. My Dh says when he made them w/ his aunt, if it was a small shell, he wrapped another non-maza'ed husk around it. Then, fold the top that has no maza on it (remember you left 1-2 inches at the top?) up towards the side w/ the fold and place them on a plate.

Steam the tamales standing straight up for an hour and a half. Ours still came out a little soggy (maybe b/c we had too many tamales in there steaming) so we baked them for another 25 minutes on 375 deg. To serve, we took a can of tomatillos in water, drained it and pulsed it in the blender to make a salsa. We put salsa and Tapatillo hot sauce over them when we flaked them from their husks. It was VERY yummy, but I'm sure they'll be better when we figure out how to perfect it. I just can't bring myself to use the lard, although there are plenty of recipes on the net using it. Oddly enough, the masa part of the recipe is right off the bag of Maseca masa mix (which was all in Spanish)...so it's very "authentic" IMHO.


Larissa
who is getting into the holidy mood

***Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. Oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh, hey!***

"Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to

himom
11-18-2005, 08:33 PM
Reminder to self: always eat lunch before reading the boards.

I am literally drooling! I haven't had lumpia in so long and I'm so craving it now!

Mmm, cookies.

Mmm, peppermint tea.

What a great thread!

Jodi

mskitty
11-18-2005, 09:29 PM
My maternal Grandma always made pfeffernuese, cut out cookies, and seafoam. My paternal Grandma always gave us an advent calendar so we opened a window each night before we said our prayers and baked stollen for us. My dad didn't really cook when we were growing up except for Christmas. He always spent an afternoon close to christmas making his family sour cream lemon roll out cookies with us kids. My mom always made fruitcake right after Thanksgiving, aged it and we always had the first fruitcake on Christmas Day.

Is it any wonder that I ended up liking to cook?

MsKitty

bostonsmama
11-18-2005, 09:55 PM
What sort of recipe did your grandma use to make pfeffernuese? My Dh's dad makes a kind of dry licorice-tasting square cookie (blonde colored) he calls pfeffernuese cookies, but everything I've seen online looks completely different. Just wondering if yours is also like the standard pfeffernuese.

Okay, and question of the year: what did your mom put in the fruitcake to make you like it? I'm so afraid to try it. I was told a long time ago that I tried it but didn't like it....but you know how tastes change over time. Heck, one day I might even like liver and onions! ;)

Larissa
who is getting into the holiday mood

***Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. Oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh, hey!***

"Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to

brittone2
11-18-2005, 10:10 PM
Other random ideas:

I read this one recently and thought it was cute. It integrates a few of the ideas here. The family did "Santa Sacks". It can be one pillow case or other sack (I saw some store selling these actually) or one per family.

In it you put the holiday jammies, a family activity like a puzzle or a video, a holiday book, maybe a special pillowcase, blanket, or slippers for the kids. Some people give this out Thanksgiving night, some December 1st, whatever. The thought is the kids can use these things and enjoy them throughout the holiday season rather than just right before Christmas. I thought that was kind of a cute idea.

Also I've been meaning to do this...I missed last year but maybe I can do it this year. You take DC's hand, trace it on felt and cut it out. Attach to a tree skirt and include name (if DC isn't an only) and date. You add to it each year. I've also heard of people tracing DC's hand directly onto the tree skirt and then outlining with gold fabric paint or whatever works with your color scheme. I imagine it would be a really sweet piece of memorabilia as they get older.

I looooove holiday traditions and am always looking for more. I've loved reading this thread :)

Oh yeah, and Larissa...I so want to come to your house for capuccinos and cookies (or tea, or whatever else you might be serving since you *always* seem to be cooking something amazing!!) ;)

buddyleebaby
11-18-2005, 10:15 PM
We start making Christmas cookies after the first snowfall and see how many we can make by Christmas eve.
On Christmas eve we all go to mass together. Then Dh and I (and this year dd) go back to our house and make empanadas to bring to my mom's the next morning. My brother is always waiting at the door for them to arrive!

Emmas Mom
11-19-2005, 12:52 AM
I actually found it on DVD. Don't remember where but here it is at Amazon! :D

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004VVPA/002-7006104-5762426?v=glance&n=130

mamicka
11-19-2005, 10:24 AM
nak.

One thing that we do that I haven't heard mentioned yet is celebrating St Nicholas Day on Dec 6. This is the day that we get to open our stockings.

Allison

bostonsmama
11-19-2005, 11:29 AM
Beth,

Ask me in year when I (hope to) have a baby...and I'll tell of all the ramen and Hamburger helper I'm making. Cooking is for the people who have time....it can't last forever.

But anyways....open invite to my house for cookies and cappys. This morning it was carrot-cake muffins and pumpkin-pie flavored capuccinos...and lunch is leftover tamales....oh noon, please come soon!

Larissa
who's gettin in the holiday mood
**Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. Oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh, hey!**

"Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them." -James Baldwin

brittone2
11-19-2005, 12:46 PM
It isn't fair to tease us with the details, Larissa :P

Sarah1
11-19-2005, 01:15 PM
Helene, we dont' really have any yet. Christmastime is a tricky time for us. I was raised Methodist, but converted to Judaism when Mike and I got engaged. Although he is not really an observant Jew, and we go to a reform synagogue with a lot of interfaith families, he has really strong feelings about NOT celebrating Christmas. So, it's hard on me to watch Christmas go by and not get into the spirit, but every year it gets a little easier AND Mike seems to mellow about it every year.

We started some fun things for Hanukkah. Last year, I bought an adorable Noah's Ark menorah. Each candle has a different animal head. Audrey LOVED lighting it last year. It was great. I also made special dinners with latkes, brisket, etc.

I like the idea of building a gingerbread house. That seems like a pretty secular holiday activity, don't you think?? :)

TraciG
11-19-2005, 01:48 PM
Since I'm married I now celebrate Shabbat every Friday night also but with in-laws, that is VERY sweet that your MIL used to say the blessing over the answer machine !

Do you have any Hanukkah traditions ?