Monday, December 6, 2010

12 Days of Christmas - Day 2 Event!

Our family has a ton of holiday traditions - we love them! Some of the things we do include cutting down our Christmas tree on Black Friday instead of subjecting ourselves to the shopping madness and watching the movie 'Family Man' as Rob and I get most of the tree decorated with the kids fast asleep. 


For the Day 2 event, share with me your favorite holiday tradition by adding a comment to this blog post.  DO NOT POST YOUR ENTRY ON FACEBOOK. We'll review them all with the kids and have a family vote on the best one!  


To the winner, will go the offer of the Wittle Whimsy 5-pattern bundle pack or $25 in Bit of Whimsy Dolls credit.  This should be fun and I'm sure we'll all get something out of this contest!

105 comments:

  1. We have a white stocking that we say is for the Savior. Every year, at the beginning of December, we all get together and discuss what "gifts" we will give Christ that year (kind words, helping those in need, sharing smiles, etc). We write them down and put them in the stocking. On Christmas evening, after all the other festivities, we pull out our papers and see how we did. It is a great way for us to keep the reason for the season "close to home"!

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  2. Cookies! I have 6 kids and we bake and decorate a massive amount of cookies. Gingerbread people and sugar cookies to decorate are their favorites. Then we have hot cocoa and sing carols.

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  3. We make a "gratitude chain" from loops of construction paper. Each child gets some number of strips (perhaps the number of the years they've had on the planet? perhaps ten . . . depending on how grousy they have been or how bad they have had the "gimmies"), and they may write on each strip the things they are grateful for -- and we go around the table & share each person's. After making our chain, we hang it somewhere conspicuous as a reminder thoughout the season.

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  4. We do an advent calendar so that each day we remember exactly the real reason we celebrate Christmas!

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  5. This year will be my daughter, Afton's first Christmas. We usually put our Christmas decorations up on Thanksgiving day while dinner is cooking, but this year was really special. She is 11 months old, so she enjoyed watching the tree go up, going through the boxes of decorations as we got them up, and all the lights. We also live in a small town and enjoy going to our yearly Christmas parade. She really enjoyed seeing all the kids and the floats with the lights! I look forward to doing this every year with my husband and daughter, and hopefully if we are blessed with anymore children.

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  6. We are still building our little family traditions, and this is one we'd like to add:
    The Christmas after my husband lost his job, and I had had twins, we had insane medical bills and everything was going wrong, we received an envelope from a woman at church. She told me that her entire family (extended, as well) contributes what money they can. Then, each family submits someone they know that could use Christmas money. The families chose us, and we received enough money for gifts for the kids, something for each other, and groceries for two months.
    We were floored.
    What a special way for an entire family to come together to do something great, and to do it every year!

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  7. A few years ago for Christmas my great-aunt Tweet sent my mom some really weird fuzzy blue slippers with flowers and sequins all over them. They were so ugly that we thought they were hysterical and now they get passed around my family at birthdays and Christmas as our gag gift tradition...this Christmas I have them and when we open gifts on Christmas morning they will be under the tree in a gift for my little brother!

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  8. We make a different ornament every year that gets signed and dated, then when the kids leave home they get to take all their ornaments with them. Mine from my childhood are treasures to me.

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  9. We relax on Christmas eve by making pizzas from scratch and decorating gingerbread houses. The houses look beautiful on our table Christmas day and make our home smell amazing. This year will be my daughter's first attempt at decorating!

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  10. On Christmas afternoon, after all the festivities for everyone at all the different places, we all gather at Grandma C's -- there are all generations from the oldest to the youngest. We spend the afternoon talking ,watching tv, playing games and eating. The kids all run and play all afternoon while the adults are enjoying the holiday.
    It's nice to see everyone from 80+ year old Grandparents to new-born Great Grandchildren all at the same place enjoying the holiday.

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  11. My favorite is probably just sitting by the tree with the tree-lights on and the room-lights off. It's so relaxing and peacefull. I do love the appetizers we serve for Christmas Eve too...most of them are the same ones we've served for 20 years almost and they are yummy!

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  12. My favorite holiday memory is from when I was a little girl- well... a young girl.

    I come from a family with 5 siblings and one Christmas, the excitement was just too much to handle. My siblings and I unwrapped all the presents under the tree about a week before Christmas- without my parents knowledge.

    One of us suggested it and then it was like, "I'll do it, if you do it" and before you knew it, we were just tearing into the presents. We didn't even care if it was ours or not. We'd rip it open and show it to our sibling- hey look what you got!- and then tear into the next one.

    It took only minutes for us to unwrap every gift under the tree- even the ones for our cousins. ha.

    That was decades ago, but we still laugh and talk about it every year, Mom and Dad still can't believe we did it, and it will forever go down as 'the best Christmas ever' for my siblings and me.

    To carry on the fun of opening presents early, we each allow the kids to open gifts before Christmas. Usually one every weekend until Christmas comes. It's so fun and it spreads out the toys and the joy.

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  13. One of my favorite things to do is take a drive to see everyone's lights. :)

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  14. We make and decorate cupcakes as a family on Christmas Eve. Then on Christmas morning we sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus and celebrate his birth and the true meaning of Christmas. We each enjoy a cupcake or two for breakfast.

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  15. brand new PJs for all the kids that they open on Christmas Eve


    fidgetblogs at gmail dot com

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  16. It's funny that you should mention this, since today is St. Nicholas Day. This morning my children woke to find candy and surprises in their shoes!! This is a very simple way to take the edge off of waiting for Christmas.

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  17. This is my daughter's 3rd Christmas and here in Australia it is always hot hot hot at Christmas! Santa always arrives wearing shorts at my parents house, and at night we go around and look at all the different Christmas lights around the suburbs. This year we are also starting the tradition of a gingerbread house! Yum

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  18. My family is very young, 3 kiddos 4 and under and so far, I read "Night Before Christmas" on Christmas Eve all day long and one last time before we turn the lights off for bed.

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  19. We like to drive around the neighborhood looking at all the lights! And we always participate in a Christmas carol sing-a-long (or sometimes more than one!), at a church or sponsored by the community.

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  20. For the first time this year we made and decorated gingerbread house witha very good family friend. My almost four year old daughter had a ball decorating the house and Gingerbread people. Master almost two just enjoyed stealing the lolls cheeky boy would walk up to the table with bowl in hand, grab a handful of lollies sit down at the kids table to eat them the come up again once finished. We are hoping to make it a tradition as all involved had such a great time and we admire our masterpiece everyday. Can't wait to break it up and eat it. Hope ittastes as good as it looks!
    Jazmin

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  21. We don't have any traditions. This is my daughter's first Christmas. First we will teach her the religious reasons we celebrate Christmas. Then we are making a felt ornament each year, starting this year. Obviously, she doesn't get what is going on, but one day she will. I hope it teaches her a love for God, family, and hopefully creativity.

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  22. There are so many! We celebrate St Nicholas Day (which is today!) every year with a small gift for the kids, and reading the story of St Nicholas. We have an advent wreath in the middle of our table and we light a candle each Sunday, and then every night at supper. We have four kids so each child gets a candle. We have handmade advent calendars for each of the kids. And one of our favorite food traditions is rice pudding with an almond hidden in one of them (something we did when I was growing up). We read the book Annika's Secret Wish, which is a great story about the rice pudding.

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  23. My favorite tradition is lighting the menorah. The kids each have their own that they've made. They're getting big enough to do it themselves and they get such joy out of being able to do it. My oldest wrote an essay where she said her favorite memory was last Chanukah when she got to light her own menorah for the first time. :-)

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  24. Many moons ago I made a muslin Christmas tree skirt & the kids place their handprints on it ever year with paint:)

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  25. I love having banket - it's a Dutch Christmas treat that my mom always makes and I make when I get ambitious and/or don't get home for Christmas - Delicious!

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  26. Christmas Eve we like to drive to a nearby village where nearly all of the houses have christmas lights and decorations , everybody walks around talking to everyone and wishing them a ''merry christmas '' . There is one house that has moving decorations and popcorn !!!!

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  27. We are a pretty new family so we don't have many traditions as of yet. As a child, though, my family (parents, sister & I) would pack up and go to my grandparent's house. My grandma would make a HUGE meal. So many people would show up that we had to set up tables & chairs in the garage to have enough sitting room. I don't have fond memories of santa or specific gifts... instead I have fond memories of my grandma & the love she put into our Christmas celebration.

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  28. we hand make and buy a few christmas tree decorations every year so when they are all grown up they can take them for their tree we decorate the tree together after a nice cooked dinner. we also make reindeer food to sprinkle on the lawn and of course christmas short breads.


    yay you have a blog!im now a follower too.

    Hugs
    Lisa
    xx

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  29. Every year the children get a new set of Christmas pyjamas that they can wear through December and, of course, on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. It really signifies the start of the holiday season for us :) x

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  30. My daughter and I have a yearly tradition of hand-making ornaments for everyone in our family. Each year we choose a different technique together and then we bake some cookies or pop some popcorn and we tell each other silly stories while we are making the ornaments! We laugh so much and have so much fun!

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  31. I have a few Christmas traditions and memories from childhood Christmas'. We always open a new pair of PJs to wear on Christmas Eve then watch a Christmas moving. I also started using Christopher Pop-In-Kins (like elf on the shelf) this year with my 2 year old daughter. She loves waking up every morning to find where Christopher hid through the night (he also told me he is taking all of Reese's diapers/pull-ups with him back to Santa on Christmas night this year).
    I make a new ornament every year for the family and one for Reese. She will be able to take all of her ornaments with her when she grows-up. We love to remember each different Christmas we have spent together so far as we decorate the tree every year.
    For my side of the family, we always sit downa dn read the Christmas story from the Bible before we open gifts. It is so nice to be reminded why we celebrate Christmas!

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  32. We wake on christmas morning, warm tea, play music, and share in the giving of gifts. We all take our turn to give a gift from under the tree & wait while it is unwrapped. We all appreciate it together before moving onto the next person to open a gift. It is very beautiful & a very slow process that means we savour the morning, together as a family & remember christmas is about giving.

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  33. Every year we make ornaments with a photo of our son in them. Each year he has gotten more involved with decorating. Last year, at age four, he hand picked wooden ornament frames for each family member/friend and painted them himself. We also have corndogs, chili and "egg noggin" for Christmas Eve dinner.

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  34. We love going to pick out our tree together, bringing it home and helping the kids with their "decorating" which usually ends up all on one part of the tree! Then we fix it after they go to bed ;)

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  35. We do new pjs for the kids on Christmas eve. In the morning, we let them open stockings and look at their santa presents (unwrapped!) while the grown ups have coffee and coffee cake. I prepare a casserole the night before and just pop it into the oven for breakfast that morning (its called Christmas morning wifesaver!)

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  36. I LOVED reading all of these. Like many here my family is small and young (Hubby, Me, and two little girls 3 and under). AS a child though Christmas eve was so magical. We would always go see a movie and we were each aloud to pick out our OWN box of candy. (My dad was a pastor, my mom only worked part time, and we had six kids. This was a HUGE treat). Then we would go go home and go to the church Christmas Eve service often where me and my younger brother (the two youngest) we part of a pageant. Then we would come home and eat home made chili and cinnamon rolls. Home made chili and cinnamon rolls has been part of my dad's life since he was a child and now me and all my siblings continue the tradition. Even if we aren't in Maryland with my parents.

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  37. Chris works shift work, so depending on his schedule we will decorate the tree and house for Christmas either the day before or the night of Thanksgiving. There has to be Christmas music throughout the house and egg nog or, hot cocoa, or hot apple cider being sipped. The kids have their own tree that they decorate in the front living room. Later, we watch "The Polar Express". I love this time of year! Our son started middle school this school year and is right at my height... if not a little taller. :( During the Christmas season, he is my little boy again! :)
    Have a BLESSED Christmas season, everyone!

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  38. It always seemed that while we were growing up that someone was painting with acrylics to complete a Christmas project. I found myself doing this and my kiddies wanted to be included. I went out and bought 22 of the same wood ornaments for each of my three kids. Each year my kids paint an ornament and it becomes part of a garland that each of my kids will have to take with them when they've grown. It's so great to see the how they're painting skills progress and they're color choices progress.

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  39. One of our traditions is on Christmas Eve, the gift we all open is Holiday Pj's. Then we all sit and cuddle together while Daddy reads 'Twas the night before Christmas' then off to bed for the kiddies as we frantically wrap presants b/c we didnt think to do them before 12/24. LOL (this year I caught on and I started wrapping a lil earlier)

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  40. We let the kids open one present on Christmas eve and it's usually matching pj's then we all snuggle up together and read Twas the night before Christmas. We even ordered a few more Christmas books this year so that we can do this a few nights in a row before Christmas. This year we found It was the night before Christmas eve. We even spend Christmas Eve making homemade cookies for Santa then we set out the cookies and beer....he seems to think that the milk will go bad and that Santa gets sick of the milk at everyone's house!

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  41. I remember when me and my two brothers were kids, my dad, being the ornery bugger he was, would make us wait until after he drank his cup of coffee before letting us open our presents. Unfortunately, that one cup of coffee turned into two. Then three--all of which he sipped rather slowly with a smirk on his face. Meanwhile, we were wiggling around like we had ants in our pants in anticipation. He would finally let us open our presents, but wow, that was pure torture! Good times for sure.

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  42. My favorite tradition is seafood gumbo at my grandfathers house on christmas eve. The whole family can hardly wait there are no invitations but everyone knows to show up. The pot is so big you can hardly see over the top when it is on the stove, it is so good there will be hardly any left. We are especially looking forward to this year since my grandmother was in the hospital last year, it was the first time in my life(35 Years) this tradition was broken.

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  43. When I was little, we would always watch The Christmas Story on Christmas Eve. Then around midnight we would open "just one" present which would usually devolve into opening all!

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  44. My oldest, she's 7 draws pictures for santa about everyday from Thanksgiving to Christmas. She leaves them under the tree for Santa along with milk and cookies. In the morning she is always so happy when she gets a letter and picture from Santa.

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  45. Since we were tiny kids my step-father has read us The Night Before Christmas and Father Christmas before we went to bed, he still does (I am the youngest at 36!)
    Also, we always watch Better Off Dead with John Cusack on X-Mas Eve

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  46. On Christmas Eve our children write letters and draw pictures for Santa Claus, and they are folded carefully and placed in a special "letters for Santa" pillow for St. Nick to find when he comes to our house. Then we set out milk and cookies and my husband reads the Night Before Christmas to the kids. In the past years we have then hung up our Santa key so he could get into the house, but this year we have a fireplace so Santa can come in the traditional way for a change!

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  47. Our kids are young yet 8,5,4,18mo,3mo. But the 3 oldest ones each have their own 3ft tree they get to decorate while i decorate the big one and we listen to a verry veggie christmas while decorating.

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  48. Every year we buy an ornament that symbolizes that year for each member of the family. It's so fun unpacking the ornaments each year and talking about them and what made that year so special!

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  49. My favourite holiday tradition ... every year one of Santa's elves leaves us new jammies under the tree Christmas Eve... we love getting new warm jammies to wake up Christmas morning in. Sometimes they are handmade; sometimes not. When the kids were little they were matching (oh I miss those days)... sometimes even dollies get a pair too. It's so much fun!!! This carries over from when I was a child too!

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  50. Every year I buy a new ornament for each of the kids. It's fun each year to see their 'collection' growing, and hear them remember when they got each one!

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  51. When I was growing up, every year my mom would put her nativity out and we would hide baby Jesus until Christmas Day. When my sister and I moved out of the house, mom stopped hiding Jesus. My sister and I now take it upon ourselves to hid him when we visit, not telling mom. It usually takes her a few days to notice, and we don't reveal his hiding place until Christmas Eve when we all gather there with our families.

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  52. My husband and I adopted 3 older children and a baby from the foster care system. As you can imagine they didn't have a magical life and the holidays were never a big deal. Aside from spoiling them rotten on Christmas we have try to add as many traditions to our holiday season as we can.

    One of my favorite traditions is their ornaments. Each year my mom and I buy them each special ornaments that tell the story of that year. My baby started school this year so she got a school house, my daughter cheered in Disney so she got a cheerleader and an airplane, etc.... They get 5 or 6 different ornaments. I take a picture of each ornament and add it to a journal where I write why we chose the ornament and a little story to go with it. My plan is when they move into their own house and have their first Christmas tree I will give them all of their ornaments and the journal. I hope they spend many years reading those old stories as they hang their precious ornaments on the tree.

    I just don't don't know if I'll be able to part with them. LOL!

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  53. We have several favorite traditions that my kids will tell you HAVE to happen every year :o) One is baking cookies and taking plates of cookies to all the neighbors on Christmas Eve. The first year we lived here we hadn't met most of the neighbors so we used it to get to know the neighbors, now it's a fun way to spread some Christmas cheer, I think my kids love GIVING the cookies as much or more than the neighbors enjoy getting them :o)

    The other things that my kids always mention in connection with Christmas are getting new Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve. We open most of our presents on Christmas day with all the family here, but on Christmas Eve it's just our family and the kids each get to open 2 gifts, one of those gifts for each child is a new pair of Christmas pajamas (several years, my daughter Ashlyn has insisted on wearing her new pajamas all day Christmas day LOL)the second gifts are "group gifts" and end up being one new Christmas book, one new board game and one new Christmas video, that gives us our entertainment for Christmas Eve, we can watch the movie, read the book, and play the game as a family.

    And finally, we always have "Monkey bread" for Christmas morning breakfast. It's a special treat since we don't normally eat such sweet things, especially for breakfast and it's nice for me because you put it together the night before, so all I have to do in the morning is turn the oven on.

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  54. Even though I now have a little family of my own, I still love Christmas at my Parents' house most of all. Early on Christmas morning we all go to the kitchen and make homemade doughnuts! Everyone pitches in the mixing and cutting(even the little ones) and my Dad does the frying. When they're done, we all have a couple warm yummy doughnuts with coffee or juice or milk. We all clean up the kitchen together and once everything is in order, we head to the living room where my Dad reads the Christmas Story from Luke 2. Then, and only then, do presents get opened. We take turns. The youngest always starts first. Once we're done we all share what we're most thankful for in our lives (each other, good health etc). Its a simple, but really lovely way to spend the holiday.

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  55. My family has a lot of traditions, but this is one of my favorites: when I was growing up, my brother started the tradition of making Monkey Bread to eat after all the gifts were opened. Afterward I would always seem to end up napping right underneath the Christmas tree! I'm all grown up with a husband and a child of my own, but can't seem to give up the Monkey Bread - or the nap under the tree! ;)

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  56. I look forward to Christmas Eve morning when my 5 year old daughter and I put on some Christmas music, pour some hot cocoa stirred with a candy cane and bake Santa's cookies--butterscotch gingerbread. It is nice to be able to steal a few quiet minutes before the bustle of the holiday begins.

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  57. My family is very small and young! It's just my husband and I and our 7 pets.
    We do what we call "the readings" and read a chapter of Max Lucado's "It Began In A Manger" starting with the first on Christmas Eve night, reading the others throughout the day on Christmas Day until we reach chapter 6 Christmas night. It is so nice to stop several times during what can be a busy Christmas day and reflect on why we really celebrate this time of year.

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  58. My husband & I started this little tradition for ourselves a few years ago: Every Christmas Eve we get on our jammies, turn on the tree lights & watch "Love Actually". It's our way of winding down at the end of the night & spending some quiet time together.

    We also read "The Night Before Christmas" with our daughters last year. This is a new tradition we will carry on for a long time!

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  59. We have a few minor traditions that the kids look forward to, but the main one, is that all of our family (all 8 children and those that have families of their own) want to be together for Christmas. They don't want gifts as much as just being together. I live in the midwest. I'll have my kids coming from Ohio to Seattle in an effort to be together this year. We love being in each others company.

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  60. Our family has alot of traditions...my favorite that i now also do with my kids is Christmas pj's i really enojoy picking them out every year!

    It is a tradition that my Granpa also makes a stocking for each person in the family, he started with my mom almost 50 years ago and most recently made one for our 5 month old daughter.

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  61. One of our family's Christmas traditions is to bake and deliver cookies to all of our neighbours.
    Another one that I did with my parents and we now do with our family is to leave all the Christmas lights on for the day, the night, and the day (Dec24-25) to represent one of the many signs that were given at the time of Christ's birth.

    And finally a very special tradition that we are strating this year, we're calling it our "Gift from Grandma". This will be our first Christmas without my mom here with us, as she just passed away in May. My mom loved giving lots and lots of Christmas gifts, she knew this wasn't the real meaning of Christmas, but despite her best efforts it seemed just about impossible for her to keep within the budget my dad would try to set for her each year, she just loved to give and liked to shop too :)
    We have decided that each year we will agree as a family on a certain person or family who is in real need of something and we will secretly give them a gift that will hopefully help them with that real need, something that will take real thought, love and hopefully some stretching and sacrifice on our part, so that we can grow and learn more of the importance of giving too. In addition to the needed gift, they'll be given a box of chocolates, something my mom loved having at Christmas time.
    My hope is that this tradition will help my now very little children build a memory of their Grandma that teaches of her love and generousity and in the processes also bring them closer to their Savior, the real reason for this special time of year.

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  62. I just bought my first pattern this week. I just love your dolls. I am in the way of finishing my first doll. I am to late this year, but I want to make dolls and give them to the Fireman for them to distribute next christmast, to poor children (with permission :-)). This pattern pack would be perfect for girls and boys.

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  63. My favorite family tradition is something we have been doing since I was really young. I have a small family and it is usually just my mom, dad, brother, his girlfriend, my husband and I. We have a tradition when we are together at thanksgiving we each pick a name out of a hat. We then have to go to discount stores, dollar stores etc. to find funny stocking stuffers with a $20 budget. We then have to come up with a creative way to wrap the gifts (trashbags, tape, lots of boxes are often used) and create poems, riddles etc. to go with the gifts. Each person then takes a turn on christmas eve and opens their funny stocking. We always have tears in our eyes from laughing soo hard. Each one of us also will adopt a child or family off of a giving tree and send gifts to those in need. It is really fun to be able to shop for little kids because we have all grown up.

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  64. We always buy a family game and play it under the tree

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  65. Our family really enjoys Advent calendars. I try to find a different sort every year. This year we're learning a Christmas Latin word a day. :)

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  66. We put up our tree together and let our kids eat lots of candy!!

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  67. My wife and I started our tradition the very first Christmas we had together. We bought one of those porcelain ornaments with the two characters on it and wrote "Our first Christmas Together" with the date and our names. Now every Black Friday we get up early and go buy a new one to put on our tree. And now that we have kids we have had to add more characters and their names. I believe one day our tree will be taken over by these ornaments but we don't mind. It is so cool to look back at those very first ones from our first Christmas to when she was pregnant with our first child to now a family of four. Time does fly!!

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  68. Our favorite family Christmas tradition is shopping for the Angel Tree. We pick out two or three (sometimes more) underprivileged 'angels' from the tree, and we make and buy gifts for them to have on Christmas morning. We always include things they need like hats, clothes and shoes, but the best part is the unexpected gift, the perfect and fun gift that they dream about. Then we try to wrap them so that the extra special gift is the one they open last.

    It is the best feeling in the world to know that we are giving a gift of Christmas to someone who wouldn't otherwise have much. We have been so blessed, it is wonderful to pass it on.

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  69. One of my favorites is that we put up a train around the Christmas tree each year. This is something that neither of us grew up with but my husband and I have been doing it since we've been married. Our train has graduated from the big, clunky plastic ones to a very nice Polar Express train. I love it because we started our own Christmas tradition.

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  70. We have started doing an activity advent calendar (this is our 2nd year). I made some numbered envelopes and each day there's a different thing to do - paint each other's nails, bake cakes for the neighbours ...

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  71. Our family tradition is to open our gifts on Christmas Eve. My parents used to celebrate it like that in Europe, and we have continued the tradition here. We (the kids) would have a nap early evening, and while we were sleeping Santa would come. We would then wake up around 9pm, have dinner and open gifts. It was always nice for my parents because on Christmas morning they didn't have to wake up early as my sister and I would already be playing nicely with whatever toys we received.

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  72. One of my favorite family traditions at Christmas time is our annual drive-around-the-neighborhood-to-look-at-Christmas-lights drive. On the night before Christmas Eve the kids bundle up in the car with blankets and hot chocolate and we drive around looking at Christmas lights in various neighborhoods in our town. The most fun part is choosing the houses we like the most and leaving a small box of homemade goodies with a note saying how much we enjoyed their beautiful decorations. Sometimes our little gift is left in secret, and other times we get to talk to the family. Either way, it's a lot of fun!

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  73. Our family does an Advent calendar with activities. Each day we do something fun together as a family. It is a lot of fun and the kids really remember it each year.

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  74. Baking Holiday cookies with my daughter is my favorite holiday tradition. We roll, stir, bake, sprinkle and ice. Gives me a chance to spend hours with my almost grown up girl.

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  75. We're Jewish, so for Chanukah each person in the family has a menorah that they light. By the time we get to the eighth night of Chanukah they glow from the menorahs is enough to light a room. It's beautiful to see and remember that God's light should shine through us to others throughout the year.

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  76. When I was a kid, I would make my sisters sing Happy Birthday to Jesus in front of our stockings, so we would remember why we were celebrating. I've started that tradition with my nephews and nieces now!

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  77. We like to light the fireplace and put the tree up with all the kids helping to decorate. Then we like to sit infront of the tree and have a "picnic". It is so much fun and the kids love it!

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  78. Every christmas eve we dress up in our christmas themed clothes and walk around our local suburbs looking at tall the decorated/lighted houses. Just before bed we always get a family shot under the xmas tree, we have done this since i was a little girl and it's great to flick through them and see how much the kids have grown every year!

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  79. We go to the local school fundraiser where we purchase a gingerbread kit and we decorate together as a family within the school community. It's a hit with my kids. They love to see how the other gingerbread houses look and it becomes a bit of a race too!!

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  80. My favorite tradition is "Christmas Eve Jammies." My parents always hosted a Christmas Eve party every year for family and friends. My mom was so good about buying a gift for each and every person who showed up (with extras under the tree just in case). The only present us kids were allowed to open that night were a new pair of jammies. No matter how old we got, we were still super excited to open those presents.

    We carry on the tradition with our own families now. The kids love it. =)

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  81. My new tradition is to finish the shopping and wrapping weeks in advance of Christmas. This gives me more time to watch Christmas movies with my kids, bake gingerbread men on that one cool day we get before Christmas (Aussie Christmas is HOT), watch the kids decorate the tree with a glass of bubbly in hand and enjoy the lead-up to Christmas stress-free.

    We celebrate over 2-3 days with family, which is great for the kids (not so overwhelming with travel and too many gifts all at once). I love laughing and sharing new recipes and dishes with my family. Oh ... and we take a LOT of photos and video.

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  82. I would say the only constant Christmas tradition at our house would be attending Midnight Mass!

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  83. My husband and I wanted a fun tradition that would help our 2 year old daughter count down the days till Christmas. We did a cute little sock advent calender. We went and bought 6 pairs of holiday socks (so there are 12 - one for each day of the 12 days of Christmas) We than hung them up and each day she would walk up to see what the elf had brought her such as a little candy or little toy. Each day we got one sock closer to Christmas. She keeps asking this year when the elf is going to be coming so this will be a tradition that stays and we even get to add 12 more socks for our new little addition to our family that come last month.

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  84. We are still a young family, my son is 2 1/2 and my daughter 10 months, so we are still developing our traditions! One thing we have always done, even previous to kids, is to go to my mil's house Christmas morning around 9 am for a huge breakfast spread and presents. The kids in the family come in their jammies, so it's like having a 2nd Christmas morning right after the first! Now that we have kids, it's even more fun!

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  85. We like to make a birthday cake for Jesus. Sometimes it is a coffee cake to be enjoyed Christmas morning and sometimes it's just a box cake with canned icing.

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  86. this was a fun one to think about!! I come from a large family and have several different traditions.. but i think my favorite one is fairly new and i love it because it teaches my daughter what it is to give. this was the third year that we have done it! My Gramma has been doing it for about 15years the good samaritian shoeboxes!! we buy stuff all year long and in the beginning of november we gather all the items and go to my grammas and have lunch and visit while the rest of the family show up!! then we start working on the shoeboxes... we do around 50 - 60 every year sometimes more if we have extra supplies!! It feels good to be able to give christmas gifts to those who wouldnt have any otherwise!! this year i made nightgown and pillowcase dresses for them. we also put school supplies, crayons, toys, soap, facecloth, toothbrush and candy as well as other misc things!! it really brings my gramma joy to give back and i love it too!! it is definatley a tradition that i would love to continue!!!
    another tradition we have is getting new pjs that we open christmas eve so we have nice ones to wear christmas morning!!
    you are so wonderful to have these give aways!!
    i love reading other peoples traditions as well!!

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  87. My favorite Christmas tradition is decorating the tree. We'd do it together as a family with Christmas music on and talking about our favorite ornaments. It was always fun!

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  88. We dont really have any Christmas traditions in my house. As an only child of two immigrants Christmas only lasted as long as I was interested and once I hit those I cant be bothered teenage years my parents just stopped. The only real tradition we have was there was a local orchard that made apple cider and cider donuts. For as long as I can remember my dad would take me early on Sunday mornings to let my mom sleep and we would go to this orchard and have hot apple cider and donuts and he would read the paper and I would watch the donuts being made. That orchard is still there churning out apple cider and donuts even though my father is now moved back to his homeland. This is the first year I became a mother and I do I plan on starting this tradition with my son and share with him that this is what his mommy and grandpa use to do together.

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  89. My favorite tradition is making cookies with my mom. Everyone in the family gathers at her house to help cut out and decorate cookies. She makes the yummiest, soft, sugar cookies. It's an all day affair with hundreds of cookies. Then we all pick out the ones we want to take home or share with others.

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  90. Our son was born at 28 weeks 3 days and spent his first Christmas in NICU. So we spent Christmas eve reading him 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. We do this each year with him. While it is a pretty common tradition, it means so much to us as it takes us right back to his first Christmas when he was struggling to survive! A second tradition is going the day after Christmas shopping with my best friend. We get up super early in the morning and we hit all of the sales. We buy stocking stuffers for the next year and stock up on holiday items. It's a fun girls morning out!

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  91. Now that I have 2 kids of my own, Christmas Eve is spent just us four. We open our presents to each other...including new jammies....and enjoy eachother's company. Don't forget milk and cookies on our special dish for Santa. =) Christmas morning.....stockings are always the first thing...opened up on our bed (as I used to do as a kid). Then open Santa's gifts followed by a nice breakfast.

    Then around 2pm we get together with family (we take turns who has it now that we are all older and married). I only have one sister and she is married to my husband's brother.....so we only have one set of in-laws to share with. We all just get together for the holidays....makes it so easy! =) Love spending time with family! =)

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  92. My favorite tradition is getting our Christmas tree and decorating it with my children. Its not fancy, but to see their eyes and see how excited they get to go out, cut our tree down, bring it home AND HAVE A TREE IN THE HOUSE is just priceless. Then to see them put the decorations on and just want to have it on all day because it is just so glorious to them, just makes me melt. Love it.

    Amanda Turtlegirlcrafts@yahoo.com

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  93. We decorate the tree on thanksgiving and put the little people nativity out for the kids. We also bake cookies and do the advent wreath and calendar. This year I made the calendar and bought little trinkets from the dollar section at michaels instead of buying the chocolate ones.

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  94. 8 kids at home here

    the ONE thing even the 18year old insists on is the lolly stocking!!

    oh, and trifle, pudding and cake as dessert on Christmas day (also my eldest DD's birthday)

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  95. Our favorite tradition is going out into our back yard and cutting down a tree. Our home was built in a former tree farm, so our back acre is all Christmas trees!
    This year our new daughter (age 3) is home from Ukraine, and this will be her first Christmas with a family! We cant wait to share this tradition with her! Seeing everything through her eyes has really made this season extra magical for all of us!

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  96. For the past 7 years, I have been going to my husband's family for Christmas on Christmas Eve. We spend the 22nd, 23rd, and all day the 24th baking and getting everything decorated, wrapped, etc. (they procrastinate Christmas every year until super late!) We always go all of the way up until we are all running around like crazy trying to get ready for church. We all go as a family (and usually end up lighting the candles and doing the Christmas song/prayers). When we get back to their house we all change into pajamas and cram all 14 or so of us into their living and dining room. Each person has so many presents there really is no room to sit or walk (did I mention they are CHRISTMAS CRAZY?!?). We all find a spot and open the presents one at a time in the circle. Present opening usually starts around 10-ish and we are lucky if we are in bed before 3:30 or 4...makes Christmas Day with my family a little tiring, but is still so much fun!

    Plus, this year, (the day after) Christmas will be our 6 month wedding anniversary! :)

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  97. Our family farm was started in 1916 by my Great-Grandfather Bullock. Our entire family comes from near and far each season to celebrate Christmas on the farm. Our favorite tradition is hiking the river bottom in the snow!
    Thanks so much for the wonderful giveaways!

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  98. We buy each other new pj's every year. On Christmas eve we open them and wear them that night. We open gfts in them the next day. This year is our daughter's first Christmas, we have her "my first Christmas" pj's already wrapped under the tree.

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  99. Since our family is now complete---(ie. I won't be having anymore children--4 is enough!) :) we started last year a new tradition of copying the children's hand prints and turned them into Christmas ornaments for our tree. This is the 2nd year and the kids remembered and love seeing how much they have grown in just a year. I love it, and our family loves it :) I hope we will be able to continue this tradition for many years, I'm going to have to buy a bigger tree in the years to come to fit the new hands!

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  100. Our holiday tradition is on Christmas Eve we go and feed the homeless at the Salvation Army we have done that since I was a little girl and I have continued to do that every year even with my children I hope they will continue with theirs when they come along. We have great fun!! It is always fun to give some back

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  101. We hide baby Jesus during the advent season and help Him find His way to the manger. It helps me try to keep Jesus in the season for my 4 and 3 year old. My daughter wants me to make Jesus a Mae doll like hers since Mae keeps her company ...in her bed. She thinks Jesus needs a friend for his bed too. I love how their minds work. Thank you for your wonderful talent and your willingness to share your dolls with all of us!! You ROCK!!

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  102. One of my most favourite traditions has continued since I was a little girl! My cousins and my brothers and I would always make up a Christmas play and present it to our parents after dinner. Now that we are parents, we still all get together Christmas Eve but now our children make up the plays. The secret show is practiced in a room with the door close - complete with a guard for the door while the adults get dinner ready. I get so excited when I hear them call out, "Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and Girls! Welcome to our show!"

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  103. We bake lots and lots of cookies every year. As far back as I can remember I baked cookies with my mom, with some help from my brothers and my dad. We would then make plates of cookies to give to friends and neighbors. I've continued baking bunches of cookies each Christmas and have given some away to friends and neighbors and send a bunch to work with my husband. This year I hope to have the kids help a little with the cookies, maybe help cut out and decorate some surgar cookies (they are 3 and 5 years old).

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  104. In my family we have the a few Christmas traditions, but the one's I like most are making huge amounts of finger food (and getting fat eating all of it...though I don't so much like the fat part as the eating part) and sleeping in the same room on Christmas eve. I think the sleeping in the same room thing started as a way for my parents (eh heh...I mean...SANTA) to sneak the presents under the tree without having to worry about kids sneaking out from various locations, then evolved into a big ordeal we all look forward to and celebrate by setting up a big tent in someones room. After my husband and I were married I even made him join in on it. :D

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  105. These are great! I cannot tell you how much I have enjoyed every single comment! This is going to be a tough one to decide! I hope everyone enjoyed the stories and traditions as much as we did!

    Giveaway is now closed!

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