SOCIAL MEDIA

Monday, December 17, 2018

Family Christmas Traditions

Today we are talking about the traditions that our family does to celebrate the Christmas season. Some of these things Devin and I brought from our families growing up (our families of origin) and some of them we started new together as our own family. Do we get to all of these every single year? Heck no. But do we try? You bet. Have a look...
Image result for mcadenville lights


Christmas Lights-- If you don't do this, does it even count as Christmas? While I realize this is one of the most basic classic traditions, it's a classic for a reason. Easy, free, and if your child has a meltdown because it's past bedtime, you can easily head home. We love to drive around and see how different people decorate, but we also have one "big" night each year with friends where we go to one of the major light displays around Charlotte. This picture above is from McAdenville, NC... also known as Christmastown, USA (yes, it's a real thing.. Google it). This is something we both brought from our families of origin (because who doesn't do this, am I right?).

Devin and I (and the baby bump version of Lily Grace!) at the Nutcracker in NYC.
Go See The Nutcracker or A Christmas Carol-- Devin's family of origin always went to see the Nutcracker every year, while my family grew up going to see A Christmas Carol. We both loved these family traditions and thought it was important to bring the tradition of going to see a Christmas show into our own family.
Lily Grace's "Christmas Tree" Handprint Ornament from last year
Handprint Ornament-- This was something my family did every year growing up that we have brought into our family. It wasn't always a handprint, but something we handmade. These were always some of our favorite ornaments to hang up the following years because we loved seeing what we had made the years before.

Lily Grace and Santa 2017
Visiting Santa at the Mall-- This is something my family did every year growing up. It was crucial to my parents that we did it at the mall because my dad would wait in line with us and then take us out to lunch while my mom would go around the mall speed-shopping and trying to buy some of our presents. As we got older and all of us were in school, mom could shop during the day, so she came along to join in the fun.

Christmas Eve Pajamas/Book/Game-- This is a tradition that both our families of origin did, but a little bit differently. Growing up we were always allowed to open one present on Christmas Eve, and it was usually a board game of some kind for the family to play together on Christmas Eve night and then a book to read after the game. Devin's family always opened one present, and it was new Christmas pajamas. So we kind of combined these two traditions to make our own. Now, in our own family, we get new Christmas Pajamas AND a book/game.
Christmas Countdown Candle-- This one is new for us this year but I recently posted about our Christmas Countdown Candle, or kalenderlys. This is a Dutch tradition where the family lights the candle each morning at breakfast as a peaceful way to start the day. The picture above is of ours (I had to make my own because I couldn't find one), but these below are some from Pinterest.
DIY Christmas Countdown Candle for the holidays! Transfer any countdown design you create to a candle. An ADORABLE Christmas tradition idea and craft.
Countdown Candle.

Those are our family Christmas traditions as of 2018. I can't wait to see how these continue to grow over the next several years!

12 comments :

  1. We just took our boys to see a live play of A Christmas Story and it was so much fun. We try to take in shows around the holiday too but to not always see the same show. My boys have outgrown taking photos with Santa but I do have some pretty funny photos. I think there was a good 3 year span where at least one of them were terrified and crying up a storm.

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    1. Oh that's so fun! I would love to see A Christmas Story live! I'm nervous about this year's Santa pic.. it could go either way!!

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  2. I love the idea of a Christmas candle. That is new to me, and maybe we'll try it next year. We have many of these same traditions. I love how you and your husband combined your family traditions.

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    1. Isn't that candle cute? I wish that was a more common tradition here in the US, I bet people would love it!

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  3. That candle looks like a lot of fun with my family! I like it! We will try and do that next year if I remember!

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    1. Haha the "if I remember" part is always the hardest for me! I'm hoping blogging will help with that.. next year I can just click back to see what we did this year!

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  4. As soon as I saw that thumbnail in the link up I was like - could it be another Carolina girl? We all know McAddenville! It's the best! (Except for the traffic jam!) Merry Christmas!

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    1. Haha right?? But you just kind of accept it and go with the flow... We all want to drive slowly through there too so we get it! McAdenville is the best!!!

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  5. I love that candle idea. I also love the handmade ornaments too. That is a fun tradition. I never opened a present on Christmas Eve but my husband did growing up so we have incorporated it into our traditions...this year my kids are getting alarm clocks. Ha! Maybe they will stay in bed a little later on Christmas morning this year!

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  6. I've never heard of a Christmas advent candle before! Such a cool idea.

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    1. That's what I thought too!! I wish it was bigger here in the US!

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