HOLIDAY CHEER

We always, always, do the What does Jesus Really Want for Christmas Box Kit from Lifeway Christian Stores which builds a simple nativity after opening 8 boxes and a surprise at the end!!! Then, always have a Happy Birthday Jesus, full-out birthday party and then we will color ornaments of the names of God and put them in our Christmas cards--very fun while we watch neat movies like Amazing Grace, Ben Hur, the Ten Commandments, and more :) We usually have the party in the morning and build donut castles , for the King of Kings! (using the little white donuts and adding a coneshape of paper to the tops with a stick on jewel--very simple)

I have a green box that Alyssa opens first every Christmas. It is the first gift of Christmas and the MOST important one for us all. A Baby Jesus figurine is placed inside the box and then Alyssa takes Him over to the manger.

One of our favorite holiday traditions is a dish we just call the Pink Stuff. No major holiday meal seems complete without it. My grandmother was the first to serve it and she passed it on to my mother and now I have passed it on to our kids and grandkids, It is simply red Jello with Cool Whip and fruit cocktail in it which turns it a delicious pink. We all love it and my kids always ask if we're going to have it and are disappointed if we don't. Now the grandkids are starting to ask. It is simple, yet nothing says home and family to us like the Pink Stuff.

My family and I participated in Wreaths Across America, whose goal is to place wreaths on the graves of those buried at National Cemetaries. It was an honor to do this not only in honor of our son, but those who have served for our freedom and their families! The ceremony was beautiful and breathtaking, and was truly focused on the Lord! We will be participating at this event each year, Lord-willing, as a part of Christmas festivities. www.wreathsacrossamerica.org

We were blessed this Christmas so my hubby and I decided to pass on the blessings to two other families. They are our new friends from the library ... such well behaved children ... and oh so sweet and precious! We invited them over to our house for a Polar Express party. We decorated the floor with train tracks and blue and silver decorations. I hung up the Polar Express tickets outside our front door ... each ticket had a letter sticker on it that spelled BELIEVE since I couldn't hole punch the letters. I called the children over to the reading area "All Aboard" and hole punched each ticket. Their faces were gleaming with happiness! I had a wrapped gift and asked the children what they thought was inside the box and I told them we would check our predictions after the story. One girl changed her guess before the story ended and was able to open the box for us all. It was a jingle bell necklace (the first craft we did). I read the Polar Express to the kiddos (seven girls - including ours). Then, we did the jingle bell craft and a train photo magnet craft. I made 5" train cookies for the children to decorate with buttercream frosting and candies. we also drank hot cocoa and made reindeer-wiches for a snack. We also read The Christmas Story by Patricia Pingry (blue book) and Mortimer's Christmas Manger (one of my favorites). We made nativity bracelets from Oriental Trading and an adorable Baby Jesus Manger craft which I neglected to take a photo of because my CF card was full. The children watched the Polar Express while we made a spaghetti dinner with Italian bread and finished up the manger crafts. After dinner, we surprised the children with God's Greatest Gift goody bags full of crafts and nativity activities including a train whistle stating the greatest gift was Jesus (at Hobby Lobby on sale). We also decided to purchase two gifts for each child. Alyssa and I had so much fun shopping for the girls ... great mommy daughter time. I LOVED hearing her reasons for certain purchases. I tried very hard to get educational, game, art, or logical thinking toys for one family since they also homeschool. I only bought things that I would buy my daughter ... things that could be used to bring the families together. I purchased games that covered many ages so that the family with four daughters could play together. We had a wonderful time and are blessed to have met these families. I asked my daughter what her favorite part was and she told me it was giving the gifts to the other children which was amazing since she just recently turned four and didn't expect anything in return. We told her a couple weeks before how blessed she was and that the reason for the season is not presents but Jesus, love, and spending time together. I just wanted to share this day with you all - it was so much fun and I hope you will try it next year with your children if possible. Oh ... I pulled out some of my math manipulatives from my teaching days (Pattern Blocks, Attribute Blocks, and Unifix Cubes) for the children to create trains ... they worked together to make a long train track to play on! LOL! We also had Christmas coloring and activity sheets.

We always try to make sure we do something (play and singing) about the true meaning of Christmas.Our whole family is involved in this. We had a group of children we pick-up for church just this year ,they didnt even know the Christmas story about the birth of Jesus! They were also in the play and they know it now:)

We hosted a Reason for the Season party for several families in our community. We all gathered in our garage for the party (the house wasn't big enough) and the entire evening was all about Jesus. He was our guest of honor. We sang Christmas hymns and read the birth of Christ in Luke 2 together and shared such sweet fellowship and worship to our king and his birth. We then shared a good meal of soup and cornbread and ate birthday cupcakes in honor of Jesus. I hope this becomes an annual tradition for us as we begin the season focusing on the true meaning of Christmas and giving praise to the Lord.

Our favourite Chanukkah traditions are to eat potato latkes AT LEAST twice during the celebration and singing Maoz Tzur each night!

We celebrate my husband's traditional Carpathien Christmas eve with a meatless meal of pherogies, hash browns, saurkraut and machanka, a thick mushroom soup made from kraut juice. And start the whole thing off with a passing of challah bread and honey started by the eldest female blessing the youngest child with across mark on their forehead( finger dipped in honey) saying," May you be as sweet as honey and may all the girls love you". No meat till Christmas day! Each course has spiritual significance, but mostly just lots of fun being together!

We make sufganiyot every year...jelly donuts. The boys will have their friends over to enjoy the fresh, hot donuts...

The one movie my husband wants to see every year is "A Charlie Brown Christmas." It is such a tradition, our daughter chose it for her speech assignment this month!

On New Year's Day, our family spreads out a large piece of white paper on our dining room table and we all write down our thoughts about the previous year, along with drawings and decorations. Many lists are compiled: Top Ten Highlights, Lowlights, People we Visited, Books Read, Things To Stop/Continue/Start, Movies Watched, Trips Taken, etc. This is a highlight of the day and the new year. We also take out the old rolls of paper from previous years and reminisce.

Our family Christmas tradition begins with tamales and posole--our family (and friends) will get together to make these two seasonal dishes and catch-up on the events of the year. The kids usually help in making the cookie treats. After the cooking is done, we pass around chocolate coins and a few grapes (for the kids) and glass of wine for the adults to toast the trials and triumphs of the year that was and the sweetness of the coming year.

We like to have dinner picnic style under the tree. We turn off all the lights except for the tree. Put on Christmas songs in the background and have our dinner. Usually it is something that Mom doesn't have to make, like KFC or great subs from an Italian sandwich shop. We have home made Christmas cookies for desert. Very relaxing and fun. It gets me in full holiday mode every time.

To answer the question from someone to my post down about 10 posts below this one....."What do we do with our Christmas present exchange with such a full Christmas Eve day?"******Our family starts Christmas on December 5 (St. Nicholas Eve) because that is our son-in-law's tradition; he is from Europe. That evening the parents fill our Grand children's boots or lean books and larger objects up next to the boots.*******Between 3-10 days later, Grandpa and Grandma host a special surprise time with each grand kid to come over and spend the day and nights with us. We give them their present from us, have special food, and play with each one individually (this year we built Lego's with the boys and played dolls with the girls). *******Around the 18th of the month, Grandpa and Grandma take the kids for about six hours and go around to do fun things likes lights and playing. The highlight for us this year was the drive through nativity scene.While we have the kids, the adult children in the family have a simple gift exchange, food, and fun during those six hours. This year the adults all bought games, did a white elephant exchange, and played the games they got. This way the adults have some uninterrupted time together to interact with the presents they got. *******Doing Christmas this way keeps us from being overwhelmed on one day alone and keeps Christmas Eve Day open for the real reason of Christmas--Jesus. That day we give gifts to Him. See Gigi's post 10 below.

Instead of all the Advent calendars on the market that focus on a small gift each day, this year my husband and I made ours and filled it with different seasonal activities each day. It ensured that we actually did all the fun stuff we mean to do every year (drive around and look at Christmas lights, bake cookies *with* the kids, have a family movie night each Friday night, make birdseed ornaments for outdoors, go to a craft night at the library, check out a new wildlife rehabilitation center, etc) It hung off our mantle and was the highlight of everyone's day - finding out what new adventure awaited us!

My husband and I wanted to keep our focus more on the spiritual aspect of Christmas and avoid the materialism and chaotic malls. So about 12 years ago we decided to give 3 gifts (no more and no less) to each person on our shopping list. One gift is to be something practical, one gift is to be something fun, and the last gift is a meaningful treasure that would mean something special to the receiver. At first, my sons were in their early teen years and thought the idea was crazy. But on that first Christmas that we followed through on this new tradition, they were delighted with their gifts. We continue to this day following this tradition and it leaves a lasting impression on those receiving gifts from us. Even our newest additions of in-laws are intrigued at first, but have fallen in love with the idea!

It has always bugged me that Christmas music on the radio ends on December 26, many people throw out their trees, etc. So this year, we are celebrating the 12 days of Christmas to extend the holiday until Epiphany. Each day the kids get to open a family present--something the family can do together that day, like a puzzle, craft kit, Christmas movie DVD, Christmas song CD, a recipe to bake and eat together, etc. These are all gifts I would have normally given the family at Christmas, but decided to wait and spread them out over the 12 days. Gives the kids something to look forward to during the Christmas break, too!

We always see a local presentation of the "Nutcracker" ballet before Christmas. Afterwards, we enjoy a special meal at home and I give the kids a "Nutcracker" themed ornament for the Christmas tree. This year, I served our meal on some Nutcracker themed dishes that I received early for a Christmas gift! It is one of our favorite things to do every year.

We like to pray the O Antiphons from December 17-23. My daughter spells out the day's O Antiphon on a magnetic board and adds an appropriate picture (for instance, a picture of the Holy Spirit for O Wisdom on December 17.) We light a candle and pray the antiphon, then discuss what it means. Sometimes we might have a special meal or dessert to match the theme of the O Antiphon. This is an old monastery custom.

We have a Christmas box tradition. Each morning of December, the kids will open The Christmas Box. In the box is a clue of how we will celebrate Christmas that day. Examples are ornaments and paint supplies to make ornaments for family and friends, dress up clothes to act out the nativity, cookie cutters to make cookies for neighbors, etc. their favorite activity this year was regifting a toy. Their giving hearts blessed this Mom this Christmas!

"Fancy lunch"
When my 3 grown daughters arrive for Christmas we always make this. They call it the fancy lunch as it's served on croissants. I have the chicken already prepared and they do the chopping of celery and onions. Even with a tiny kitchen it gives us a chance to be together in the kitchen again making something delicious. Yet it's minimal mess and utensils. It's a perfect lunch for day after Christmas sales shopping.

Cranberry Chicken Salad

4 cups cubed, cooked chicken meat
1 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
1 cup chopped celery
2 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup minced green bell pepper (optional)
1 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
ground black pepper to taste

In a large bowl mix all ingredients. Chill for an hour.

We have a yule log that my husband made by drilling 25 holes into a log. We put 24 green candles and one red in the holes, and each night during Advent we light another candle on the yule log. it is fun to see the light from the candles increase as Christmas draws closer... this reminds us that Jesus is coming nearer each night. While the candles are lit we read one of our Christmas books and say our evening prayers.

i have done many things over the years with my children, but one that they ask for every Christmas eve is drinking milk through a candy cane. i don't remember how this tradition started, but after enjoying dinner and anything else we do, we break the ends off the large candy canes and just hang out while we drink the milk through the tiny holes in the candy canes.

On Christmas Eve day we start with a brunch. Everybody brings their food already prepared. /the feast is amazing (like a 5 star hotel.) After eating, we all dress up in costumes--angels, shepherds, wise men, Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, donkey, sheep, Roman soldier for the decree. We have made and collected costume pieces through the years, so we have quite a wealth of outfits. Adults and kids alike laugh and interact as we dress, and then the "narrator" reads the Christmas story as we all become the actors. The donkey was a read hit this year. Reenacting the Christmas story is our favorite Christmas activity. Next year it would be fun to take our play on the road to a rest home or a VA hospital or at least wear our costumes to pass out cards and presents to patients.

I make a CD with 5 previously chosen Christmas songs and we have a family song fest.

Then we come around the table and light our Birthday candle--a glass star about 8 inches in diameter with six candles in it to light up the star. We sing Happy Birthday to Jesus, and each year a different child is chosen to blow out the candles. (That eliminates the discussions of who blew out the most candles, of who didn't get to blow anything out, of who got in front of who.) It has become quite an honor to be designated as the candle blower. I call the child before Christmas Eve and tell him or her that they have been chosen to blow out the candle this year.

After the song we have a treasure chest that holds a card for each member of the family. On the card each person writes about what they will give to Jesus for this next year. Things like burdens, fears, first minutes of the day, my house, my life, my eyes are a sample of things that have been given through the years. We talk about what happened through the year as a result of our last years gift to Jesus. Then we have family time to play games, build Lego's, play with dolls, etc. This year our family time was a walk around our mile long loop. The sun was shining and it was 54 degrees and no wind. A rare treat for Seattle on Christmas day. A few years ago we spent all Christmas day building an igloo.

On Christmas Eve day we start with a brunch. Everybody brings their food already prepared. /the feast is amazing (like a 5 star hotel.) After eating, we all dress up in costumes--angels, shepherds, wise men, Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, donkey, sheep, Roman soldier for the decree. We have made and collected costume pieces through the years, so we have quite a wealth of outfits. Adults and kids alike laugh and interact as we dress, and then the "narrator" reads the Christmas story as we all become the actors. The donkey was a read hit this year. Reenacting the Christmas story is our favorite Christmas activity.

Then we come around the table and light our candle--a glass star about 8 inches in diameter with six candles in it to light up the star. We sing Happy Birthday to Jesus, and each year a different child is chosen to blow out the candles. (That eliminates the discussions of who blew out the most candles, of who didn't get to blow anything out, of who got in front of who.) It has become quite an honor to be designated as the candle blower. I call the child before Christmas Eve and tell him or her that they have been chosen to blow out the candle this year.

After the song we have a treasure chest that holds a card for each member of the family. On the card each person writes about what they will give to Jesus for this next year. Things like burdens, fears, first minutes of the day, my house, my life, my eyes are a sample of things that have been given through the years. We talk about what happened through the year as a result of our last years gift to Jesus.

Then we have family time to play games, build Lego's, play with dolls, etc. This year our family time was a walk around our mile long loop. The sun was shining and it was 54 degrees and no wind. A rare treat for Seattle on Christmas day. A few years ago we spent all Christmas day building an igloo.

Raw Cranberry Fruit Salad
2 cups organic cranberries
1 tsp orange zest from organic orange (below)
1 organic orange, peeled, sectioned, and quartered
1 tart apple, peeled, cored, and diced
2 ripe pears, peeled, cored, and diced
1-1/2 cups seedless grapes, halved OR organic raisins
3/4 cup fresh pineapple cut into small chunks
1/2 cup pecans, halved
1/3 cup raw unfiltered honey OR maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp each of ginger and allspice
This was a hit at our brunch today. It's delicious.

Our family loves to look at Christmas lights and displays. I start by putting a nice stew in the crock pot for after. Then we each grab a piping hot travel cup of cocoa with marshmallows floating atop (dessert before dinner!) and a snuggly blanket along with our Lamplighter audio book of Dickens "A Christmas Carol." We wrap ourselves up in the car, sip our hot cocoa and enjoy all the festive lights and manger scenes. When we have exhausted our ability to keep sitting we come home to the wonderful smell of our hot stew. I might bake some biscuits while the boys find our old black and white version of "It's a Wonderful Life." We are so blessed in this country. I am so thankful I can home school my children. It develops deep bonds and affords so many opportunities for moments like these! Merry Christmas.

One year I cooked a great deal of food expecting many family members to show up for dinner. Something happened and no one was able to make it. So, my 4 children and I made plates and got in the car and drove around town. Each of us had an assignment to find someone out there who looked as if they were not going to have a Christmas feast or might be spending Christmas alone. One by one we would find a person, at bus stop, sleeping under the freeway, in a store, where ever we could. Then the person took that plate of food, really 2 plates because we each included a dessert plate, and we offered it to the person who was alone or in need on Christmas. Now my children look forward to doing this every year even when we have a house full of guest to share in our Christmas feast.

Somehow this weird thing has become a family tradition. I always cook Cornish game hens for Christmas dinner. One year while I was rinsing the hens prior to seasoning I made one dance rockette style to some of the livelier Christmas songs. The dancing was a hit and my children would insist on the dancing hens every year after. They still insist even though two of them are in their mid to late twenties. Not heart-warming, but certainly a joyful family "thing".

Love to reflect quietly with the lights everywhere! Makes the dark not dreary!
Read "What Jesus Wants for Christmas" to our youngest child. It's a 7-day hands-on nativity.
Sing aloud with all 5 of us with Nat King Cole's Christmas album.
Surprise friends by bringing Martha S's Eggnog minus the alcohol to parties.
This year we carolled with a bunch of neighbors and friends - it will be a tradition now! It really blessed many people.

My mom had an old recipe for apple cider. We always make it on Christmas and it fills the house with this beautiful aroma. My mom now has Alzheimer's and can't enjoy the cider anymore. But, my daughters and I continue the tradition and hope the aroma stimulates her senses of wonderful memories of family and love. They do for us.

Since I don't do a Christmas tree or decorations, I do a scavenger hunt for the kids. We start our day with a special breakfast, read the Christams story in the Bible or from a book chosen for the day and talk about what were are thankful to Jesus for. I then hand out the index cards of clues and send them off to find the treasures. It is a big hit every year; the kids really look forward ot it.

Our Christmas tradition has always been to read the Christmas story from Luke 2, and then to describe the one thing that happened during the year that we are most thankful for, and the one thing that we learned the most from. It's fun to see how the thankfulness changes as the kids get older and understand more about what's really important in life!

This is a tradition we enjoy. We save our Christmas cards that people send us and put them into a basket. Each day beginning after Christmas we take one of the cards out of our basket and pray for that family. If they sent a note or letter we use info from that to guide our prayers. Then we send them a note letting them know that we prayed for them around our dinner table.

We have a tradition that dates back to my childhood. We light a bayberry candle on christmas eve and remember those family member who could not be with us this year or those who we have lost. Then on New Years eve we light another one to remember to be thankful for what we had this past year and to hope for those who are having a hard time.

A tradition we've done for about 6 years is on Christmas morning, we gift the kids a set amount of money to spend that we've saved up through the year and they spend it on the Gospel for Asia website buying chickens, bicycles, clothes, Bibles, tracts ect for missionaries in India. They all look forward to this on Christmas morning!

I have favorite recipes, activities and events that we partake in each Christmas season. My favorite recipe is probably for Pumpkin Cranberry Bread.
Favorite activity would probably be the mischief our magic elves, Eggnog and Merry Bells, get into.
Favorite event is our annual gingerbread house decorating party that I host.
My personal, feel good, favorite way to spread a little cheer is when we grab ourselves to some fast food and I pay for the car behind us as well. Just as a little treat.

We have a large family, so instead having our kids buy each other gifts, they are required to "make" their gifts for each other.

We have a tradition of not only doing several advent activities every night until Christmas but also each night in December, my husband or myself hide a small stuffed abominable snowman (the one from the old animated Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer) somewhere in our house. In the morning the kids rush around to be the first to find "Bomby". It's good fun and our 2 older boys know that if Bomby is low on the floor that it's for their younger sister to find.

Last night Alyssa was able to open her Christmas Eve gift from us early since daddy has to work at the fire station that day. We bought her the "What God Wants for Christmas: Nativity Kit with Book and Cd from Christianbook.com They were selling it for only $12.99. FamilyChristian.com also has it on sale right now for $14.99. We made hot chocolate with peppermint sticks and extract. After opening the gift, we sat on the couch and read the first part of the poem from the book. The activity guide also contains a little extra scripture information. We read about Gabriel the angel and we also read the referenced scripture verses from the Bible related to that part of the story. The kit comes with a pop-up nativity set and seven boxes containing figurines to add to the nativity. The 7th box is a surprise ... and is what God really wants for Christmas. The book recommends reading and opening one box per day hence the other reason I gave the gift to her early. Alyssa loved the miniature figurines! We also listened to the CD that came with the item - which was the reading again and a short version of the song: Hark the Herald Angels Sing. She danced with the figurine. I printed off the coloring and activity sheets from the Family Life website and from one other website. Here is the Family Life website address: http://www.familylife.com/site/c.dnJHKLNnFoG/b.6699577/k.4F25/FamilyLife_Resources.htm. Next year I will probably invite library friends and do a scavenger hunt. In addition to these activities we also bought the Truth in the Tinsel e-book for 25% off from here http://truthinthetinsel.com/. It is no longer on sale but VERY reasonably priced considering what you get. This e-book is full of advent crafts to do with little ones. I received it late but will definitely start early next year. There was an angel ornament for Gabriel that we all completed as a family. We also watched the Littlest Angel afterwards - I will read the book today. This will be a tradition EVERY year!!!!

I found a NEW tradition that I would LOVE to start next year since it is almost Christmas. I may still TRY to start it anyways even though it is LATE in the game. It was called the Sacrifice Manger. First, in November ... I subscribed to Holy Heroes Advent Adventures for the first time. Alyssa and I were watching the videos together when the children started discussing the tradition. Alyssa said she wanted to do it! The idea is to make or buy the manger for Baby Jesus. Cut yarn, straw, raffia, or whatever you can find that looks like straw into pieces. Create a list of sacrifices or good deeds and place in a large bowl. The children can pull out a strip, read it, and complete the action. Once they have made a sacrifice or done a good deed (even if it is not one from the bowl), then they can add a piece of straw to the manger. The idea is to make the manger as soft and full as they possibly can so that Baby Jesus will be warm and comfortable. This is the website for the Holy Heroes http://www.holyheroes.com/ - it is Catholic-based but I am not Catholic and have found many resources to help with my teachings during advent. They send videos and activities on a daily basis from the start to end of advent. We have enjoyed it this year.

On New Year's we light one candle that is pushed into a large bowl filled with sand. We sit and discuss our goals, both individual and family goals, that were met of the previous year. We also discuss what quality or habit we want to let go of, such as teasing or selfishness, and what quality we'd like to replace it with, such as being more helpful or having better organizational skills. (They don't necessarily have to be related.)

Then, we write what we want to let go of on Magician's Flash Paper, which is paper that when lit dissappears very quickly w/o ash. One by one we meditate a moment, then light the paper from a candle and toss it into the air or onto the bowl with sand. It burns away our unwanted habit, leaving room for the new one. Then we each take a new candle and light it from the one burning and add it to the bowl of sand.

When we're done with individual goal, we select a couple family goals to work on in the coming year, and brainstorm ideas of how to accomplish that goal, as well as how to help each other w/ the personal ones. The kids love using the flash paper, and it brings us so close as a family to work together and help each other achieve our dreams. ~ ~

Our 2 favorite Christmas traditions are singing Christmas songs from our daily Christmas Advent calendar that a good friend gave to us after our first child was born 11 years ago and making our own gingerbread for gingergbread houses! Now we have 4 children and are missionaries in Mozambique, but these traditions still remain our favorite!

We have many traditions, but one that my children love is making gift boxes for Operation Christmas Child. Each child packs a shoe box full of small gifts that they hope another child will like. We also enjoy reading Boxes for Katje each year, before we take our gift boxes to our church.

We do lots of fun things, but this one is practically FREE and can be done by anyone. We take insulated coffee cups filled with hot chocolate to sip on and drive about 30 minutes from our house to an extra-decorated street we've known about for ages. Then we drive slowly and ooh-and-ahh over all the lights while carols play on our radio. Our kids (9yr old son, 6yr old son & 3yr old daughter) really enjoy this tradition. Last year we made a "prize bag" filled with hershey kisses and other treats and attached a note saying that this house wins the 'best decorations' prize from our family with a wish for a very blessed Christmas. It was so fun leaving that on the doorstep of the "winners!" FYI, the kids did NOT pick the one with the most lights!

Last year our family spent Christmas Day visiting veterans at our local VA Hospital. We put together small gift bags with Christmas cards thanking them for their service to our country. When we arrived at the hospital we were shocked to find that only four or five of the nearly 200 in-patients had received visitors that day. We found no gifts or cards in their rooms. It was a very rewarding, yet heart-wrenching day. We made a commitment to make it an annual tradition and will be going on Christmas Eve this year. We have posted our event on our Facebook page and are hoping to get more families involved this year and in the future!

Last year our family spent Christmas Day visiting veterans at our local VA Hospital. We put together small gift bags with Christmas cards thanking them for their service to our country. When we arrived at the hospital, we were shocked to find that only four or five of the nearly 200 in-patients had received visitors that day. We found no gifts or cards in their rooms. It was a very rewarding, yet heart-wrenching day. We made a commitment to make it an annual tradition and will be going on Christmas Eve this year. We have posted our event on our Facebook page and are hoping to get more families involved this year and in the future!

Every year we make gingerbread houses using graham crackers. I have been making them since I was a child and now I get to make them with my children. This year we also made gingerbread nativities. We also made an Advent calender this year and I am so excited we finally started and Advent tradition. I am also organizing a caroling event next week at a nursing home so far there will be about 50 homeschooled kids. If it goes well I may make it a yearly event.

There are 3 wonderful advent books that we rotate between, Tabitha's Travels, Jotham's Journey and Bartholomew's Passage all by Arnold Ytreeide. They are suspenseful,
exciting adventures about kids during the time of Jesus birth. There is a chapter for each day during advent . Even as my kids are becomming teens, they still want to hear one each year.

As my sons became teens I had to come up with new traditions. I save the tubes from the wrapping paper and before Christmas dinner we have a sword fight with them. The tube that does not break or tear is the winner of the first piece of pie after dinner. It is one of our favorite traditions now.

My family, especially my dd, looks so forward to baking and decorating the Jesus Birthday cake. She loves that we sing happy birthday and then have it for dessert on Christmas day. We do all the baking and decorating on Christmas Eve and then she is excited for the Christmas dessert. It is a tradition that we started when she was 2 and she looks forward to it every year. We have fun talking about why each thing we do to make the cake is significant to the birth of Christ and then decorating. Singing happy birthday is fun. We all enjoy it!

We love to tour neighborhood light displays with Christmas music on the car stereo and travels mugs full of hot chocolate.

We have three Christmas traditions. First is tree decorating. We bake and eat chocolate chip cookies, play Christmas music while decorating the tree. Then that evening we dress for bed and listen to the audio version of A Christmas Carol.

Second tradition is on Christmas Eve. My husband takes our five children to his mother's house for "Jesus' Birthday Party". The have cake and ice cream play games, and read the bible story. While they are gone, I wrap and display the Christmas gifts under the tree. Also I buy everyone new pajamas and hide them through out the house. When they return home they ooh and aww over the gifts on display and then go searching for their pajamas. They are allowed to sleep in the new pajamas. (This was all for the purpose of having nicely dressed children in the Christmas morning photos if we did not go to church.)

The third tradition is on Christmas morning. First we attend church service (if it is on Christmas Day) and when we return home my husband (or the children now that they are older 15, 13, 11, 8, and 5) will read the story of the birth of Jesus from the bible. Then we open our gifts. We spend the rest of the day relaxing at home.

A new tradition for us (began last year) is baking cookies and taking them to the employees at Meijer (the grocery we use). Store clerks get a lot of grumpy people this time of year, so we pack up the kids and let them give out cookies and smiles and share the love of Christ. It's funny - my kids get free cookies at the bakery all year long. This gives them the chance to give a little back.

I have 6 children under 10 and we LOVE Christmas in our home. We have several traditions but one seems to always be the favorite. Our Advent Manger Scene!

I have a large bag with 24 Manger scene items in it to build a Nativity scene over the month of December. There is the manger structure, a palm tree, angels, lots of animals (some added by my little boys and not part of the time period! - adds to the sweetness of my kid's ages) shepherds, wise men, and more.

We go in order from youngest to oldest and each night one child gets to pull an item out of the bag and build our advent Manger scene. We place it in the China cabinet so the manger is built in there and can't be touched or played with.

The night of Christmas Eve - Mommy or Daddy pulls the baby Jesus out of the bag and places it in the manger. It's a very sweet moment and time seems to stand still in our home as we each remember and cherish the moment of Christmas and the true meaning for it.

The first present our four kids open, on Christmas Eve before bedtime, is a pair of new pajamas. They all know what the present will be, but the pajamas are picked out by mom and are a surprise. This is the only thing under the tree until the morning. The kids look forward to wearing brand new comfy pajamas to bed on Christmas Eve, and it's great for Christmas morning pictures! :)

Dark Chocolate Cherry Fudge (careful, it's addicting!)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup (5 fl.-oz. can) NESTL CARNATION Evaporated MilkNESTL CARNATION Evaporated Milk
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 2/3 cups (10-oz. pkg.) NESTL TOLL HOUSE Dark Chocolate Morsels
3/4 cup (4 oz.) dried cherries, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
LINE 8-inch-square baking pan with foil.

COMBINE sugar, evaporated milk, butter and salt in medium, heavy-duty saucepan. Bring to a full rolling boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil, stirring constantly, for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

STIR in marshmallows, morsels, dried cherries and vanilla extract. Stir vigorously for 1 minute or until marshmallows are melted. Pour into prepared baking pan. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm. Lift from pan; remove foil. Cut into 48 pieces.

Since our son is young this is only of second year of doing this, before he was just to young and not really capable, but I adore this tradition already. Starting the day after Thanksgiving we make one Christmas ornament every day until Christmas Eve. Then on Christmas Eve he gets to be in charge of decorating the tree with all the ornaments he has made. He gets to pick a person, and an ornament and that person gets to put the ornament on the tree. Some days we have friends make them with us at playdates, when family comes we each make our own all together at the table, and on Christmas Eve we have a tree full of beautiful handmade ornaments. Then after I take the tree down I end up with a Manilla envelope stuffed full of ornaments that I label and put in the attic. We've had a rough start to it this year, with sickness and such, but instead we've tried to keep up by making multiple ornaments at a time, and since he's even bigger the ornament kits and supplies are where we can pick one to do almost anytime he wants. With more than one kid they can simply take turns decorating the tree with their own ornaments. Putting the tree up on Christmas Eve is an amazing introduction to what is to come, and adds more festivity to a day that usually feels like a day of just waiting. It can also be very representative, like setting up for a Birthday party.

So with us being first year homeschoolers, we are always looking for inspiration. The holidays seem to always inspire me as well as my boys. I know that homeschooling was the right choice for our family. I also know that I find guidance and inspiration from my friends, especially all the homeschooling parents we now share our days with! So we decided to start a new tradition this year. We have decided to celebrate the holidays all around the world, without leaving our living room. We pick a country, eat what they eat, follow their traditions for a few days and of course do art...an ornament for our Christmas tree! I figure by the time they are in grade eight we'll need more then one tree...and maybe a bigger home!!
The holidays seem to be the time to be creative in a loving way and allowing ourselves to be in the moment with our friends and family! So with that being said, Happy holidays from us to all of you...my greatest inspiration of all!

Each year, we reserve one evening to build gingerbread houses, but with a twist. We only use products we have on hand such as left-over candies, snack crackers, pretzels, cookies, cereal, etc...Over the years we've learned the goldfish crackers make wonderful shingles, pretzel sticks are great fence-building materials, breadcrumbs for sand/dirt, even wafer cookies for roof-top solar panels! It's an evening we always look forward to and we all enjoy stretching our creativity also.

Of all the traditions we have for the Christmas holiday, by far my favorite is one I started when my oldest daughter was a toddler over 36 years ago and still do for my youngest daughter and my grandchildren. Every year they are allowed to open one gift on Christmas Eve, but it must be the gift that I have marked for for Christmas Eve. The reason is that gift is always a pair of pajamas that I have made or bought especially for them. We give them pajamas for two reasons. First, during the cold weather of December pajamas with keep each child warm at night. But the most important reason is what we share with them about what those pajamas should remind them of, and that is that the Christ child did not have warm pajamas on that first Christmas when he was born. We explain that Jesus was wrapped in swaddling cloth and laid in a manger, not a warm bed in a home. For this reason we should be thankful for what we have, a warm house, warm pajamas and a warm bed to sleep in. With this we have taught our children to be thankful for what they have and grateful for each gift they receive that year. Of all the traditions this is one my older children always call to make sure I'm going to do again for their children, and sometimes for themselves. Warm pajamas have become a memory of home, family and Jesus our Savior whose birthday we celebrate at Christmas.

My two daughters have created their own Christmas tradition of getting out the Barbies and Polly Pockets and playing with them on the tree and the Christmas train. They and their friends make a small bed on the tree for their dolls and then make little homes around the tree. The Polly Pockets love riding on the train. They can't wait for us to put up the tree and train.

We have had so many traditions over the years, some handed down from my Irish family and some from my husband s off the boat Italian family and they have all been so much fun. We have pageants, baking special Italian crostoli that only Dad can help with, new Christmas PJs, and special letters back and forth to Santa. But my favorite new tradition? It started last year. I have a teen and a tween who are so involved in the community that we were running between concerts, community carols, cookie baking, and all of our home traditions that we were not sitting listening to music or watching the twinkling tree. I was devastated that we did not get to build our special (creative, kid-oriented, no fanciness) gingerbread village and wondered when would we get this done. Then I just stopped.
We are taking our time this year. We pick and choose different traditions that we will carry on one year and not the other. We have still committed to some outside events but are taking more time for family movie night ( It s a Wonderful Life , etc), sharing our favorite carols, and just being . We will keep the traditions but NOT BE RULED by them. They are great at giving the Christmas spirit but they can take it away if the pace gets too frenetic. So my new tradition, started late in the season last year, is to slow down. Bake cookies or buy them and decorate them. Invite people over now or after the New Year when the pace is quieter and more personal. Meditate not run.

The Flying Squirrel Tradition -
One year when I was home from college we had a strange night. It was 2 nights before Christmas, my friend was sleeping in the living room where the Christmas tree was and I was in the attached sunporch. In the middle of the night I woke up to a crash. I called out, "what was that?" and my friend replied, "the Christmas tree fell over". At first I started to go back to sleep and then it registered what she said. I got up and saw the tree on the floor, broken bulbs all around, and our 2 dogs sniffing at it very intently. I yelled up the stairs to my parents to come down quick. They came down in a hurry, bleary eyed and half asleep. My dad lifted the tree up and as he set it back up, he looked at the trunk and right near his hand was a flying squirrel! Now the question was, how do we get the flying squirrel out of the house? We decided to carry the whole tree out the front door but we didn't want the squirrel to decided to jump off and escape into the house so my mom gave me a broom to make sure it was scared only in the right direction. Then, my mom yelled up the stairs to my brother, "David, guard the stairs!" Keep in mind that he was sound asleep and this is all he heard. He came to the top of the stairs very confused. So now my brother is guarding the stairs (of course he doesn't know what from at this point), my parents are carrying the Christmas tree out of the house and I am beating a broom on the tree to keep the squirrel from jumping into the house and in the hopes of scaring it out of the tree and outside (this is in the wee hours of the morning and although not too many people were driving by and I doubt the neighbors were up, it must have been a very strange sight to those who did see this. I am sure it caused some double takes as they drove by. We were of course in pajamas as well). Once outside, I beat the tree with the broom until the poor squirrel was finally scared enough to run for it and find safety in a nearby OUTSIDE tree. Then we pulled the tree back inside and cleaned up the mess, and finally explained to my brother what was going on. So, the next Christmas I made a stuffed flying squirrel and gave it to my dad for a christmas present. It goes in the tree every year. Now that I have my own family I have actually bought a stuffed flying squirrel for our tree. It makes us all laugh (now) to remember that crazy year of the flying squirrel and our friends enjoy the story each year as well.

I bake Stolle de Noel, making my own almond paste and candied citrus peels! It's a huge hit with my family and the friends I share it with. :)

Christmas is a good time to cheer everyone up. I start decorating and playing inspirational music in my car and home around the minddle of October. I extend extra attention to those that need help in getting into the sincere mood of the season of "comfort and joy.

Christmas Eve is our favorite day of the year. We used to spend it with extended family, and felt a bit lost when we moved far from "home". We decided to improvise, and the results have been amazing! Each year, we prepare a buffet of our favorite foods - bacon wrapped water chestnuts, hot spiced punch, marinated chicken, etc. - and we invite our friends to tote along their own favorites and enjoy the evening with us. The list of people we'd like to invite is always 5 times longer than the number we can really accommodate, so we give special preference to those who would likely be spending Christmas alone or might have other needs for an extra shot of Christmas cheer. We also invite people to share a favorite Christmas song, poem or memory and we finish the evening with a scripture reading of the first Christmas interspersed with singing Christmas carols. This will be our 13th Christmas Eve spent this way. Half of our children now live far away, so we sometimes don't see them for even 2 or 3 years at a time. With 3 of our children coming home this year, we asked if they would rather have Christmas Eve be smaller and more intimate and family-focused. The response: "Heck, no! Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve are the two times a year when the house should be bursting at the seams with people." :) So our house will be packed again this year. Our guests will be black, white, Chinese, Catholic, Mormon, Baptist, wealthy, financially-challenged, single, married, newborn, middle-aged and in the twilight years. And we'll all share good food, friendship and a love of the Savior.

I have a sister who is many years younger than I am and I was like a second mom to her when she was younger. When I had my son, I knew she was going to feel a bit 'replaced' so for her Christmas gift, I got several gifts, wrapping each of them individually. All of the small gifts get a number assigned to them and they go into a big box full of wrapping paper scraps or packing peanuts. On top of the wrapped box I attached a note informing her it was her special box of Christmas fun. She had to answer little Christmas trivia questions, or sing carols backwards, etc to open each gift. It didn't matter what was in the box, the true gift was the fun we all had and knowing that she still felt special. I continued this until she was 18 and at that point, my son was about 7 years old, so she took over the 'gift' of the special Christmas fun box for him. It's still one of the most looked forward to traditions in our family and it gives the recipient a chance to know they are special. When my son reaches 18, if my sis has a child, he'll continue the tradition with them. I hope that every Christmas has a box of fun for many years to come!

We learn a Christmas carol and a Christmas song each year - all the verses. We keep the lyrics in the car so we can sing as we go around doing our errands and we remember the other songs we've learned from years gone by. It's easy and we like it.

I love doing an Advent calendar with my daughter. I splurged on one with the doors hiding spaces that can be filled. I printed up a scripture passage for each day, starting with prophecies and moving to the Christmas story, culminating with a full Christmas passage at the 25th. I also put a piece of gum, a coin, tattoos, stickers, or tiny toys scattered throughout. I wake up every morning to my daughter asking if she can open the calendar yet. Most years we also do an advent wreath, with readings and singings, after one meal a week, but this year we are between homes, so we weren't able to do it.
To keep the focus on Christ instead of gifts on Christmas day, we open some small gifts on Christmas Eve. On Christmas, we give her 3 gifts. A "myrrh" one - as it was used to anoint bodies, we make it a body related gift (like lotions and body wash). A "frankincense" one - since it was used for prayers, we make it something to bring her closer to God - last year it was a storybook bible, this year a family devotion book. The last is "gold" - that's a big gift, a pricier, more special, one.
We also let her pick out one ornament each year - she gets fairly free reign, but it has to be something nice, not a cheap character ornament or anything like that. I hope one day to be able to pass them all down to her when she starts her own family. And it's fun looking back at what she picked previous years.

Annual Christmas Ornament: A Year in Review
1) I buy a "blank/white" Christmas ball ornament from the craft store.
2) I get my multicolored fine point sharpies and my day planner.
3) I go through and choose significant events that have happened throughout the year and write a brief description on the ornament.
4) I enjoy opening this ornament EVERY Christmas to come!

Normally, we have Christmas presents, but this year I lost my job so we cannot afford them. However, we are thanking Jesus for our daily provision and that my husband still has his job for time-being. We will try to carry on the tradition of making candy and giving it to neighbors. We also are participating in a music program for our local senior center where we volunteer throughout the year. We generally don't celebrate with a Christmas tree, but rather a birthday cake for Jesus. Fortunately, we were one of the winners of the "Give Thanks" contest, so we were able to bless another with a financial gift! We are blood-bought, born-again believers in Jesus Christ and know our treasures are in Heaven, but it would still be fun to open something for Christmas. : D

Every Christmas eve after returning home from church, my children get to open two presents. They are always a new ornament for the tree. The ornament generally tries to commemorate something important to that child from during the year...i.e. a new pet, a first..., some major event, etc. The other gift is always a new pair of pajamas which they generally wear to bed that night.

Every Christmas Eve we attend our church's Christmas eve children's service. They reenact the nativity in one form or another and the kids get to wear costumes. It is very informal, no rehearsal, no predesignated parts, just whoever shows up and wants to be a character can. One of our parishioners made new costumes a couple of years ago. She took zip-up hooded sweatshirts and decorated the hoods with big loops of yearn for the sheep, and with ears for the donkey. Of course we have angels with pull over "dresses", wings, and halos, and shepherds in addition to the three main characters. We conclude the evening by singing Happy Birthday to Jesus and having a birthday cake for him. This year we are adding a twist. The children helped our priest write a letter of invitation to Santa Clause to come visit. He will "quietly" arrive, acknowledge the nativity, accept communion and "quietly" leave. Just a way to combine the secular and the sacred and give more focus to the real reason for the season.

We have several traditions that we practice at Christmas time. One is to go to a Christmas tree farm on the weekend after Thanksgiving to cut down a fresh tree. We generally invite grandparents to accompany us. This particular tree farm has reindeer to pet, feed, and observe. Santa is usually visiting for a photo op, and they have horse drawn wagon rides. They also offer free hot chocolate and popcorn to enjoy while you wait for your tree to be shook and bound. They have little plastic toboggans to help you transport your tree back up to the shaker. My son has a ball pulling his little sister on the toboggan through the maze of trees and trying to tip her over. She likewise has a ball trying to hang on tight enough to foil his plan.

We also make gift jars every year to give to teachers, coaches, etc. The kids love spending the day measuring and layering the ingredients in the jars. Then we decorate the top to make them festive looking.

Finally, we do an advent calendar every night along with an advent devotional. Each year the devotional is different. This year we are reading about different Christmas carols. We also have and advent wreath, that we light the candles on each night while we read. So far I think the carols devotional is our favorite. The kids want to sing a verse of the carol each night before I read to them about it importance to the Christmas season.

We bake up an assortment of Christmas treats two days before Christmas. Then on Christmas Eve we drive around to deliver the goodies to family, friends, and neighbors while checking out all the Christmas light displays too. But, the really fun part is we bring extra treat plates to give out randomly to strangers who are stuck working on Christmas Eve!

We sleep under the light Christmas tree on Christmas Eve

My family is of an Earth centered religion. Every year we create a new tool/symbol to be used during our celebration. This year we will be creating a Yultide Besom. we gather things from nature to create our Besoms. After asking permission, and listening for the answer, we will gather things like pine brances, evergreens, holly, pine cones, grasses, and tree branches. We try to always only take what is needed and to always say thank you by sprinkling some water onto the Earth. We also create a Yule Log and light it using a sacred piece from the year before. This ensures good luck into the coming year. We decorate, with every one participating, our home with Holly, Mistletoe, and Pine/Evergreens. On the night of the Solstice, we hold a family celebration. I will explain the history of Yule and the Solstice and that this is the shortest day of the Year. At Yule, the sun is born once more and gets a little bit stronger and stays in the sky a little bit longer each day after that. We then have a Birthday Party to celebrate the rebirth of the Sun, Lugh, and the returning of His warmth to the Earth. We begin with the lighting of the Yule Candle and singing Happy Birthday to the Sun. During this we will tell a story about Yule and create something. Last year it was Walnut wishes to be buried after Imbolc. At the end, have "cakes and Ale" which consists of a treat that is particularly special or this occasion (maybe something like Solstice cookies) and a drink, traditionally Apple juice.

Every year our boys begin our Christmas Day celebration by reenacting the nativity story from the Bible with one of our family's nativity scenes. When they were young it wasn't unusual for Sesame Street figures to show up to worship the babe in the manger. As they've grown, and we've often traveled at the holidays, the boys' improvisation skills with whatever favorite characters are on hand have creatively, yet beautifully, helped reveal the Christmas story. Last year, for instance, Mary arrived to the stable riding a Donkey Kong, and a Star Trek Gabriel said, "Beam me up Goddy" after relaying the message of the Messiah's birth to the shepherds. Though we allow artistic license to keep the boys excited about freshly illustrating the story, they never stray from the truth of the Bible in their recount. It's been a wonderful way to begin our morning focused on the real reason of Christmas. Afterwards, they begin their search for the "Best Gift of Christmas" - a baby Jesus doll in a bed of straw hidden among the packages under the tree.

We begin our holiday cheer by celebrating the feast day of St. Nicholas on Dec. 6th. The children leave their shoes outside their bedrooms with their letter to Santa and a carrot for the reindeer. St. Nick leaves a letter back telling how they've grown as a person and a Christian this year and a little bag of chocolate gold coins (per the legend) and a candy cane (representing a bishop's mitre).

A few days before Christmas, I host a "Polar Express" night for all the (potty-trained) kids who call me Aunty. Each group of siblings decorates a gingerbread house/train. Then we have hot chocolate and homemade cookies. Everyone gets their pjs on, and watches a Christmas movie. (Originally it was Polar Express.) They climb into their sleeping bags, I read the Christmas account from the bible, we take turns to pray, and then some go to sleep. In the morning, I serve waffles and give them back to their parents, who got a night off to shop/wrap. So far, 6 different families; now at 19 kids age range 3 - 16years. They love it and it feels so good to bless parents and kids in one swoop!

Another tradition we have is that on Christmas Eve Eve we go to our friend's house to eat tamales and the children switch gifts. We then attend Christmas Eve Eve service at our church. My daughter stays with the adults because she enjoys hearing the music and singing the songs. There is an touching light activity during the service. We then drive to Wimberley, Texas to walk through The Trail of Lights. It is a walking trail or path through 8 acres with lighted displays decorated by families, churches, and businesses. They have a Jingle Bell Express train ride, roasted hot dogs and cocoa, and of course Santa. There are many other wonderful things to see and do there. It is always beautiful and such a great memory for us.

We made it a tradition to attend the local library Christmas pajama party. They read a story aloud, do crafts, sing carols, and eat treats. I am not sure yet what they are planning but I will be calling today or tomorrow. This year Alyssa invited a friend to tag along with us. I plan on inviting her and her mother over afterwards for more story related activities. It will be so much fun!

My family is half Jewish, so every night my daughter calls her grandparents so they can light the candles of the menorah "together". We also watch a Christmas movie every night as our family movie. My daughter and I make and decorate ornaments.

I grew up in an Air Force family and then married into the Army. Every year on Christmas morning we drive to each of the security gates on the base/post and deliver cookies and treats for the soliders or guards who are working. We want to make sure they know we are appreciative of them working to keep us safe EVERY day... but especially on those days when I am sure they would much rather be at home with their families, they are instead helping to protect our military base. My family did this while I was growing up and I now enjoy doing it with my husband and kids every year.

On Christmas morning I enjoy preparing a special breakfast for my family. Daddy is a firefighter so this year we'll wait until he gets home from work to enjoy the breakfast (later than usual). I will make them Cinnamon Rolls from scratch, Eggnog Pancakes, or Gingerbread Pancakes using Christmas cookie cutters (unless of course I can come up with a better idea before then). The year that my husband works on Christmas I will prepare a Christmas Muffin Tin breakfast for Alyssa. We've done this before and she gets a kick out of it! What you do is take any muffin tin (thematic ones add to the idea) and place meal items in the sections. The food ideas can be REALLY creative and thematic too. Click here for Christmas shape ideas http://michellesjournalcorner.blogspot.com/2008/12/muffin-tin-monday-christmas-shapes.html or here for more http://michellesjournalcorner.blogspot.com/. You can also type in and google Muffin Tin Meals. Enjoy!

We created a tradition on our honeymoon, every vacation we take we get an ornament to remind us of where we went. These are the most special ornaments that we add to our tree every year. Each one brings back memories of good times spent together on vacation. The kids also love finding a new ornament when we are on vacation to bring back for our tree!

I collect new and used good condition toys donated by families (and kind children) to send to children in developing countries. Each year about 2 barrels of toys are sent to be received around Christmas time. Parents in these countries can barely afford to feed their families or send their children to school. It is my hopes that this at the very least gives the children who receives them a little relief from the very adult stresses of poverty.

On Christmas Eve my son & I lay out extra Christmas lights in the front yard to make a runway for Santa's sleigh. We don't have a chimney so there's no need for him to land on the roof. Then we leave reindeer food (oatmeal) on the runway for Rudolph and his team. On Christmas morning my son finds "sleigh tracks" on the ground and most of the reindeer food has been "eaten."

Here is my "new" favorite holiday recipe! Easy, yummy and it makes an inexpensive gift :)

PUMPKIN FUDGE

2 c. sugar
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. pumpkin
1/4 tsp. spice (or more to taste)
1 stick butter
8oz white chocolate
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 c chopped pecans (optional)

In a sauce pan combine all but the white chocolate, vanilla and if using nuts. Over medium high heat stiring continually bring to a boil and continue cooking until mixture starts to thicken aprox 3 minutes. Remove from heat and add white chocolate, vanilla and if using the nuts. Beat until firm enough to pour into a buttered 8"X8" pan. Cool in the refrigerator for about an hour, cut then continue cooling until fully set.

For the final step I used an electric stand mixer.

I'll be the oddball...we do Hannukah. We do a who-dun-it mystery dinner party for only adult friends- Jewish and Christian both- no kids allowed- so everyone can actually relax and enjoy something for themselves instead of the usual hecticness, materialism and such. It's not a murder mystery, it's who stole the hannukah menorah?

Our annual tradition is to drive to the National Forest the day or 2 after Thanksgiving to cut down our Christmas tree. We usually get to see Smokey Bear (& get pics with him) along with Santa, and even if there's no snow at home, there usually is some to be found up in the mountains in the forest. Wonderful for stoking that Christmas spirit! My daughter's birthday is today & she loves having a Christmas tree up for her birthday! (Nothing new to our family, dh's bday is 12-29 & mine is 1-2, so bday presents under the Christmas tree are almost a family tradition too!) :)

Each year since our children were small and even now that 2 have moved out, we have always given them each a special ornament as a gift. This way, when they move out, they have plenty of special and meaningful ornaments for their own tree

We started a new tradition this year called the Jesse Tree. It is an advent activity done by many Catholic families and churches - even though we are not Catholic ... I believe this activity can be used by any christian family. We have been reading one story a day from the book Jesse Tree Geraldine McCaughrean. After reading and discussing the story we color the ornaments to place on the Jesse Tree. We also say a prayer and read scripture related to the story and ornament. This year we are using an artificial tree but I plan to make a Jesse Tree from branches next year. We will also make the ornaments into craft activities next year (I ran out of time this year to organize). If you are interested in this activity try to google it because there are some wonderful FREE resources out there.

We read Penny's Christmas Jar Miracle by Jason F. Wright as a family. We decorate the Christmas jar together as a craft type activity. Then, we start collecting and place our change in the jar throughout the month. I have hopes to start this tradition earlier each year so that there will be more money to give away in a bigger container. We save up the money and close to Christmas ... Alyssa will choose who we will secretly give the jar to for Christmas. If you have more children you could brainstorm a list of people or charities and then vote (decide together). You could also let the children take turns deciding each year. We started this last year and Alyssa really enjoys hiding and giving the gift to another family that may need it more than we do.

On Christmas Eve we sing Christmas songs or carols. We dance around like maniacs. Alyssa is allowed to open two gifts: A Christmas Book and Pajamas. I usually take her to the store to see which pajamas are her favorites and then buy one later. We also watch family Christmas movie and eat popcorn.

One of my favorite holidays is Christmas and I have strived to create many special traditions that will bring our family together and create positive memories. I started this tradition two years ago and would have started it earlier if I had known about it. I am sure this could be adapted to fit any winter holiday or celebration. I used to be a teacher so I accumulated many books over the years. I am now putting those books to use with my four year old daughter. First, I wrap 25 different Christmas (winter or holiday celebration) books as beautiful gifts. This year books 1-24 are wrapped in gold and the last one is wrapped in purple wrapping paper. Next, place all of the wrapped books in a large festively wrapped box or basket in the main family room. Our books are in a basket under the front part of the tree in the living room. Then, each night Alyssa will select one book that will be read together as a family (sometimes I number the books - tell why later). This tradition spreads the holiday cheer throughout the entire month. This could also be done as a 12 Days of Christmas activity if you don't own or want to borrow that many books but we like to use it kind of like an advent activity.
I also choose two special Christmas books as Christmas gifts each year. Most of these books are very special stories that celebrate what we feel is the true meaning of Christmas: birth of Jesus (nativity), bible stories, gift giving, love, advent, etc. We also throw in a few for fun. The two NEW books will be opened as her gifts on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day morning.
Why do I number the books??? Well, I usually want to do more with the books than just read them. So, last year I planned at least one activity to do with each book - this can be craft activities, math activities, reading enrichment, sensory tubs, writing, etc. I numbered folders and bags to correspond with the books to store art supplies and papers.
A few of our favorite books in no particular order
: Humphrey's First Christmas by Carol Heyer
A Special Place for Santa by Jeanne Pieper
Penny's Christmas Jar Miracle by Jason F. Wright
The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck
Mortimer's Christmas Manger by Jane Chapman
The Littlest Angel by Charles Tazewell
The Story of Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden and Barbara Cooney
Bright Star, Bright Star What Do You See? by Cassandre Maxwell
J is for Jesus: The Sweetest Story Ever Told by Crystal Bowman
The Candymaker's Gift by David & Helen haidle
Christmas in the Manger by Nola Buck
The Night Before Christmas (many loved versions)
Room for a Little One by Martin Waddell
The Christmas Baby by Marion Dane Bauer
The Story of Christmas or The Christmas Story by Patricia Pingry
The Tale of Three Trees by Angela Hunt
The Jesse Tree by Geraldine McCaughrean
The Story of the Christmas Rose (retold by I.M. Richardson)
What is Christmas by Michelle Medlock Adams
My First Story of Christmas by TimDowley
Christmas is ... by Gail Gibbons
The Little Drummer Boy by Ezra Jack Keats
Jingle Bells by Iza Trapani
The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
Gingerbread Mouse by Katy Bratun
The Christmas Hat by A.J. Wood
One Snowy Night by Christina Butler
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey
The Gingerbread Girl by Lisa Campbell Ernst
The Crippled Lamb
The Gingerbread Man or Baby (Jan Brett and other loved versions)
**There are way too many books to list but this should get you started. Any extra books are placed in another basket or on tables nearby to be read at bedtime or throughout the day.
I hope you'll give this activity a try and see the joy and happiness it will bring to your family. The wrapping of the books is worth the memories and smiles. Happy Holidays!
Tracey M.

We love the season but ours extends until Chinese New Year. We really enjoy dressing up and preparing for the New Year with traditions like cutting our hair before the new year begins, cleaning and sweeping, which represents sweeping out the bad lick of the last year and making room for good luck and of course we love the food from Eight delights rice pudding to loooong noodles for long life!

We absolutely love the Christmas season and there is a sense of wonder and happiness in the home that can only be felt during this time. We start in early December by playing Christmas music in the house all the time. I know it sounds a bit cheesy but it does lift the heart. We also watch "The Christmas Story," "The Polar Express," and Disney's "A Christmas Carol." On Christmas Eve we read about the birth of Christ and we track Santa as he gets closer to our area! We have a ball and try to never lose focus of why we have Christmas to start with. God Bless!

Here's what we do
: - gifts of new PJs for Christmas Eve (so the kids will look great for photos on Christmas morning!)

- a new ornament for each child each year. We make an event of it shopping, a stop for cocoa, etc.(not sure if mom will keep these mementos, lol, or surprise each child with these as a "starter pack" when they have places of their own to decorate.)

- we're just two years in to a "new" tradition - an outdoor tree on the deck. I miss the old-fashioned real tree, but with allergies it's a no-go. This way, we have a real tree. We decorate it with bird/animal-friendly ornaments (pine cones and candy canes with birdseed, popcorn balls, etc). Making the ornaments can be part of the fun, but if pressed for time some store-bought options exist. A really nice thing about this tradition is that with our cold winters the tree lasts a long time and cushions the post-holiday "let-down". So while the rest of the decorations get packed away, the outdoor tree brings the daily antics of critters all winter, and we can replenish the decorations whenever we want. Or not - it looks so beautiful in the winter snow. If we could afford one that could be planted later on, it would be an added bonus. Not necessary, but that would be fun too.

Our favorite Christmas traditions are Christmas Eve church service followed by touring Christmas lights with our thermoses of hot chocolate, sausage pinwheels for Christmas breakfast (kids insist that must happen!), opening gifts by the fireplace and reading the Christmas story from Luke 2.

My husband & I were married on New Years Eve, so we invented a family holiday between Christmas & New Year's to take advantage of all the post-Christmas sales, leading up to our anniversary. Everyone gets a little gift every day, and we even made up a family song that we sing each day when we open the gifts. So many of our friends know about it that it's starting to catch on outside of our family! It extends all the holiday fun, heightens the Anniversary anticipation, and to top if off, our youngest son was born the day after New Years Day, so we *really* prolong the holidays now!!

One of our favorite Christmas traditions is the "Traveling Nativity". The nativity is the first thing set up for Christmas and the last thing taken down. After it's set up, we enjoy walking by and rearranging the position of the figurines in the nativity. It is something the family watches closely to see if we can spot even slight changes in position. Also, where the nativity is positioned, at a certain time in the afternoon the sun streams through the skylight and illuminates the nativity with visible sunbeams. We also watch for this phenomena. Between the traveling nativity and the sunbeams, we remain focused on the true meaning of Christmas!

Write something...

We have lots of Christmas traditions in my house, but the one I like best is that every year we go out on Christmas Eve, either to a party or perhaps dinner out, and when we return "Mrs. Claus" has left a package under the tree for each child. It gets them in the mood to celebrate, and it curbs the "can't we open just one gift" whining.

We have lots of Christmas traditions in my house, but the one I like best is that every year we go out on Christmas Eve, either to a party or perhaps dinner out, and when we return "Mrs. Claus" has left a package under the tree for each child. It gets them in the mood to celebrate, and it curbs the "can't we open just one gift" whining.

Every Year I was blessed to have so much Family near home. But we would have to run from one event to another to keep everyone in my family and my husband's family traditions. Christmas Eve was 3 different place My Dad's extend Family at brunch, Husband's extended family at dinner. Run to my parent's and open gifts from my parents (but hubby does not allow gifts open til Christmas)So back to my family in the morning after Santa to open gifts from us. Then to His family to open gifts. THEN home for 2 mins. and to my Mom's extended Family for dinner. Whew! I 'm tired just think about it!! I decided to invite my Family and My husband's family to my house on Christmas Breakfast, we all open gifts spend the day relaxing and enjoying each other. NO MORE CRAZY Christmas days!! All showed up but In-laws did not bring gifts. (they came for Breakfast but expected us to come to their house and open gifts as always. SIGH!!! Well we still have breakfast every year either here or at my sister-laws. ( I did not want to take her son from his gifts he is younger than my kids) But we still have to run to the in-laws. My parents come a little early and we open family gifts. MY kids love having grandparents so the tradition will not change. Besides I will not always have this time so I figure its worth the gas and happiness. And I love having family!!!God Bless You and your Families. Huge them and Love them! Merry Christmas!

Every year since my children were little, we've made some kind of handmade ornaments to give away. My kids are now teens, but I still make the ornaments, and they sometimes help with the current project. My favorite ornament to make is Moravian Paper Stars. I found the instructions at http://highhopes.com/3dstar.html.

Every year my kids make sure I have ingredients to make "Grandma's punch". If you don't want to make it in a punch bowl we have also made it as floats.

1 qt eggnog
1 pt vanilla ice cream, softened
2 cups (16 oz) lemon-lime soda (7-up or Sprite), chilled
Nutmeg

Combine eggnog and ice cream in punch bowl. Slowly add lemon-lime soda. Sprinkle with nutmeg.

If you want to just make a small amount you can make it as floats.

Just fill glass almost 1/2 full with eggnog. Add couple scoops of ice cream and slowly
fill glass with lemon-lime soda. Sprinkle top with nutmeg.

We try to attend as many local events and support our local businesses as much as possible during this time of year. The events are usually low cost, and we get to see our neighbors and friends out and about.

Every year we attend Stanford University's singalong of Handel's Messiah. It is great fun to be in a majestic church with several thousand people all singing the Hallelujah Chorus!