Book Blogmas Day 7: Tell a Tale

12 Days of Book Blogmas! is hosted by Parajunkee. 

Tell a Tale: share a holiday tradition.

Share a tradition, or holiday tradition you would like to implement within your family.

I love Christmas time. I love the decorations and spending time with my family. I love the cooler weather. The music. 

Growing up we had a couple of holiday traditions. 

We always have had an artificial Christmas tree. And we would start putting the tree up the day after Thanksgiving. (I have been trying to still do this with my family, but I don't usually get it up until the first week of December...)

My brother and I would each have a side of the tree for us to decorate with our own ornaments. (Like our baby ornaments and the special ones that our grandparents got us every year.) And then the front would be mostly the family/parent ornaments. (I haven't really done this with my girls yet, maybe when they get older. But I do let them each hang their specific personal ornaments themselves, but I let them put them where they want.) 

And our presents would be on our specific sides. With our parents' presents in the middle/front part of the tree. (Which I do with my girls.)

We also would have a Christmas Eve dinner and a Christmas Day dinner. Mom would usually make turkey the one day and ham on the other. (We haven't really kept up that tradition either.)

After dinner on Christmas Eve we would go look at Christmas lights. (Which was when Santa would come.) Then when we got home we would open our gifts. 

Which is another tradition I did not keep. My girls open their gifts on Christmas morning. 

Another tradition I remember having growing up was to eat Kielbasa at Midnight on Christmas morning. It was a tradition that my Dad kept from his father. But alas, I haven't been doing that either. Maybe when my girls get a little older and they actually can stay up that late. 

So I basically didn't keep any of the holiday traditions that I remember growing up. But I do hope as the years go by I will start some of my own with my girls. 

We do decorate our artificial tree. I love our personal and variety of character ornaments. And I also have a few ornaments that belonged to my great-grandmother. (Which are special to me.)

We do go look at Christmas lights and have a lot of fun doing so.

And we do listen to Christmas music. 

I am looking forward to the traditions to come.