Some Szrama Traditions

Ok, this is one of those posts where I'm throwing random stuff out there and I want you to throw lots back!!  So here's the question:  what are your favorite holiday traditions?  They can be personal (like you always read through Dickens' A Christmas Carol) or familial, like going to Ace Mountain Farms to cut down your own tree on the 16th... whatever!  They can even be food-related... I just might not read those until I'm in my 3rd trimester. :)

Some that we've started in our li'l family are...

1. Advent wreath & candles at dinner- yes, you've all heard enough about that.  I will confess that our wreath is an evergreen wreath from Michael's, wrapped with some clearance Christmas ribbon from Hobby Lobby (I think).  The candles are all left-overs, and the chalice in the middle was a gift from one of my students my first year of teaching.  Each year I pop in a new tea-light and it becomes our Christ candle.  Simple, frugal, pretty, and it works!  As Eowyn gets older I hope to add in an Advent devotional or story book (like Gaarder's The Christmas Mystery).

2. Jesse Tree at breakfast.  Once again, enough said.

Szrama Family 2011 ornaments

3. Trimming the tree (AFTER Thanksgiving) -- for 2 years now Eowyn's been my buddy during this.  This year she was absolutely enthralled, and each new ornament she unwrapped was met with a breathless "Oh, Mommy, yook!"  {She also knocked over the tree, breaking some ornaments, but reinforcing the lesson that she must not touch the tree... "or Mommy be sad when I break you star."  Now she occasionally reminds our tree "Don't you fall over, Tree!"}

4. Family ornaments- each year we pick or make a Christmas ornament that represents an event from that year.  Our first year of marriage, it was our cake toppers (a knight & a maiden) threaded onto ribbon from our rehearsal dinner inscribed with our names & wedding date.  We have a a Hungarian coin on ribbon (2008), a pink "baby" ornament for 2009 (when Eowyn was born), an upcycled Christmas Eiffel Tower from '95 (2010), and this year, Ryan picked out a red double-decker London bus while we were in England. (I write the year on the ornament in permanent marker as well as writing it into our Christmas memories book.)

5. Kids' ornaments- as my mom did for us, we are starting ornament collections for our kids.  We pick one each year -- this year, Eowyn actually picked her own; a Queen Katherine bought in Westminster Abbey, London.

6. Christmas Eve gift bags-- on Christmas Eve, our children get to open 2 gifts, which are the same type every year:  a book relating to the past year in some way, and a new pair of Christmas jammies, home-made by Mommy (so far out of upcycled material).  I made 2 drawstring bags (one large, one small) out of the same fabric as the top of Eowyn's Christmas stocking, so that each year, she'll know easily which presents are hers to open Christmas Eve (cuts down on packaging waste too!).  I look forward to making bags & stockings in different fabrics for each child God gives us!

Eowyn's ornament from 2011:  England's Queen Katherine

7. Stocking pins-- this was something Ryan grew up doing:  adding a little something to his stocking each year.  Last year Eowyn added an Eiffel Tower pin (since she visited Paris twice), and this year she'll add a slightly-less glamorous potty-trained pin.  Hey, it was a big deal!  She can always pin it to the back of her stocking while she's a mortified teenager. ;)

8. Basket of Christmas toys & books-- so far we have only a few, but Eowyn loves them!  My favorite is a finger-puppet felt Nativity set my mom found for me while I was still teaching.  It's just perfect for little hands!

9. Christmas memories book-- this was a wedding gift from Ryan's grandparents (I think, right?), with spaces to record traditions, events, menus, gathering places, memorable gifts, and more each holiday.  I love that we have this record, especially since I'll probably forget which ornament was for which year, or which kid gave Grandma that... it's already fun to go back and read about our past Christmases together!


Ok those are ours:  what are yours?

Our Christmas Memories book, under the tree