Sunday, December 13, 2009

keeping up with traditions

this super fun tradition was started years ago by my Mom. My Grandma Shore even joined in on the fun. Each year, my Mom (and Grandma) would buy each of us a new ornament. We loved seeing what that years ornament was. Each year it was a fun surprise. I loved pulling out my "Raimi" box each December. When John & I were newlyweds, my Mom handed that "Raimi" box over to me. That was the idea behind the yearly tradition. Someday... when we left home, we would have a few ornaments to decorate our first tree with. I loved this yearly tradition so much that I have kept up with the yearly ornaments for my boys. They look forward to their "Tanner", "Carter","Garrett", & "Brody" boxes when the holiday decorations come out of the garage.

The boys with this years ornaments. I was able to find Garrett & Brody an ornament that matched their Christmas jammies. See the cute reindeer's! How fun is that?














What are some of your favorite traditions?
p.s. there just might be a cute ornament give away for your comments :-). If you know me, you know that I LOVE Christmas ornaments & am always on the hunt for the cute ones :-).

11 comments:

Raejean said...

We do the ornament thing too, we've been making our ornaments for the last few years.

Morgan said...

Each of our kids get new ornament every year as well. I never got them as a kid, but I liked the idea of doing it for my own children. The only problem is that now we have WAY too many ornaments to decorate a single tree, so we have some ornaments that haven't been used in a few years. Sometimes they get their ornament before Christmas, but most of the time they get it Christmas Eve or day.

Barb said...

I got my kids ornaments for their 1st Christmas and really wanted to get them a new one each year but with all the money we seem to spend on things each year I just haven't gotten them new ones for the years that followed. But you have inspired me. Making them is a better idea and with them out of school next week maybe that will be a great project. And giving them each a box for their ornaments is a great idea too. Thanks for the inspiration!

Denise Z. said...

Dd is 23 now, but we still get her a special ornament every year.

And we still love to bundle up, take our hot chocolate and drive around looking at the Christmas lights. It's become a tradition with her and her friends now, too.

Kerrie said...

We so do the ornament thing too! It is my favorite! Every year decorating the tree is a year down memory land. Although Ian was not happy that Olivia has so many more than him. My kids each have their own advent calendar that each day they open starting Dec. 1st. When they get married they can take their calendar with them. I want them always to have a piece of home at the holidays!

Kristen said...

My mom did the same thing for my brother and I...it was so fun to have a fully decorated tree our first Christmas! I now do it for my boys, too...but it never occured to me to pack them up in their own box! How fun! Thanks for a new idea...

Morgan said...

ok, so I already wrote on here, but I have a question: what kind of boxes do you use for the kids' ornaments? I would like to separate mine so that each kid has his or her own box as well - I think they would love that. Do you use special boxes, or just plain old cardboard ones?

Annie said...

i started this tradition for dan and i when we got married. i have not been able to find ornaments this year yet...i need to look harder! or i could make them...that may be a stretch though:) i write the year on the back or bottom, so in twenty years we can remember what year it came from. it has been really fun.

Laurie said...

I am not a cool mom like you doing the ornament thing for my kids, but we do have a pinata every christmas eve...not the norm I know, but way fun!

Meridee said...

I love your ornament tradition. My favorite tradition is preparing Jesus' manger with straw/kind deeds. We draw names each week in december and do kind deeds for that secret person all week. Each kind deed deserves a piece of straw. We have an overflowing manger for baby Jesus by Christmas day. It seems to bring a little peace to our home which is a bonus!

Lisa said...

We get a family ornament each year, since we were married. Usually from a place we've been or a craft fair. We get new pj's sometime during the month or on christmas eve. Looking at lights and baking!!!