Nakita Grinie

Christmas Traditions

I mentioned this on Instagram, but I totally caved and bought Elf on the Shelf for the kids this year. Or more specifically, for my daughter who has been casually mentioning her love for the Elf and how she wants us to have an Elf and how Lori showed her the movie about the Elf on the Shelf and pleeeeease, mommy? (Insert puppy dog eyes and pouty CC lips here, and tell me you'd say no to that face!)

We made it to Christmas number six with children before we caved, so I guess that deserves a medal of sorts. But really, I haven't been too thrilled with the idea of the (somewhat creepy-stalkerish) Elf because I want my kids to behave well because they are well behaved. Not because they are worried about the Elf reporting bad behavior to Santa, thus not getting all of the toys they WANT AND NEED for Christmas. Lots of thoughts on this, including my reservations with really 'doing' Santa at all. And my reservations with giving them excessive gifts (er, being the only grandchildren on both sides of the family doesn't help with this at all), and making Christmas about Santa and gifts and everything decidedly NOT what Christmas should be about.

Nate tells me to lighten up, it's fun to have the elf and fun to believe in Santa and our kids won't be spoiled brats because of the toys under the tree. I do think it's possible to celebrate the secular part of Christmas along with the Biblical meaning. Why can't Santa and Jesus *both* get the spotlight? It doesn't have to be all or none, right? We frequently talk about the real meaning of Christmas, they are going to Sunday School and learning about baby Jesus, and they get really excited about the prospect of his birthday party (ahem, possibly because of the gifts, yet again).

But I digress, because this post just got way too deep for my liking. Let's just look at pretty pictures instead, shall we?  {Side note--both Truman and Cecelia are bonkers for Candy Cane Jane, our elf, and it's quite entertaining to see their excitement each morning when they find her! She is not a crazy-Pinterest-worthy elf making huge messes or anything elaborate. But she seems to give them a little thrill, and I'm a sucker for the extreme happiness that silly little things like an elf bring to my kids.}

Candy Cane Jane has me thinking a lot about Christmas traditions lately. Apparently we are going to make the Elf on the Shelf a part of our tradition, and we have numerous others that will contribute to our memories looking back on these Christmases with littles.


Face Under The Paper Shots
This is a tradition started by my mom's family, so Memaw and Papaw were the initiators. Looking back through the pictures from my childhood, were is always one 'money shot' image from every Christmas. We always took a picture under the wrapping paper chaos/aftermath and it's hilarious to see the changes over the years. Sometimes I'm a cute little innocent three year old, sometimes I'm an awkward pre-teen, and sometimes I'm glaring at the camera as a teenager. Most of the time my brother is ultra adorable. The more I think about this tradition, the more I realize I probably love it because of my obsession with comparison photo collages. So there you go;)


2010


2011--not quite the 'money shot' but still cute!


2012


2013


2014

Can't wait to force the children to do this for many many years to come!

Christmas Eve Church Service
This is just an excuse to show you my kids all dressed up and adorable. But we really do try to go to the Christmas Eve 'family' service at our church each year. I remember going to church on Christmas morning at times and it was BRUTAL to wait to open our presents until after church. I think going on Christmas Eve, then doing some gifts with my in-laws that night is a great way to spread out the madness a bit. Christmas morning has always been 'just' our little family opening gifts and I hope we can keep it that way in the future, too! But yes, church. We go on Christmas Eve and I don't hate to don festive apparel on these baby faces of ours.

2010


2011


2012


2013


2014


Christmas Pajamas
Hardly a tradition specific to our family, but still a fun part of the holidays. With each successive child I get more and more excited for matching Christmas pajamas, too!

2010


2011


2012


Two pictures from that year because, OMG, baby CC.


2013


2014

Yessssss. You know there will be plenty from 2015 to satisfy my desire for all things matching.

Snow Ice Cream
This is a little less generic than the tradition above, more unique to our family (perhaps?). But my mom always made my brother and I 'snow ice cream' after a fresh snow. Which, looking back, growing up in Missouri compared to my kids growing up in Wisconsin probably meant a lot fewer opportunities for the goodness of this treat! All you need is a bowl of snow, then pour in some milk, give it a few shakes of vanilla extract, several heaping spoonfuls of sugar, and then top it with food coloring. Easy peasy, delicious, and obviously a big hit with the kids. We don't just do this at Christmas so it's more of a 'winter tradition' thing, but bonus if we get a fresh blanket of snow on Christmas Day here (as if we need more sugar on Christmas, but whatever).







Fun in the Snow
Yep, not a Christmas-y thing really, but chalk this up to 'reasons why winter is somewhat tolerable in Wisconsin.' Because playing in the snow is ridiculously fun, even as an adult---but especially through the eyes of a kid. And especially when there is still a baby in the house that despises the snow, thus allowing me to come inside early with that baby as Nate plays with the bigger kids. I have this all worked out to make 'fun in the snow' JUST the right amount of fun for me.

2010


2011


2012


2013


2014 (note the pumpkins in the background, this was definitely in November but it counts!)


How is that for a walk down memory lane? What traditions does your family do for Christmas? Do you love/hate the elf like me? Most importantly, have you ever tried snow ice cream?? ;)