My top ten Christmas Traditions...

Well, since I have shared some of the things I won't do in the name of Christmas, now I will share my some of the traditions that I hold near and dear to my heart. Traditions are, to me, one of the most important aspects of Christmas...they are the rituals that help make the season special, memorable, and are what my children will likely grow up to share with their own families someday.

When I was first married, my husband and I packed up to spend Christmas with our families, all the while looking forward to the day when we wouldn't feel the need to leave our home in order to experience that hustle and bustle that comes with being around a larger group of people. We soon learned, however, that although it is lovely to share your baby's first Christmas, that little baby doesn't have a whole lot of awareness of the holiday...so off we went again to our families' homes...enduring the long road trips with a baby who didn't enjoy car travel, or a disruption in his schedule.

top photo: Ladies Home Journal

Fast forward to now, and while we still travel to see family over the holidays, we always spend Christmas day at home, having created our own little traditions that have grown to mean so much. Many of our traditions are quite common, but they are common for a reason, either because they are simple and manageable to continue from year to year, or are steeped in tradition that binds us as a family with history and shared values. Whatever their origins, they are rituals that mean so much to us, and make our holiday special.

So, what will I always try to take part in? Well, here is what is important to me:

Taking an annual Christmas card photo...I love looking back from year to year and seeing how my children have grown. In fact, I have since framed all of the photos in one large frame that I hang in a prominent spot in my home each Christmas. My kids love seeing themselves as little ones and marvel at how they and each other have changed. I also love adding a photo of my children to my Christmas cards, and I think my family and friends are happy to see the updated photos as well.

a new Christmas ornament for each child...I have given my children a new ornament each year...one that fits their personality an/or interests for that year. I give it to them on the night we decorate our tree and I plan to gift them of all their ornaments when they either someday marry or move out into their first "real" homes as adults. I write their names and the year on each ornament and they are so excited each year to see what ornament I have chosen for them! It makes for a very crowded tree and I honestly don't know what I'll do with at least fifteen more years of ornaments being added...but it is a tradition that they love and I so enjoy selecting the perfect ornament for each of them every Christmas. My one worry is, what will their future spouses think of their collections and will they appreciate it as much as my kids do...!!! Oops!!

Going to the Christmas parade...we haven't missed one since we moved here. One of the highlights are the stuffed (real...and hopefully met a natural demise)"reindeer" leading Santa's sleigh...they are quite freakish looking and always give us a good laugh. Sounds simple, but literally, one of the highlights of the parade...politically correct they are not!!!
Doing our annual girl's craft with my mum and sweet girl. Last year we made the glittered houses that I refused to shell out the money for in the shops. My mum is coming this weekend and we will be "creating" then...and of course it will involve glitter!! Sophie is practically bursting with excitement!!
I host two get-togethers for sure each year...an after parade party (pots of chilli, soup, biscuits, hot chocolate, candy canes-the first of the season, and hot cider... pot luck style of course...I keep it simple!!!). It is after that party that I get inspired to decorate for the holidays and my resolve weakens...Also, I have a drop-in on Christmas Eve day and our closest friends pop in and we always make a seafood chowder that is bursting with scallops, salmon, lobster, clams, etc. I also make vegetarian lasagna swirls, rolls and subs for the kids. When we first started this tradition, we did so out of loneliness. We found the day to be long and having no family nearby to come and visit with made us feel a bit homesick. So, we took the bull by the horns and decided to borrow a family or two: invite those who we are closest to and who have plenty of Christmas spirit. We give each other simple gifts and I take photos of each family all dressed up for the day. It is like the calm before the chaos...the kids look forward to it, and we get our fix of the holiday hustle and bustle that we crave. We have also done it in the form of a Christmas Eve breakfast that we cooked and was always a hit. I just might take that angle again this year...
On Christmas eve, we enjoy going to the candelight service at our church. Just hearing the beautiful Christmas carols sung in such a heartfelt way by young and old alike; and seeing all the families so happy to be together while considering the true meaning of the holiday, gives me goosebumps. I always feel quite emotional looking at my children watching their candle's flame and singing along to the words of Silent night, my favourite carol...

photo: cremedelacremeinteriors.com

Christmas jammies...I know my sister and one friend in particular are chuckling to themselves right now...but each Christmas eve, I give my boys a pair of special holiday p.j.'s and a nightie for my daughter. However, I earned a bit of a reputation as a ridiculous mother two years ago. Finding it difficult to find matching holiday-themed pyjamas for my boys, I resorted to buying them somewhat girly p.j.'s (okay, okay they had Clarice instead of Rudolph on them) and tried to pass them off as boys. Well, like good sons, they wore them for me, but my eldest who was eleven at the time and in grade six, wore them for the Christmas Eve tree picture (another tradition in our family), but never put them on his body again!! Personally, I think they looked adorable...the pastel colours made them look so little and cute again...but I did buy them more "manly" p.j.'s the following year! Now...I know many of you have and continue to do this tradition...so don't judge me too harshly!!!!
Waffles for breakfast on Christmas morning...homemade...with mashed strawberries and real cream...made by my husband!! Need I say more?? It is the highlight of my morning!!

Christmas crackers...Since I was a little girl, I cannot remember a Christmas without this wonderful tradition. The familiar smell of the puff of smoke as you pull them apart, the silly jokes, and the best part: looking around the dinner table at everyone wearing a paper crown. I will never have a Christmas without them!!!!!!

Speaking of Christmas dinner, I have to have English trifle with real Bird's Eye custard, pound cake, canned fruit, strawberry jelly(jello), and fresh cream...no liquor, that would just ruin it!! My mum makes it for me (and her) each year and I eat it for breakfast with a good cup of tea while I'm visiting there. I'll share with her, but that's it! I'm getting quite good at hiding it at the back of her fridge...

I also like to make a delicious Buche de Noel (Yule log) that I make from scratch with fresh cream filling and buttercream icing. Sooo yummy and quite impressive with little "mushrooms" placed around it and a real log pattern on the icing. I'll post the recipe sometime on one condition: you have to give me credit as there is very little that I bake in life, and this cake actually gives me some credibility as a good baker!!

The Queen's message...because I am Irish, I grew up watching the Queen's message on Christmas day. I always hoped to see a glimpse of Princess Diana and her boys, and while I didn't really listen to what Her Majesty was really saying, I loved to perch myself next to my beloved Auntie Jean and quietly take in the formality of it all. To this day, I still like to watch it out of sheer loyalty and tradition, especially for my sweet Aunt who has long since passed. The only speech I can truly remember was the year she labelled it her "annus horribilus"...which I suppose it was with Charles and Diana separating and Fergie having her toes nibbled by a strange man...
Watching our favourite holiday movies on t.v. together...Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, One Magic Christmas, Elf (our Sophie sings her little heart out to "Baby, it's cold outside" , Little House on the Prairie's holiday collection (which had me sobbing last year when I watched it!!), and my all time favourite: A Christmas Story (Red-Rider BB gun movie). It is the best Christmas movie of all time, hands down, and is so good that I will be devoting an entire post and Christmas tree to it...lucky you!!
Stockings with an orange in the toe...doesn't everyone do this?? It is a great way to fill up the stocking a bit, and if you splurge on some of the bigger oranges, it actually might get eaten by your sugared up kids! Incidentally, stockings are really the only gifts my husband and I exchange at Christmas. We know we don't need anything and don't feel the need to give each other gifts just for the sake of it. Instead, we take care in filling each other's stockings and they are more than enough.

photo: cremedelacremeinteriors.com

Twas the night before Christmas...Of course we read this to the kids each year. A few years ago, I had the foresight to videotape my hubby reading it to all three while they were cuddled up with him in our bed on Christmas eve. I knew in my heart it would be the last year for my eldest to truly enjoy the tradition and believe, and I am so grateful that I did. We read from the book a friend gave me whose son died the year we left our previous town. I treasure that book as it always reminds me of her and her family and how fortunate I am to have our own three children in our lives. My friend and I have since lost touch, but I think of her and her lost son often...and especially at Christmas.

Christmas home tour...I love this tradition and haven't missed one since I discovered them in our town. Often my mum will come down for it and we love going from house to house admiring (and sometimes critiquing) the decor and wind up the tour at the sponsoring church for a delicious tea and lunch where I trade my mum my cherry balls for her shortbread. The I go home and seriously start poking around in my boxes of decorations. And that my friends, is when my hiatus from holiday decor and clutter ENDS!!!