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Across the Fence:  Christmas Traditions  |
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ruralfarmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
4309 Posts
Rene'
Prosser
WA
USA
4309 Posts |
 Posted - Dec 04 2008 : 09:46:57 AM
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When My hubby and I were 1st married we found this little ornament journal.. a little 2 1/2" by 5" journal that hung on the tree.. every year we have written in it.. 25 years of "christmas morning" tales.........Like the year before we had children that our cow puppy Stetson, knocked the tree over, and ate some lights and we made an emergancy trip to the local vets, the pure joy of our oldest son's 1st christmas, he was 10 months old and all he could say was "Oh, Oh, Oh"..... all the lights and packages etc were so overwhelming for him.. we sat the tree up Christmas eve after he went to sleep.. and Christmas Morn was magical for him....The list goes on and on..........it has become somewhat of a tradtion to set up the tree the second weekend of Dec (as it is my birthday) and we pop and string pop corn.. I love that smell, and popcorn everywhere... anyway, this year things will be different as two of the boys are now "out of the house", but we will have things to write no doubt.. I would love to hear your traditions ..........
Rene~Prosser Farmgirl #185
http://farmchicksfarm.blogspot.com/
Circumstances made us FRIENDS; MaryJane's has made us SISTERS :) |
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electricdunce
True Blue Farmgirl
2544 Posts
Karin
Belmont
ME
USA
2544 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2008 : 11:25:42 AM
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I wish i had thought of that, keeping a holiday journal. I remember my daughter's first Christmas, she was eight months old and I put her playpen a little too close to the tree. I looked over and there was tiny Susannah, with red goo dripping down hwer chin, I thought she had cut herslelf, but she had winkled a candy cane off the tree and was doing some teething exercises.
My mother was Danish so we always celebrate on Christmas Eve, Dinner is always finished with my grandmother's rum pudding with raspberry sauce. I have lots of ornaments we've made over the years, I have a tiny felt and embroidered hand (I traced Susannah's little hand), garlands with Danish flags. Back when i could iknit, I knit stockings for everyone in the family , I used to amake huge cards for all my nieces and nephews, I still make a few once in a while. I love all the decorating, putting tiny trees and things on the mantel. I always have a couple of balsam wreaths, but I have had to switch to an artificial tree since my cats seem to feel it is just one big present for them to climb on.
I love all the decorating, and tyhis year I even made Danish peppernut cookies. I'm hoping to do a few more batches of some other cookies for presents. And it always smells so delicious when the cooky smells are wafting through the house...
Karin
Farmgirl Sister #153
"Give me shelter from the storm" - Bob Dylan
http://moodranch.blogspot.com
http://domesticnonsense.etsy.com |
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shepherdgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
1008 Posts
Tracy
California
USA
1008 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2008 : 12:40:34 PM
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Christmas was usually NOT a good time when I was growing up --mom always went WAY overboard speding-- spending-- spending! (Yes, we got GREAT gifts, but we paid for them the REST of the year! BLAH!!!!) But, for my OWN family, I have tried to make things much nicer, though I can't say we have any real TRADITIONS. Nothing ever goes as planned in my life so I've gotten really good at "Winging it!" Especially during the Holidays.
This year the tree will actually be going up much sooner than in years past. Two years ago it came DOWN way sooner than usual too! On Christmas Eve in fact! They all made me REALLY angry-- being rude, disrespectful etc... the whole lot of them! I was hurt, I was angry and... well.... down came the ornaments, lights, tree and ALL the decorations. On Christmas day there was absolutely NO TRACE of Christmas!! They did get their presants though. Unwrapped of course, still in the bags from the stores they came from. I felt too guilty NOT to give the gifts to them. But I reminded myself WHY I did what I did and wouldn't let me beat myself up for making a stand against their treatment of me (I'm the only HUMAN girl in this house!). Needless to say, when the Holidays roll around now, the kids-- AND my Husband --- are on their BEST BEHAVIOUR!!!
This year is going to be a tough one as far as buying presants goes since I'm not working, hubby is being a bit stingy with the green and my boys are now 18,17 and 13 (too old for TOYS! At least the ones I can actually AFFORD!) -- I'm going to have to get creative with the gifts. There will be homemade ones for sure (they LOVE cookies! and anything else edible). I have one big presant each in mind, but the rest will not be so grand. I have tried to teach my boys that Christmas is not really about gifts ANYWAY, and I'm hoping those lessons really have sunk in. We'll see! Happy Holidays all!
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. ~~ George Carlin |
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K-Falls Farmgirl
Chapter Leader
2096 Posts
Cheryl
Klamath Falls
Oregon
USA
2096 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2008 : 1:41:04 PM
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I remember when I was growing up in a house of three sisters and my parents. Money was always tight, Somehow though my mother managed to make Christmas seem like we were "wealthy". We had tons of pressies under the tree..Not expensive ones just lots to unwrap. Like boxed color crayons wrapped separately from the color books. Story books, and We always got a new doll... and mom made outfits for each doll and blankets for the cradle. *I never remember her sewing them * she must have stayed up hours doing that. My dad made cradles for each doll too. We got games and balls. *Dad wanted a boy* we got footballs, baseballs, basket balls one tear a train set...Poor Dad,& girly stuff too. Mom made us flannel gowns & Pajamas too. They would put clear nail polish in our stockings with hard candy ribbons and an orange. A Candy Cane Nuts and a chocolate marshmallow Santa.
We always made christmas sugar cookies and dad made popcorn balls & fudge. We always watched the Macy's Christmas parade on TV first thing in the morning. We were blessed with plenty of Love and memories we all cherish today.
http://www.k-fallsfarmgirl.blogspot.com/
Cheryl #309
Farm girl sister
Enjoy the little things in life....someday you'll look back and realize they were the big things. |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2008 : 7:11:41 PM
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When my husband and I got married 30 years ago we decided we would go to my family on Thanks. and his on Christmas. So every Christmas morning we'd wake up really early and do our thing here then load up all the kids and their things they wanted to bring and all the other things for his family and head to Ozone, Tn. for the day. 25 years we did this. His mother passed away 5 years ago so we stay home now and my parents come here.
We have started a new tradition with the grandkids. We go look for a tree at a farm and let them cut it. We get it home and let them decorate it. That's fun. There's 3 of them and there's like 3 spots on the tree that are covered with ornaments and the rest is bare. But I love it.
I remember some Christmas' when I was a kid, but after my parents divorced we moved so much it's all a blur now.
Oh, and we always waited til Christmas eve to put the presents under the tree.
Happy memories, Kris |
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rabbithorns
True Blue Farmgirl
544 Posts
Allison
Fort Scott
KS
USA
544 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2008 : 8:04:54 PM
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We had 1 tradition I can think of. The advent calendar would be hung up around Thanksgiving. I made it when my son was 2 and my daughter was a baby. It came from a Family Circle magazine pattern. It's a muslin banner with a felt Santa and sack and on the sack are 24 tiny loops. Each year the elves would fill up the loops with little messages, candies, and gifts. It would be empty when the kids went to bed on Nov. 30 and all filled up in the morning when they woke up. My son opened them for a couple more years, then they took turns. I had to take care of that thing until she was 17 years old! She wouldn't let the elves just stay home! My son had already moved out. Last year was the first year I didn't do it. But for 2 years now I've woken up panicking that I forgot to do something and then I realized I thought I forgot to be an elf! I forgot it's packed away now at my dd's apartment. I expect the first grandchild will see it next.
http://www.rabbithorns.etsy.com |
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MuslinBunnies
True Blue Farmgirl
113 Posts
Tina
Franklin
NH
USA
113 Posts |
Posted - Dec 05 2008 : 05:24:03 AM
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Growing up, my sister was always the first awake Christmas morning. She would grab her stocking and creep into my room as silent as a mouse (sometimes around 3 or 4 am.) We would very quietly open our stockings on my bed. Every gift in the stockings was wrapped separately, except the apple or orange at the very bottom of the socking. When we had all our goodies opened, we would repack our stockings and slip into the living room for our first look at the tree. With a lot of oohing and ahhing and giggles, we would race back to my room and play with the stocking stuff until about 6:30. It was then time to run and jump on Mom and Dad yelling "Merry Christmas! Get up! Get up!" They always made us wait. Breakfast, coffee for them, time to wipe the sleepies out of their eyes, then finally time to open the gifts.
My sister and I were always in charge of passing out gifts. The tradition was to separate them all into piles first, then gifts were opened one at a time each person taking a turn. What fun we had laughing and exclaiming over all the cool stuff!
Now my sister has her own family with their own traditions. My fiance and I are just starting to work out our own little traditions. I miss those carefree days of childhood.
Tina A.
My Website: http://muslinbunnies.tripod.com/
My Button Quail Site: http://groups.google.com/group/button-quail-planet |
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dkelewae
True Blue Farmgirl
1310 Posts
Diana
Saint Peters
MO
USA
1310 Posts |
Posted - Dec 05 2008 : 06:30:42 AM
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When I was a child, our Christmas traditions included my mom,aunt, and myself when I was old enough to help taking a whole day where we'd make cookies, fruitcakes, and candies.
Picking out a live tree and decorating it together as a family, with Christmas music playing in the background was always lots of fun, and of course there was always tinsel everywhere.
Every Christmas Eve we'd go drive all around town to see all of the homes with their lights, and then it was off to my grandparent's house. While we were there, dad would say he had to go outside and look for Santa and hold his reindeer for him. This gave him time to don his santa suit and surprise us, complete with a big red sack filled with our toys. Dad & grandpa both had elaborate train sets, and they'd let me and my brother be conductors.
On Christmas morning my brother and I would race downstairs to see what Santa had left for us, and then in the afternoon we would go to my aunt and uncle's house for a big meal, and everyone would be there, including other aunts/uncles and my cousins. It was so noisy and crowded, but we didn't notice or care because all we noticed was the love, and the joy of being together as a family.
Once I had a family of my own, I started the tradition of getting an ornament every year for my children, all of which went with them when they were grown and on their own. We put up and decorate the tree with Christmas music playing and after it was done we'd watch holiday movies. My youngest who is now 24 and is the last one at home, always wants to watch A Christmas Story or National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.
I too miss the magical childhood Christmas season, not for the presents, but because I miss beloved family members who are no longer with us, the big and boisterous gatherings, and the simplicity and peace the season used to hold before everything became more about material gifts instead of the true gift of just being with those we love so dear and the birth of our Saviour.
Diana
Farmgirl Sister #272
St. Peters MO
Country Girl trapped in the city!
http://farmgirldreams.blogspot.com/ |
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - Dec 05 2008 : 06:39:43 AM
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A Christmas Journal is a great idea, and a good gift idea, too...you could make one for folks to start their own traditions. Mmmm.....
Farmgirl Sister # 31
www.blueskyjeannie.blogspot.com
Psalm 51: 10-13 |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
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FebruaryViolet
True Blue Farmgirl
4810 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4810 Posts |
Posted - Dec 05 2008 : 07:06:54 AM
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Keeping a Christmas journal is a lovely idea. Maybe, with the birth of our first child in February, I might just do that next year...
Daddy was always home for Christmas, that I sure do remember. He worked away from home for so many months out of the year, that I counted down the days until December rolled around--he was back home, I was off school, and the days rolled on in slow, sweet succession. But, what I still remember most about Christmas was that special Saturday, two weeks before Christmas, when
Mom and I would get all dressed up to go on our big shopping trip downtown Cincinnati, Ohio to Shillito's (now Macy's)and McCalpins (now Dillards). We shopped in the Shillito's gourmet food shop, and Avril's & Sons for luxury foods and cheeses for their big "Christmas Party" coming up...We would scramble in the cold to Fountain Square to see the majestic "Genius of Water" fountain from the 1800's all lit up in her Christmas splendor, and the train display put on by Union Light & Power--AMAZING!!! We always ate lunch--"cincy" style chili--at this little restaurant directly across from Shillito's, run by the original greek owner (that's where the magic in "cincy" chili comes from--Greece), and have cheese coneys and a 4-way to warm up. I loved those downtown bustling streets, full of shoppers in scarves and hats, and the colorful department store displays that made you dream of all things "Christmas"...but the best part of this memory is just the "girls day out", when Mom took an ordinary Saturday and made it anything but.
And oh the Christmas party's they gave!!! Mom would always get dressed up in beautiful velvets, and she smelled soooo good! Daddy would have on a beautiful suit and silk tie, and make homemade eggnog (with good Kentucky Bourbon!), and the spread of food on the table was just way too tempting for a little girl to handle. When guests started to arrive, I was allowed to "mingle" for a few minutes, but then I was whisked away to the family room to sit with the sitter, so everyone could get a bit more "festive"...
Daddy is gone, now, and Mom works almost every weekend, but I think when our little Violet is old enough, Mom and I shall "pick up" where we left off, and continue the downtown traditions she started with me so long ago. |
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deeredawn
True Blue Farmgirl
2306 Posts
Dawn
Cordova
TN
USA
2306 Posts |
Posted - Dec 05 2008 : 08:02:39 AM
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when Audrey was little it was a task to keep her excitement contained the last weeks before Christmas Day, so I devised a plan for the "elf" to visit the 12 Days Before Christmas and leave a note or a goodie in a small pouch hung on her bedrrom door. Sometimes the "elf" would leave a note with money, or the elf would tell her to bake cookies for a local nursing home. The Elf always signed the notes with a glitter pen and his/her number...example Elf # 247
Dawn #279
MJ's Heirloom Mavens/Mother Hen
http://heirloommavens.blogspot.com
http://harvestthymefarm.blogspot.com"I figure if a girl wants to be a legend, she should go ahead and be one!"...Calamity Jane |
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Across the Fence: Christmas Traditions |
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Christmas Traditions
