Going to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra has become a tradition in the past few years.  Older traditions stem from both family traditions that came with us as we made our own family and some we started by ourselves. 

As a little girl in Germany we always put a pickle ornament hidden in the branches of the tree.  When visitors came they had to find the pickle.  Once they did they were allowed to  take a candy cane off of the tree.  Our grown kids have carried on that tradition. 

One that I started was making a "gingerbread" style house that was made completely out of chocolate.  [I can post a picture if you'd like me to]  It was a decoration through Christmas and then the kids got to invite their friends over to eat it. 

Another tradition I started was to buy an ornament for each of the kids that had something to do with what they were interested in that year. ie: soccer, dance, skiing, etc.  I dated the boxes and when they married they got to take their ornaments with them.

my family gets together one weekend in December and makes homemade ravioli wih a spinach/meat filling.  Last year I believe we made abou 800.  It is a lot of work but we have a good time.  Then that's what we have for Christmas dinner!

Meri said…
As a little girl in Germany we always put a pickle ornament on the tree hidden in the branches someplace.  When visitors came they had to find the pickle.  Once they did they were allowed to  take a candy cane off of the tree.  Our grown kids have carried on that tradition. 

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I think "hide the pickle" is being discussed in another thread right now.  : )

We watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation on Xmas eve. The season gets kind of hectic, so that's when we relax and laugh. That's just me and the boys.

On Christmas I host a brunch. That's when we open presents. I tried for lunch or supper, but eveyone seemed to scatter all over later in the day - so 10 a.m. - my house. Drop in breakfast foods. Stay as long as you like.

That's a good tradition, especially since it's good to get kids into that kind of music and theater at a young age.  I guess you could say we have traditions b/c we do kind of the same stuff every year, even after I got married.  I always gotta end Christmas at my mom's, so we see my husband's dad in the morning-afternoon, then off to my mom's for a second dinner and dessert.

Last year we started a new tradition.  I ordered snapfish photo christmas cards with pictures from our wedding on it, and now every year I plan to do the same putting pictures of us from throughout the year.  I don't plan to have a posed christmas photo like some people do.  I'd rather have a few pics from throughout the year :)  The wedding year was easy, from here on out it might be a bit harder to pick but still fun.

JazzSinger said…

Meri said…
As a little girl in Germany we always put a pickle ornament on the tree hidden in the branches someplace.  When visitors came they had to find the pickle.  Once they did they were allowed to  take a candy cane off of the tree.  Our grown kids have carried on that tradition. 

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I think "hide the pickle" is being discussed in another thread right now.  : )

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I suppose it could be a Christmas tradition with someone someplace...  argh!

CyndiA said…

We watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation on Xmas eve. The season gets kind of hectic, so that's when we relax and laugh. That's just me and the boys.

On Christmas I host a brunch. That's when we open presents. I tried for lunch or supper, but eveyone seemed to scatter all over later in the day - so 10 a.m. - my house. Drop in breakfast foods. Stay as long as you like.

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That's one of my favorite movies ever.  My favorite scene is where Eddie is emptying the sewage from his RV into that storm drain:

Ellen: What are you looking at?
Clark: Oh, the silent majesty of a winter's morn... the clean, cool chill of the holiday air... an a$$hole in his bathrobe, emptying a chemical toilet into my sewer...
Eddie: Sh%&&er was full.
Clark: Ah, yeah. You checked our sh%&&ers, honey?
Ellen: Clark, please. He doesn't know any better.
Clark: He oughta know it's illegal. That's a storm sewer. If it fills with gas, I pity the person who lights a match within ten yards of it.

I also like the scene where Clark finally gets the Christmas lights working, everyone is outside, and Ellen's father says, "The little lights aren't twinkling."  My dad and I use that line as a joke when something is good except for one minor flaw.

JazzSinger said…

CyndiA said…

We watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation on Xmas eve. The season gets kind of hectic, so that's when we relax and laugh. That's just me and the boys.

On Christmas I host a brunch. That's when we open presents. I tried for lunch or supper, but eveyone seemed to scatter all over later in the day - so 10 a.m. - my house. Drop in breakfast foods. Stay as long as you like.

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That's one of my favorite movies ever.  My favorite scene is where Eddie is emptying the sewage from his RV into that storm drain:

Ellen: What are you looking at?
Clark: Oh, the silent majesty of a winter's morn... the clean, cool chill of the holiday air... an a$$hole in his bathrobe, emptying a chemical toilet into my sewer...
Eddie: Sh%&&er was full.
Clark: Ah, yeah. You checked our sh%&&ers, honey?
Ellen: Clark, please. He doesn't know any better.
Clark: He oughta know it's illegal. That's a storm sewer. If it fills with gas, I pity the person who lights a match within ten yards of it.

I also like the scene where Clark finally gets the Christmas lights working, everyone is outside, and Ellen's father says, "The little lights aren't twinkling."  My dad and I use that line as a joke when something is good except for one minor flaw.

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One of my favorites too!  I watch it all year long when I need a laugh.

It is now official. There are a lot of warped people here. Hugs all round.

That's one of my favorite movies ever.  My favorite scene is where Eddie is emptying the sewage from his RV into that storm drain:

I get a kick out of that movie too and watch it every now and then. We have a next door neighbor that could EASILY pass for Eddie.

As for Christmas traditions, I have made each girl a cross-stitched ornament each year. When they move out, I plan to make sure that each child gets all of her ornaments so that they will already have some special ornaments with lots of fun memories. I have also cross-stitched each child a stocking for her first or second Christmas.

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is a funny movie and a favorite of mine. I loved the scene where the squirrel gets in the Christmas tree and everybody goes running.

On Christmas Eve we have our christmas dinner and around 8pm open our gifts. Then we would watch the "Christmas Story" movie. Every year my dad would get chocolate turtle candies and we would munch on that while watching the movie.

We go to the movie theater on Christmas Day. After eating supper, we would get in the car and drive to see all the houses with Christmas lights and decorations.

Then of course we would go shopping the day after christmas for all the sales.   

krislynn said…

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is a funny movie and a favorite of mine. I loved the scene where the squirrel gets in the Christmas tree and everybody goes running.

On Christmas Eve we have our christmas dinner and around 8pm open our gifts. Then we would watch the "Christmas Story" movie. Every year my dad would get chocolate turtle candies and we would munch on that while watching the movie.

We go to the movie theater on Christmas Day. After eating supper, we would get in the car and drive to see all the houses with Christmas lights and decorations.

Then of course we would go shopping the day after christmas for all the sales.   

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Sounds like fun but YOU'LL SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT!  Another favorite!  :)

mysticstarfish said...

Sounds like fun but YOU'LL SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT!  Another favorite!  :)

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My favorite "Christmas Story" scene is where the boy gets a triple dare you and he sticks his tongue to the pole. Funny!!!!

krislynn said…

mysticstarfish said...

Sounds like fun but YOU'LL SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT!  Another favorite!  :)

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My favorite "Christmas Story" scene is where the boy gets a triple dare you and he sticks his tongue to the pole. Funny!!!!

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I TRIPLE DOG DARE YOU!!  There isn't a scene in that movie that doesn't make me laugh. 

krislynn said…

mysticstarfish said...

Sounds like fun but YOU'LL SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT!  Another favorite!  :)

**********

My favorite "Christmas Story" scene is where the boy gets a triple dare you and he sticks his tongue to the pole. Funny!!!!

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I triple dog dare ya!

We must watch A Christmas Story 50 times the month of December!  On TBS they run it for 24 straight hours and it's tradition that it remain on t.v. the entire time.  We also go to my Mom's and make homemade cookies that we decorate with fun things like M&M's, Sprinkles, etc.  The kids look forward to that most of all.

Ok, lets' make this inclusive. I celebrate Hanukkah. Does anyone else or does anyone celebrate something else or nothing?

We had traditions when the kids were in the house; now we don't.

Jo - you could start a thread on Hanukkah. That would be much easier to find on the titles and keywords. Also, if you don't have/keep traditions, then that is a surprise to me. My boys are bigger. Even when they move out, I will still watch Christmas Vacation. Inclusion is super. But, make it easy for people to talk about various holidays. I would not click on this title thread if I wanted ideas on another cultural holiday. Mysticstarfish asked about Christmas. All holidays are fine. Just make them easy to find from the titles so that they get some input.

A couple in my family

1. We start celebrating early. We put up our Xmas tree on Thanksgiving night with our whole family. (since we host Thanksgiving we put them to work)-- and of course, I bust out Johnny Mathas and Karen Carpenter Holiday music-- my family favorites from when I was a kid. Jewel and Alabama are now added to the mix.

2. On Xmas day, we listen to Italian music and have homemade Spaghetti. "Hey Pasiano" is a CD full of songs that my grandparents sang with us as kids. My kids think it is ridiculous but they love it. There is never a roast or ham to be had on Xmas day in our Italian HH.

3.  Charity. My kids have 3 piggy banks labeled "for fun, for saving, and for charity" They also have to go through their toys and give some away to other kids on Xmas.

:)

You know I was just thinking about all of these wonderful traditions everyone has mentioned here, and realized besides the obvious ones like opening one gift on christmas eve and putting out cookies for santa our new little family doesn't really have one. This year will be the year to start a new, special tradition for us!

Don't know why I didn't think of these earlier when I posted...

We always take the kids to a couple of Christmas programs at our church and our mom's church and sometimes a few others.

We go to the Christmas parade in my hometown--it's a great small town event where they still throw out candy and many people know each other by name. I headed up our church's float there for several years until we switched to a church closer to our current home.

The evening after the parade, we drive through a cemetery where several of my husband's relatives are buried. They light luminaries all through the cemetery and it is beautiful.

We started a new tradition two years ago in trying to get the girls to behave better between Thanksgiving and Christmas. They can "earn" small pieces of yarn (yellow for 1 child and green for the other) to place on a baby doll that they choose to represent Baby Jesus. If they misbehave, then they have to remove a piece of yarn that is their color. On Christmas morning, if they have enough pieces of both colors of yarn, then a beautiful crocheted blanket keeps Baby Jesus warm. (The green and yellow blanket was crocheted by my Mom for me when I was a baby.)

I also read the Christmas story from the Bible on Christmas morning--I want my kids to know what things are important to our family.

Ever Christmas season we go to see the Southern Lights here in KY.  Its a beautiful light display that goes on and on and at the end there is a place for you take a pic with Santa, a train display,  petting zoo and all kinds of fun stuff. We always open only one gift on Christmas eve and the rest on christmas morning.  And Chirstmas breakfast is always waffles.  I make several different kinds like choco chip, banana, apple, plain and then we all dig in.