I love Christmas and Christmas traditions!
It’s such a magical time of year. Suspense builds all month long. Wishes are made. Dreams are dreamt. Memories are made.
Emma loves shopping for those she loves. We both love baking dozens and dozens of Christmas cookies. We love decorations and Santas and colorful lights. But, most of all, we love the family time!
Christmas Traditions
Em looks forward to these two days all year long. I love that she looks forward to giving as much as receiving. She starts buying gifts for her siblings and pets long before I even start thinking about what I’m going to get everyone.
I start looking forward to our traditions as much as I look forward to shopping for those I love. My month starts out revolving around Nutcracker performances, and then I can breathe and focus on the fun! I can start planning gifts and menus and our traditions. Speaking of traditions…
On Christmas Eve, the kids each get to open a gift, and it’s the same every year. Every year, the whole family gets a new pair of pajamas
. I started this tradition way back when my oldest (now 23) was just a baby. Even mom and dad get new jammies. Even though I’ve been doing this for 20+ years, Emma still asks if she’s going to get new ones. Silly girl.
After dinner, I make hot chocolate for the whole family. Most of the time, I just make store-bought hot chocolate
. Once or twice, I’ve made homemade hot chocolate in the crockpot
. It depends on my mood. 😉
Early in the week of Christmas, Emma and I make a some holiday trail mix/puppy chow to munch on through Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Some of our favorites include Cinnamon Sugar Candied Nut Mix and Orange Cranberry Mix. Although, we usually just pick one off the back of the Chex cereal box.
At this point in the night, we all have on our new jammies and snacks and drinks. It’s time for everyone to load up and go look at Christmas lights. We try to go to a new area every year so we aren’t always driving through the same neighborhoods. We listen to Christmas carols on the radio. We talk about what we like and don’t like about the lights we see. I like white lights. Emma likes colored. I don’t like icicle lights
, and Emma likes inflatable yard art
.
Once we’ve had our fill of Christmas lights, or someone starts getting crabby from being in the car too long, it’s time to head home for my favorite part of the night. We all pile into the basement to watch Polar Express
, my favorite Christmas movie.
When the movie is over, it’s bed time for the kids – even the oldest ones. First, though, we have to put out the milk and cookies for Santa. Emma is in charge of this job, and she always puts Santa’s cookies on our “You are Special” plate
.
Once the kids are in bed, it’s a scramble to get all the gifts under the tree. Then, I fill the stockings
that are hanging on the mantle. Afterwards, it’s bedtime for Daddy and me, because we know Emma is going to wake up at the crack of dawn!
Do you have a Christmas Eve tradition?
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our kids are grown and flown, but I remember putting out Christmas presents while I listened to one of the televised Carols nights – it was a lovely background sound. Our kids always got to open their little presents before church, then the bigger ones when they got home – I’m not sure they would think that was the ideal way to do it, but it worked for us. Thanks so much for sharing at our #OverTheMoon linky 🙂 ~ Leanne
I love that you go look at the lights in your PJs! Fun!
Oh, yeah, we drink way more cocoa at Christmas time. And I love using a candy cane to stir it!
My grandkids always spend Christmas Eve at my house. My daughter and son-in-law wake up early and bring Santa gifts as well as their family Christmas gifts and add them under the tree! We are on our 14th year and the grands LOVE it there. I LOVE it too because I get to relive all the excitement and magic of Christmas through my grandkids! It cracks me up when my granddaughter (age 7) wants to go to bed at 6pm (normally midnight), because she is on a second shift parents’ work schedule (Good thing she is home-schooled).
We decorate the house, but don’t turn on any lights until Christmas Eve after everyone falls asleep. In the morning it’s a wonderland.
We have a family party every Christmas Eve; and we broke tradition by NOT hosting this year for the first time in 10 years! We’ll still get together with family but at someone else’s house this year. We eat dinner, open presents and have fun with family members we’d never get to see on Christmas day.
Tara, I wish it could have gone on forever but for many years we performed in A Christmas Carol (this version was entitled A Gospel According To Scrooge but it mirrored the Dickens version 99%.) Our little boy played Tiny Tim and then, when he was too old for that part, moved up to playing Young Scrooge. I was the “angel” of Christmas past…no ghosts in this rendition. It drew great crowds and so many said it was THEIR family tradition to come see it. Sure was wonderful for our family, too.
Sinea♥
That sounds like a wonderful family tradition. I will be sad when our Nutcracker days end (her performance days), but look forward to continuing to watch the ballet for many years to come.
Looks great, love this sharing so much, thanks!
Love these ideas! We have many Christmas traditions from over the years… One we do every year, like you, is new PJs every year, opened Christmas Eve. Never a surprise, but the kids look forward to finding some little gift tucked in with the PJs.
The kids get to open a “together” present on Christmas Eve. There are always books in it but the rest varies by year. Last year there were new pajamas in it. This year they each get a personalized ornament plus there is a family ornament and then two ornaments for our two angel babies. 🙂 Their Grammy sent some chocolate to include in the box too. They also like to sprinkle bird safe reindeer food on the lawn and set out milk and cookies for Santa. We have also started a new tradition this year. Every evening of December I read a “giving” verse from the Bible and then one child gets to go into the pantry (to a designated area I made to make sure they choose something okay to donate) and they choose one thing to put into our giving manger (canned food, baby food, toothbrushes, deodorant, etc). On Christmas Eve, when it is all full, we will put the items in a box and take it to the food bank. That night, after the kids are asleep, I will move the little manger to in front of the tree, fill it with straw, and place a baby doll in it to represent baby Jesus. On Christmas the kids will wake up and see it and we will be reminded to take time before presents to remember Jesus and say thank you to Him. We will talk again about how giving to other people is the best birthday present and exactly what Jesus wants us all to do. 🙂
I love your giving tradition!