traditions

I grew up with many holiday traditions firmly planted within our family. my parents did a phenomenal job when it came to Christmas. we went to the same places every Christmas eve and Christmas day.  we ate the same foods, sang the same songs, put on the same nativity story, took the same photos in front of the tree. nothing was real fancy, but it was familiar and it was tradition. now that our babies are growing up it has dawned on me just how important it is to create our own traditions.  it's a daunting task given the example my parents set for me. but I'm up to the challenge and besides, Christmas is my favorite holiday.

I love everything about this magical time of year.  seeing it through the eyes of our children has multiplied that warm fuzzy feeling I get when the Christmas carols start to play.  which, I might add, begin sometime in november and will not cease until at least mid-january.  kyle loves this.  the boys are learning...it's always a great morning when we wake up to a singing-at-the-top-of-your-lungs-three-year-old rendition of away in the manger.  heaven.

trimming the tree
the saturday after thanksgiving kyle brought the tree up from the basement and the rest of the decorations emerged on sunday.  our tradition calls for matching jammies, check. christmas carols filling the room, check. and at least one ornament in need of super glue. check and check.

trimming the tree is not in kyle's blood.  it wasn't really a part of his family Christmas tradition.  in fact, I bought him his first ornament when we began dating.  I felt he needed to be represented somewhere among the swarm of ornaments from my childhood.  every december I remember opening that red shirt box with my name written on top in black sharpie marker.  my mom took time to list each ornament, who gave it to me, and the year I received it and I vividly remember that the list was written on the inside cover of a tattered green spiral notebook..the little nubby edges still attached.  nana and papa are continuing my childhood memory by giving the boys a new ornament every thanksgiving. so I have started to jot down a list for the boys. I think I'll have to dig around for a couple of old notebooks and tear the cover off.  for old times sake.

they enjoyed carefully looking through mommy's ornaments and hanging each one on the tree.  miles has quite a collection of his own ornaments already and he even offered to have henry hang one or two.  of course they insisted on hanging at least three ornaments on each branch.

once all of the ornaments were perfectly placed, daddy lifted miles to the tip top of the tree to put on the star.

little brother got a turn too.

what's a tradition without a good treat at the end? next year I'll be more organized and have some cookies bake.  for this year we settled for a hershey kiss for everyone.  they are delicious every time and besides, it will go down as my favorite holiday commercial. ever.

but as much as I love hershey kisses...I'll trade them for these kisses any day.


advent calendars
our 1980's advent calendars were simple cardboard pictures that required us to pry open a new window each day. our boys somehow managed to acquire a giant gingerbread house with real wooden doors hiding a slew of chocolate to be enjoyed every one of the 24 days leading up to Christmas. thank you auntie beth.

it's a big hit. we are lucky to make it past breakfast before needing to check to see what's behind the next door.

my only request: next year each door is also hiding a candy for the momma. I'm just sayin'


outdoor lights
I love, love, LOVE, Christmas lights. I can't wait to bundle up the boys and drive around looking at all of the beautiful lights that people adorn their homes with. some of the crazy ones set theirs to music and you better bet we'll be tuning our radio to the correct station. yeah, baby. (again...kyle will be thrilled) the lights on our home are much more modest, but festive nonetheless. I thought it would be fun for the boys to go out to help daddy. it made for some cute photos, but that's where the practicality came to a screeching halt.

insert slightly icy cement, a front yard dominated by two furry friends (gross), and a ladder. all the makings of a disaster.

the whole event lasted maybe 15 minutes for the boys. I wish I could say the same for the daddy. what a trooper. a complete restring, trip over to the new mcdonalds for lunch (and sanity break for the decorator), another restring, and numerous burnt out lights later...the house looks lovely. and just in time for the first snowfall of the season. love.

here's to a season full of tradition.