Traditions

I love traditions..especially at Christmas time.. so I thought I would share a few of the traditions we have around the Blankenship house. (excuse the poor quality images as they were taken on my cell phone).

This is my Bedford Falls Village that my sister gave me for Christmas in either '90 or '91. It came with 9 houses/buildings and the train with tracks however, I have never put the train up because of lack of space. I LOVE my Village and if there were a fire (at Christmas time), I would grab this first! :) I wasn't able to get all the Village in this picture but you get the idea. It's GORGEOUS and takes up the entire fireplace mantel every year.

This is our Lifesaver advent calendars. This is a tradition I have passed on from when I was little. My mom made me and my sisters these and I have very fond memories of pulling the sticky Lifesavers off every night with pieces of the string attached to them and eating them with delight! There are 24 Lifesavers tied to them..one for each night from Dec 1st til Christmas Eve (in case you couldn't figure that one out). I still haven't gotten the complete truth as to where the original ones disappeared to (I think my sister threw them away many years ago..grr) but my sister, Lori, graciously made these for my kids a few years ago and it is as fond of a tradition for my kids as it was for me as a child. Oh..and now Lifesavers come individually wrapped and I have learned how to thread them onto the strings without removing the wrapper so there is no sticky mess. :)

Here is another tradition in our house that was started just this year. I think this might become my favorite over the village. :) My mom had one of these and of course my sister got it when my mom passed away :( I loved my mom's so much that I decided I would make my own. Well, I didn't exactly "make" my own but I did paint it and paint it..and paint it (for over 5 hrs straight..not even a bathroom break). I had so much fun painting it (with my BFF, Kat) and now I have a tradition that I will eventually pass along to my favorite one of my children. The picture really doesn't do it justice as it's a beautiful green and the lights are just gorgeous. The base is a different story but who's looking, huh Kat? LOL

And how could I post an entry about Christmas traditions in my house without including this one! My grandmother made this for me when I was very young. It's the most hideous looking thing I have ever seen but I insist it be hung on the tree and directly dead center! lol Now, you have to understand that I hate clowns. Pennywise completely did me in on this one! So..to hang this thing on my tree shows my total love for my grandmother..God bless her! I wish she were here today to see this. She would laugh that laugh I can still hear. :)

Other traditions in my house include reading "The Night Before Christmas" and the birth of Jesus from the Bible on Christmas Eve. We also get to open 1 gift on Christmas Eve which in the past has been pjs and a book so the boys have nice pjs for Christmas morning and pictures. I think at 6, 8, and 10 yrs old, they are getting tired of pjs as their gift on Christmas Eve. I will have to think of something else. lol Also, we don't put any Christmas presents under the tree until after the kids go to bed on Christmas Eve. EVERYTHING is brought by Santa. Some things are left unwrapped and some things are wrapped (by Rudolph, Mrs. Claus, Santa, and others) but for some reason, I have never made any gifts from mom and dad. Joseph still fully believes in Santa this year and has not questioned it at all so this tradition will continue..at least for now. :)