(Disclosure: This post was inspired by a special moment I had with Lucas while eating free popcorn from The Popcorn Factory.)
I am a big fan of traditions. As a mom, there are some traditions that I insist on keeping from my childhood and then others that I have started since having children. I wanted to share some of my favorite ways we celebrate Christmas and the whole holiday season in our home.
Decorating the tree with special ornaments – The tree we use may change but one thing that will always stay the same is the type of ornaments that are on it. I love handmade ornaments made with love by my kids and proudly display them. These ornaments mean the most to me and I love seeing how my children have grown from year to year. I also love dough ornaments that feature our names on them. We had a new one of these every year I was growing up and I think they are so special to have.
Baking cookies – Some years we bake a lot and some we only back a couple types of cookies but this is always a fun time. My favorite cookies to bake during the season are peanut butter balls (which are basically crunchy peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate), peanut butter “kiss” cookies, and sugar cookies. The sugar cookies my mom used to make are my favorite. The dough is rolled into a log, the log rolled in sprinkles, and then the cookies sliced and baked. They were soft and buttery with just the perfect amount of sprinkles.
Eating popcorn in front of the fire – Lucas and I were doing this last night and that’s what inspired this whole post! The Popcorn Factory sent us a big tub of popcorn and as Lucas and I were eating the delicious treat I thought back on how this was a tradition I loved as a kid. We’d always get a popcorn tin (sometimes more than one of them!) filled with 3 or 4 types of popcorn. My favorites are the cheese and caramel. Yum! We don’t have a fireplace in our current home but I’ve found that the “fireplace” app on my computer works perfectly. Turn some holiday music on and you have the perfect way to relax with your family! (BTW- If you want to order from The Popcorn Factory make sure to select “overnight shipping” if you order Sunday or Monday in order for it to arrive on Tuesday in time for Christmas.)
Christmas Eve – Before we go to bed Christmas Eve we get in our Christmas pajamas, sprinkle “Reindeer Food” outside, leave cookies and milk for Santa, and read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. We then tell the kids they need to go right to sleep so Santa can come ;)
Christmas morning – This is the silliest thing but I am very particular about the order of Christmas morning festivities. We come down (still in our pajamas!) to see what Santa left us in our stockings and the one gift he left us, we eat a special Christmas breakfast and then we can open gifts. Not sure how that tradition will work in the future but as of now the kids are still okay with doing it that way :)
What are some of your favorite Christmas traditions?
Many of these are our favorites, too, especially baking cookies and Christmas morning. We also enjoy driving around looking at Christmas light displays and attending Christmas mass.
We watch a Christmas movie every night during December…. it really puts us in the Christmas spirit
Traditions are especially important to children. We also like to have certain special foods for our holiday meals.
We share many of the same traditions, although it seems like an unwritten tradition at my house is having The Christmas Story playing on TBS in the background. No one changes the channel all day long!