25 Days of Christmas--Day 5--The Nativity

Day 5--The Nativity
When I was growing up, my mom had a white Nativity set that she kept on the organ shelf. It was Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus. I loved that, but I really loved this little cardboard cutout set she would set up. I loved the way the characters looked and would spend a lot of time looking at that and thinking about that special night.

When Teen 1 was a baby, I bought a little plastic Nativity set that would play Christmas carols and some of the figures would move. Yeah, it fell apart a few years ago. Jon's family gave us a very nice Fontanini set a few years ago. For a few years, we got more pieces for Christmas gifts and have decided to add to it a little bit every year. They're very expensive, but also very nice AND durable for the kids to play with. They love to set the pieces up and change things around.

25 Days of Christmas--Day 4--Music

Day 4--Music
I love Christmas music, but not enough to listen to it year-round. :) I love it between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I remember when I was younger, we would listen to FM 100 around the holidays. They would play songs and maybe one of every three was a Christmas song. They would come on and I would get so excited. Then, at 8 pm on the night of December 21, they would start playing only Christmas music until Christmas Day was over (midnight). I loved that because I knew Christmas was close. I remember when I was little and I heard "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby for the first time and fell in love. I absolutely LOVE those old Christmas songs--Perry Como, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Bing, Doris Day, Rosemary Clooney, Sammy Davis Jr., Roger Whittaker, etc. I love the way they croon those favorite songs and they make me feel very nostalgic. I don't like most of the newer versions as much and since our city got rid of one of the two Christmas stations, I've been listening to my iPod more often than not. The station we have available plays mostly newer artists and their versions and like I said, I just don't like those as much. Some of them don't even sound like Christmas songs! So, in the meantime, "I'm...dreaming of a white...Christmas!"

Santa comes to Town

Santa arrives every year in our town on a big, red fire engine. This year, it wasn't too cold while we were standing outside, waiting for him to come. It's always a fun family event because they have cookie decorating, hot chocolate and scones, wagon rides, kids crafts, and a visit with Santa, all in one stop.

25 Days of Christmas--Day 3--Candies

Day 3--Candies
This is another tradition that goes back for generations. I have some Christmas candy recipes that my great grandma made, and maybe they go back even further. Some of our holiday favorites are: turtles, fudge, peanut clusters, and English toffee. The kids love to make sugar cookies and decorate them with thick layers of red and green frosting and a pile of sprinkles. We've also tried peppermint bark, peanut butter bars, chocolate covered pretzels, caramel Chex mix, and more. My grandma and mom always made the turtles and peanut clusters and would keep them in shoes boxes up in a cool bedroom closet, pulling them out every so often for a little treat. They made theirs so tiny--mine are bigger. Those candies bring back a lot of fun memories.

25 Days of Christmas--Day 2--Stockings

Day 2--Stockings
Growing up, we didn't have Christmas stockings. On Christmas Eve, after returning from my grandma's house, we would go to my dad's sock drawer and find the biggest, thickest socks we could find. We would get a piece of paper and write our name on it and tape it to the sock we chose. We would lay the socks on the backs of the couches or chairs in the living room and go to bed. In the morning, there was always a sock filled with candy and/or fruit. We would also find mixing bowls on the dining room table filled with nuts and extra candies and fruit. We always got a case of oranges. Yum!

Today, we have two fireplaces, whereas we didn't have one growing up. We got some stocking hangers a few years ago and got each of us a red stocking to hang all season by the fireplace. On Christmas Eve night, the kids take down their stockings and put them on the couches and chairs. They find little trinkets and treats, along with an orange in the toe on Christmas morning. This is another fun tradition.

Sparky the Elf

25 Days of Christmas--Day 1--Elves

This year, I'm going to try and blog about 25 favorite Christmas activities and traditions that we like to do in our family. I love the holiday season, even though it gets crazy with all the hustle and bustle.

Day 1:
We have an elf. This is a tradition that has gone back many years in my family--generations! If I have this right, my grandma started this with her kids (my mom being one of them) and my mom carried the tradition on with us. Now, as we all have kids, we are carrying that on with them. Jon's family also had elves that they called "brownies" and they could play with. Each child had their own brownie, so...we have two elves watching us: Brownie and Sparky. Growing up, we were never allowed to touch our elves because then they would lose their magic. The elf that watched my house was named Pixie. Every morning, we would wake up and go look for Pixie. He would also hide in a new place and keep an eye on us to make sure we were being good. I remember watching cartoons on Saturday mornings and seeing commercials for things I wanted and I would just yell, "Pixie! Tell Santa I want a _____ please!" We would draw pictures and make Christmas lists and leave by Pixie to take to Santa, since he went home to the North Pole every night to report to Santa on our behavior. Sometimes, he would be in the same place in the morning--maybe it was too cold or snowy to go home. Then when Santa came on Christmas Eve night, Pixie would hitch a ride home and stay until the day after Thanksgiving the next year.I love this tradition and think the kids really enjoy it.