Have your Christmas traditions changed over the years? I know that Covid changed our traditions. Church on Christmas Eve, Shiny Brite tree, family dinners.
Now my favorite tradition is watching the excitement of our Great Grandchilden at Christmas. I am mostly all about the simple things now...money as gifts, easy meals instead of days cooking, time to just be, handmade Christmas cards.
Far Guy wood carved all the Christmas ornaments this year. He did a great job! They are beautiful! I finished painting them a few weeks ago. Yesterday I got together all my boxes, tins and bags. I got most of them ready to deliver or put into mailers. I still need a few more boxes. So it is a work in progress.
The ornaments are a tradition that we began in 1994. We started it so when our daughters and nieces and nephews had a tree of their own they would have ornaments from their childhood.
I could not wood carve this year, my hands were just too painful. I was okay painting the ornaments.
We chose the design together and Far Guy carved outside on days when the weather was nice.
We would like to give away a few ornaments. Please leave your answer to this question to enter the drawing. "What is your favorite Christmas Tradition? " We will mail to those in the United States. I will draw some names on Sunday evening and let you know who won on Mondays blog.
Far Side
42 comments:
My favorite is putting up the big tree!
My favorite tradition is decorating Christmas cookies with the younger ones. My mom did it until she passed & then I started doing it.
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, as the song goes.
I would say our traditions have gone back to normal since Covid. That year and the next we saw Grandma and Grandpa on their porch from a distance. So sad. Now we will go see Grandma in person. (Grandpa has gone to be with the Lord.)
Our children and grandchildren gathering at our home on Christmas Eve. The only time in the year we are ALL together under one roof.
I love putting up the Christmas tree. When the girls were young they helped and it was an all day project finished with hot chocolate and cookies. Then, before we knew it, it was grandchildren coming to "help." Now, the tree is much smaller and it is the great grandchildren who come to help. I do miss those on the other side of the country though. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas.
Not so much when I was a child because we had to wait until she was done to open presents, but looking back I now treasure that after supper every year, my Grandma got out her old well worn Bible and read the Christmas story.
My favorite Christmas Tradition is waiting until Midnight and going out to talk to my equine.
As a little girl, my grandmother told me that at midnight on Christmas Eve the animals could talk to you.
Story here:
https://mulewings.blogspot.com/2011/12/christmas-eve-night-animals-talk.html
Love reading your daily blog. My favorite Christmas tradition is our annual Cousins Christmas Party which my mother started 36 years ago. It’s a time we can all get together for a happy occasion. RHill, TX
I like time just to be. I have no tree so don’t add me to your drawing, but I’m sure most do still put up a tree.
Our tradition is to have crab legs for Christmas dinner.
I generally live the Christmas season, especially the music. It my favorite tradition is putting up the Christmas tree and decorating it with my cherished ornaments.
My favorite tradition is having my family together on Christmas.
Thanks for checking in on me. I am good now. I was down for the count for a few days but today I seem recovered.
Now, onto your topic. I used to love decorating. I had aa very tall tree and I did it and everything else up in glowing wonder! This year there won't be even my small fake tree because of Gatto. He would tear it apart. You have wonderful traditions that you have carried on over the years.
Going to Mass on Christmas eve and coming home to eat chili or pizza (now that one of the in-laws us bit a chili fan) and then opening some of the gifts.
Since our children were little, every year my husband writes scavenger hunt clues in limerick form for the last gift to be opened. He hands out the first clue and then we all trail around the house looking for the next one and the next one, until we finally find the gift. The kids are in their 40's now, but when we are able to spend Christmas together, we still do the hunt.
I read your blog every day - it feels like home. I grew up in Iowa and Minnesota.
I just started reading your blog a year or so ago. Your ornament tradition sounds so fun, but it must be quite the job, it's nice you both still enjoy and embrace it after nearly 30 years. I'm impressed!
My favorite tradition is baking cookies but there are so few people left to share with these days that I've really scaled back.
The one that has lasted over the years of kids growing up and leaving is setting up the Nativity. It's always the very last thing we do when we decorate. As the pieces were added, we told the Christmas story of Jesus' birth to the kids.
Blessings,
Betsy
I think the idea that you and your husband create those ornaments together by hand is so special.
One of my favorite Christmas traditions is to give each grandchild a new ornament each year. My mother did that with me, I did it with my girls, and now with the kids. It's fun to shop for them or make them during the year. This year I bought ornaments while in Alaska. Our Christmas dinner tradition has changed over the past few years. Instead of turkey or ham, now we do a big seafood feast - shrimp, scallops, crab. With simple side dishes and dessert.
Our favorite Christmas tradition is putting up a three foot tall pink Barbie tree we purchased when our Granddaughter was three years old. She is twenty-seven now. We had also purchased Barbie themed ornaments for it. It's a bit raggedy now, but we still love all the memories it brings back each year we put it up.
Dee in Ohio
My "new" Christmas tradition is decorating my dollhouse for Christmas. I started this several years ago with the first grandchildren and I still have two believers and two maybes who check the dollhouse on December 1 to see the elves have taken over. The bedrooms become workshops with bendable elves making toys, sewing dolls, building trains with little tool boxes. Santa is sleeping in a bed, more elves are in the kitchen and dining room baking cookies, decorating gingerbread houses and other treats. A reindeer is in the study with maps for the journey. I have just as much fun as they do searching for new accessories. This year I have two more trays of decorated cookies, a new gingerbread house, and hot cocoa mugs. The house is studied by all of these littles with terrific memories and they will notice any new changes! I have made one Christmas quilt for Santa, but my goal (if these darn hands would cooperate) is to make more quilts for the elves who sleep in bunk beds in the attic during the off season.
My daughter was born on Christmas Eve. As she got older we celebrated a family birthday for her ON Christmas Eve because I decided I was never going to combine her birthday with Jesus' birthday. We would go to church on Christmas Eve then home to have her cake and give her the birthday presents. That beautiful evening led the way to Christmas morning. It was very special to me and I hope to her.
Linda imagesisee.blogspot.com
A tradition from my childhood. The first one awake on Christmas morning yells 'Christmas Gift'. You can also be the first to call it out when greeting people. It's supposed to be good luck if you are first. I believe that the tradition stemmed from the slave era in the deep south and my family has done it since my childhood which has to be over 85 years.
We would go to our Friends (Carmichael's) Christmas eve morning for a huge Open House, then Church in the Evening followed by us hosting another spread for family & friends after church. Christmas Day dinner with family. Specialities always include crab dish casserole, jello salads, venison meatballs & ham biscuits.
Even after all these years I still love putting up the tree while listening to Christmas music.
I love your blog and hearing about your life up north. I have always lived in Alabama so my life is somewhat different. What is a Shite Brite tree?
Until my husband passed 2 years ago, my favorite tradition was cooking, with my husband’s help, a big country breakfast on Christmas morning for in town family. We would have sweet potato biscuits, country ham, sausage, and much more. As years went on, the out of town family began showing up just in time for breakfast! So much fun and memory making!
Merry Christmas to you and Far Guy!
Karen
To this day, I have oyster stew on Christmas Eve. I have no idea when or how the tradition came about, but without fail, it’s served that evening.
We still do all of the traditional stuff: decorating, turkey dinner, gifts galore, family time.
One more recent tradition that comes to mind: My granddaughter Irene and I still enjoy watching the "A Sesame Street Christmas" video on Christmas Eve after dinner at our house. We make everybody else watch it too. It's so endearing and the music is great too.
Karen, A Shiny Brite tree was covered in Shiny Brite collectable ornaments from the 1900's. Some made in West Germany, Prussia and the United States
For us, our favorite tradition has been cutting down a locally grown weed tree (by most people's view) to turn it into our Christmas tree. We cut down a wild red cedar tree and then stick it in a pail of water with lots of green food coloring. It greens up nicely and makes the house smell so wonderful. In fact, for me, Christmas has always smelled like freshly cut cedar.
Baking Christmas cookies was something I always looked forward to...especially with little ones there to decorate the cookies. I will look forward to that again once I move. Meanwhile--I don't have a tree still so you can pass on me. Maybe next year? Who knows? :)
Hello, I'm just stopping by from Linda Reeder's blog.
Gosh... Christmas...
I was trying to delay worrying about it, but I need to get cracking too.
We always enjoyed putting up our big tree, but now we just use a small artificial one. We always got together with family too, but that changed with COVID. This is with my brother's family. Our own children are in Chicago and South Asia. Sigh...
We have smokers and nutcrackers from our years when hubby was stationed with the A.F. in Berlin.
Even though we have downsized I still find a shelf to put them up.
My favorite part is hiding a pickle in the Christmas tree that was part of my childhood
We have a sort of Christmas party for the Grands that includes games & party food. Its fun.
Oh wow Connie....this is very exciting...the chance to win one of your beautiful handcarved and painted ornaments.
My favorite Christmas Tradition is: Going to Christmas Eve Church services together as a family.
We start the holiday season each year watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas. We then watch Christmas Vacation at some time during December.
Our tradition evolved into have five different Christmas trees in the house. We both love the color, shine and the lights. Putting up the creche with a newer one from Israel this year will be special. We will be together the two of us only this Christmas and it still will be a great Christmas.
Our favorite tradition is fairly new - - 35 years old. Each child & grandchild gets a gift but also some cash. This began when the girls wanted to clothes shop and they could pick out what they liked better than me.
But first you have to figure out the clues and find the money! The cash might be in that place or lead you to the final gift. When you unwrap the final gift, there is your money and it may or may not be folded into a chain necklace - - or tied in individual flowers. The grandsons' favorite was when we put the cash in bunches of balloons - - got a lot of one dollar bills from the bank. That was our least favorite because tying off the balloons is hard on the skin of your fingers.
Our favorite tradition is Christmas Eve dinner when all the family is together. Christmas Day is just a quite celebration of two while our children enjoy their families on Christmas.
I do love to read your blog and hope you continue writing. Dortha. dorthac at aol dot com
My favorite Christmas tradition started when I was very young and continued until my Dad passed at 75. Santa always arrived at our home Christmas eve evening and then we opened all the presents. We would be ushered into the bedroom with Mom and she'd being pointing out how she could see Santa in the sky, suddenly there would be a clip clop noise in the hall. Santa had to bring the reindeer in as we had no chimney. Later when grandkids filled the house, Santa actually came to visit in person before leaving gifts. The kids were so excited to see Santa they never missed Grandpa.
My favorite tradition is making my Christmas cookies over 50 dozen. My church has a cookie sale. Love reading your blog.
Every year we get together and eat, play games, laugh, have fun. I love Christmas. And I personally love decorating.
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