Shlog Section-f

So it’s Christmas. I know there have to be some really great stories out there and also some family traditions. I’d like to hear about them. So tell me your stories. Tell me about your traditions. I’m feeling the Christmas buzz anyone else? Let’s go Christmas Caroling, who’s with me!?!

Here’s a couple of our family traditions.  Nothing original, I’m sure, but special just the same.

While stationed in England, we began this tradition.  We would gather at our best friends’ home after church on Christmas Eve so our kids could exchange their gifts.  We’d have hot cocoa and birthday cake for Jesus.  Now that we’re not stationed together anymore, we send each others’ gifts and cake mix so we can still “share” even though we’re 2000 miles apart!

We buy an ornament for each of our kids every Christmas.  We try to pick one that represents something they’ve done over the last year.  For example, this year Alex will get a guitar ornament to commemorate his being chosen to play in the youth worship band.  Kelly will get a “black belt” girl because she made her black belt in Taekwondo.  Mackenzie will get a kitty to add to her collection and Mary will get a “lunch box” to remember the year she started first grade.  My cousin gets them one each too.  When they move out, they get to take their ornaments, but we get to keep all the ones they’ve made through the years.  Those are my favorite ones!

Beth

I haven’t quite gotten the Christmas bug yet...we STILL don’t have our tree up.  Hopefully tomorrow?  Ken injured his back last weekend and Cam did something to his back at the basketball game tonight.  I’m thinking artificial is the way we’re going to have to go this year.  (The real tree is one of our family traditions, usually purchased as a family and decorated the weekend after Thanksgiving.)

My mom does the ornament thing too. Okay I gotta do this because I tell this story every year to ya’ll...I think?

It’s the pony story. If you’ve heard it don’t complain just bare with me here.

It was Christmas 1987 and all I wanted for Christmas was a pony. But not just any pony. I wanted a My Little Pony. I was 3 and so I could have caredless about any other present. I just wanted a Pony. So it was Christmas eve and we were spending it with my Grandparents out in Oklahoma. All of us Grandkids (there are 5 of us all together) gathered in the back bedroom to wait for Santa Claus as we did every year. We had our faces pressed up against the glass windows looking for Rudolph’s red nose. This year though was different because my cousin Jenny brought her Barbies for us to play with so we wouldn’t get bored. Finally it was time for us to go out and see what Santa had brought us. I left the room holding a Barbie I’d been playing with. I looked under the tree at a Baby Doll box. I was horrified. I didn’t want no stinkin’ baby doll. I wanted a Pony. Needless to say as I sat down and looked at the baby doll I saw red. Enraged that I didn’t get a Pony I slammed the Barbie down on the baby doll box as hard as possible while howling “I WANTED A PONY!!” The Barbies’ head went flying across the room. Needless to say I was a tad bit upset. My mom ushered me into the den where our stockings were hanging and lo and behold unto me there was a My Little Pony!! She was a yellow unicorn pegasus, her name was Flutterby. I walked back into the living room crying out joyfully “I GOT A PONY!!!” Every adult in the room burst into laughter and my Uncle John said I’m sure glad you got a pony. The very end of my ordeal was caught on video. Needless to say I get joked about every year. The Pony jokes start as soon as I arrive in Oklahoma. Yeah, yeah, so I wanted a Pony big hairy deal. Give me a break!!

I don’t think I’ve heard that story before.  Any chance that video is on you tube?

<---not a newbie anymore. 

ive got a few family christmas traditions for ya…

my dad gives christmas trees away for his work to hi clients, and usually im there the day we do it and help out (lotsa hot choc. and mittens to stay warm!) - this year i went to a youth group retreat.  we used to get our tree somewhere else because my mom has really heavy ornaments and the trees my dad had didnt have branches strong enough to hold them.  but a few years ago he got new trees, so now we get our tree on the first sat. of december, after his giveaway.  and since my sis has been away in school, we try not to decorate until she comes home.  we may not wait this year, which i dont like.

we always have a christmas eve service at church, or two, only this year its one.  and we go to usually both of those.  the last few years (basically since i was in jr high) i’ve been involved some how through hosanna hands or singing.  one tradition that weve always had at church is to dim the lights and hold candles durning “silent night” - the last song.  then we life the candles up during the last verse.  SO pretty.

every christmas eve, we kids get to open up 1 (maybe two) present, which is usually an ornament (not that we DONT have enough already, lol).  we read the nativity story from luke 2, and when we were younger my sister and i used to come up with creative ways to do it: like with beanie babies, computer programs (pictures), etc.

sunday morning we were never allowed downstairs until my parents got up (which was usually around 7:30-8).  we three kids would sit on the top of the stairs trying to see down to the christmas tree in the darkness (yes we would get up that early - although in mn, its dark at 6:30 am in the winter lol).  now my sis sleeps as long as she can (she lives downstairs) and my bro and i sit at the top of the stairs!  haha.  i remember one year i couldnt fall asleep though because my parents were wrapping “santa’s” presents in their room and making a lot of noise.  lol.  then we open stockings, eat breakfast, and then open the rest of our gifts.  then either that day in the afternoon or the next day we go to my grandparents house and open gifts, eat cookies, etc. with the extended family.

i think thats enough stories from lois for now!  hope you liked them.

i forgot to mention amy, that i liked your pony story.  my sister and i still have all of our my little ponies - loved them as kids!!  we used to try to draw them for fun. good times. 

I like hearing everyone’s traditions

When we were kids living in Northern VA, we usually went to the Christmas Eve service at church, and then afterwards drove around the neighborhood listening to Christmas music on the radio and looking at all the Christmas lights and decorations.  When we got home, we’d get to open one Christmas present - but there was a limited choice, because Christmas morning there’d be more presents under the tree (like the “big” presents, the special ones that we’d always open last… one year I got a TV, for example).

Lately, the present my mom opens on Christmas Eve is the same… windshield wipers. Every year she gets windshield wiper blades.  And she always jokes “I wonder what this could be?” lol.

Another tradition is that me and my brother would get up before my parents (who always get up at 7:00) so we could check out our stockings.  There’s always cute little presents in there, plus a bag of candy.  Then my parents get up, we eat breakfast, then we open our presents.

During present opening, my dad chooses which ones we open.  For example, he’ll hand one to me, I’ll open it, my mom takes a picture (or writes down who it’s from, if it’s from a relative), then my dad hands a present to my brother.  I like that, so we all see what we got instead of it being a mass mess of present wrapping all over at once.  Oh, and we all wear Santa hats My dad got Santa hats for the foster kids, and Katie’s is a pink princess one, lol.

For Christmas dinner, we don’t have turkey or ham.  We have chili and hot dogs.  It’s so that my parents don’t have to spend all day on Christmas cooking.  We can spend all day playing with our toys and all that

I bet I could try and put some of it on you tube. We just transfered the video to DVD last night because the video’s getting old.

by the way I am loving all these christmas traditions.

One from my family is we have to have a Virginia Pine as our Christmas tree every year other wise mom has a fit.

I am not much in the Christmas spirt yet.  If anything, it has been Ba Hum Bug this Christmas season.  I guess it has to do with the way this year has gone by.  Maybe I need to listen to Ginny’s new Christmas album some more to change my mood. 

My family does have a couple of Christmas traditions.  The first one is that we open the presents Christmas eve.  This started many many years ago. I think my parents ie dad wanted to sleep in on Christmas.  The reason why we do it now a days it allows my brother and sister to go to their in-laws for Christmas.  The Christmas eve dinner is homemade cheese soup and a large ham made in the oven. 

Thomas

Thomas - 10 December 2006 06:35 PM

I am not much in the Christmas spirt yet.  If anything, it has been Ba Hum Bug this Christmas season.  I guess it has to do with the way this year has gone by.  Maybe I need to listen to Ginny’s new Christmas album some more to change my mood. 

My family does have a couple of Christmas traditions.  The first one is that we open the presents Christmas eve.  This started many many years ago. I think my parents ie dad wanted to sleep in on Christmas.  The reason why we do it now a days it allows my brother and sister to go to their in-laws for Christmas.  The Christmas eve dinner is homemade cheese soup and a large ham made in the oven. 

Thomas

I’m with ya Thomas, on the Christmas spirit.  I think my problem this year is that I’m letting Justin go to South Carolina with his grandparents for a week and he won’t be home for Christmas.  We still don’t have a tree up, but the Christmas decorations are down from the attic and I think I’m atleast going to hang up the stockings tonight.  I think I need a dose of Elvis’ Christmas album (don’t laugh) because that’s what we used to listen to when I was kid and we decorated the tree.

Homemade cheese soup and ham sounds so yummy!

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My family traditions have kind of been upended over the last decade between losing my husband and my dad and my in-laws moving south this year.  So I’ve gotten to be pretty adept at creating new traditions that more than family can share.

I host 2-5 parties in December. (of course I’m nuts...this surprises you?  )

Had party #1 a week ago when coworkers and neighbors and old friends came to the “Martha Stewart Does NOT Live Here” Christmas prep party.  It was two dozen female friends between the ages of two and 86 and they all brought their Christmas cards or crafts/scrapbooks.  And I put out a ton of homemade food, had the tree up and played nonstop Christmas music.  This party forces me to get the house decorated for Christmas!

Party #2 will be this coming weekend. George Rowe will be in Annapolis MD for a Christmas concert series and I’m taking a different set of friends from work and elsewhere up to meet him and to drink in that amazing voice of his.

Then Party #3 will take place between Christmas and New Year’s.  It’s for about a dozen of the people who were part of the widoweds support group that I used to lead. Most of them are remarried and have embarked on new careers and ministries so it’s really exciting to hear about all the new things they’re doing.  And best of all, it’s good to see them all happy again.

I’ve often done get togethers for some former gang member friends and for old college buddies but I don’t know if these groups will be getting together this year.

In case you’re wondering...I sleep all January after all this plus going to visit my mom and old friends in NJ and my in-laws in the Carolinas. 

Here’s to hibernation!

n

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I heart Christmas parties. (hey there’s a smiley you might think about putting on here, a little heart, that’d be cute anyway)

Christmas parties just kinda put me in the mood but not as much as being out at my grandparents house for Christmas. LOVE IT!! Ahhh i can’t wait to get on the road!!

aww.. Amy I liked your story.  When I was little I had this My Little Pony momma that when you unvelcroe her stomache, there were 3 My Little Pony babies inside.  haha it was neat.  I still have it somewhere.

Some of my traditions are :

*after my mom’s birthday is when we put up the Christmas tree and other decorations.
*playing with my little cousins
*opening 1 present at midnight on Christmas and then waking up around 9 or 10 later on.