What Are Your Family's Holiday Traditions?

Me and my husband have been together for 4 yrs and we have a 2 yr old little girl. This is our 5th Christmas together =) This is Kalyn's 3rd Christmas.((Before her we only had a tree that stood on the table.)) When we bought our tree.. it's fake, I know..blasphemy right?... we didn't really have the money to buy a whole bunch of ornaments to decorate so we just bought lights and one ornament a peice. Now, every year we each pick out an ornament to add to the tree. We are up to 9 this year! LoL... mom says its not a very thought out tradition because once we've been married for 20 yrs we will have 60 ornaments and no place to put them.

Gifts at Thanksgiving. No pagan celebrations for us.

we buy winter themed or christmas themed pajamas (depends on what we can find) for the kids every year...and i wash, dry and wrap them so they can open them on christmas eve and wear them to bed for christmas morning. and my husband and i get pajamas too but not every year, like last year we didn't but this year we will, we do every other year, just about.

Me and my husband go to my moms for christmas morning, where my mom lights candles and hands one out to everyone and we sing "happy birthday" to Jesus. For new years our whole family gets together and time and watch the ball drop on tv. we enjoy my moms famous "ghetto Punch" too (hawaiian punch, sprite, and vanilla ice cream) YUM YUM!! HAPPY HOLIDAYS to everyone! yeah Christmas is almost here!

we also do the ornament a year tradition and i plan to give our children their collection when they get married for their first christmas as a couple ! I think it will help them with their decorations and lessen the load off my tree . Then my husband and i will just have "our" christmas ornaments !

We also do the pj tradition on christmas eve. I love little squeaky clean , rosey cheecked babies in fresh pj's so soft and snuggly. Nothing cuter !

Another tradition we have is making cookies on christmas eve day for santa claus. My children love it and enjoy this tradition. It also keeps them busy waiting the day away for the big day on christmas.

We bake a different cookie every day in December. Then on Christmas Eve friends come over to get their gifts and then later we open stocking stuffers and 1 large gift (usually PJ's or robes) and watch the Grinch movie (both versions). Then the kids go to bed, Santa drops by, and we go to bed. Then on Christmas morning my kids never want to wake up early so we usually have to wake them up around 8 and we open gifts and eat alot all day with close friends and family.

My family does alot of the same traditions as listed here, but this year i was gonna start a new one where everyone write a letter to "Santa" saying the things we want... it could be a the most extraordinary thing or the simplest.  for example, i could say i want my husband to do more chores and make a million dollars this year, or i could write i want something more practical like... i want a new blank...

then when were all done we will light a candle and burn them to send our wildest dreams to the gods to choose what happens.

Our newest family tradition is a Holiday Potluck meal.  We usually do it before Christmas, because Christmas day is packed with comings and goings and the kids get restless leaving their homes full of toys.  This year I used the forms I found on http://www.signupgenius.com/christmas to organize our potluck.  This way everyone can see what eachother is bringing and there is no duplicate recipes, appetizers or desserts.  I even add things like centerpeices and alcoholic beverages to my potluck menu to help defer some of the costs.  A potluck meal saves time and money and alot of stress, especially this time of year. 

We make and spread reindeer food in the lawn (oatmeal and glitter) - the glitter sparkles and Santa can see it from the sky and the reindeer can snack on the oatmeal while waiting for santa!