3 little Miracles

3 little Miracles

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Show us Your Life - Christmas Traditions


This past Friday over at Kelly's Korner it was Show Us Your Life - Christmas Traditions.  I still had a house full of guests on Friday and so didn't get to post then, but wanted to take some time now that all the Thanksgiving hustle and bustle has passed to share our traditions with 2 little Boys.

*I am adding some things that come naturally to us and I didn't think of for Lynnette over at Dancing Barefoot on Weathered Ground, it's amazing how you do things ever year that are so much a part of the celebration of Christ and the Christmas season that you don't even think about it.  Such as the following:
  • I turn my car radio to 103.3 and listen to Christmas music from the day after Thanksgiving all the way through to New Years Day
  • I read books about the story of Christ's birth, true meaning of Christmas, or secular Christmas stories to the boys from December 1 - 25th.
  • We set of the nativity set, but we don't put baby Jesus in the manger until Christmas eve.
  • The boys help Grandma and Grandpa set up the nativity in the front yard.
  • I pull out all the Christmas movies and put them in a basket near the TV and we watch Christmas movies from the day after Thanksgiving all the way through to Christmas Day.
  • I listen to my favorite Christmas CD's on the stereo while I am decorating, baking, or the boys aren't in the house ;-)
  • The boys set out a tray of cookies, a small pot of hot water, and a cup for hot cocoa for Santa Claus.
  • My husband and I stay up after the boys have gone to bed and we put  things in the stockings for the boys from Santa Claus.
  • We have a big Christmas Day breackfast with Mom and Dad.





We start off our Christmas season and traditions with helping to decorate the church on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  Then we attend the Hanging of the Greens service honoring all the special meanings and symbols of Christmas on that coming Sunday night. Here are a few pictures from this year. This service includes my mother and I singing with the choir, I lead our small children's choir in a few songs, and an outdoor candle lite song.


**We normally go to the Christmas Tree Farm to pick out a tree, get our garlands, and pick up a few large wreaths for outside.  We haven't gotten a tree the past two years because we got a great after Christmas deal on a prelit tree 2 years ago but we still go for our garland and wreaths.




We typically decorate the house after finishing the church decorations, but this year we didn't get to it until Monday Night and we still have to put on the personal ornaments. (Full tour of decorations coming in later post)



We do Christmas baking to and give tins of goodies to neighbors and our deacon families at church (my husband is a deacon). Now that Davey is old enough he helps us with the baking.

We bake a birthday cake for Jesus

My MoG and the boys set up a runway for Santa on Christmas Eve in the backyard.



Mom comes down Christmas Eve and tucks the boys into bed and read The Night Before Christmas to them and the bible verses telling of Jesus Birth.



Christmas Day, my sister and her family come over we play with the boys new toys, eat a big lunch, and watch White Christmas.


Finally when we have my families Christmas (usually the first weekend after Christmas) the whole family comes in and we make homemade pizza, exchange gifts for the kids, and play Liverpool Rummy.  The last few years the adults have not exchanged gifts, we choose a charity and all give to it as a family.  This years chairity will be Habitat for Humanity.


What are your Christmas Traditions?  Hop on over to Kelly's Korner and link up your post sharing your traditions, my 2 little Boys are #108.

4 comments:

  1. Cute traditions. That cake looks to die for, what a great idea! Would you be willing to share the recipe?!

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  2. I think I'm going to start doing a birthday cake for Jesus. What a great idea! Maybe that can be a Christmas Eve tradition. Yummy!

    Thanks for linking up. I enjoyed reading what your family does - and your pictures are beautiful!

    Have a lovely Christmas season.
    Celebrating Jesus with you.
    Lynnette
    Dancing Barefoot on Weathered Ground

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  3. Wow, I love the idea of a birthday cake for Jesus! Nice post. :)
    ~Heather

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  4. sounds like a lot of fun! we went and picked out/cut our own tree this year for the first time. IT was a lot of fun, minus the tree falling off the van on the way home! :) It was a great not me monday moment though. :)

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