Traditions...

If you would have asked me two years ago what our holiday traditions were I would have had a hard time pinning anything down as a true tradition in our family. We rarely do things that I consider "tradition", some years we do one thing and some years we switch it around and do something else and we are always open to new ideas so traditions weren't something I really focused on, but my focus has begun to change. Last year was the first time that we were in a new place over the holidays and everything seemed new and exciting, but this year we have settled in and I have realized that the things I didn't think of as tradition really were and all of a sudden I miss them. I miss candle teas, love feasts, driving through the lights at Tanglewood and roasting marshmellows. I miss snacks with Santa, going to see Dickens Christmas Carol playing at the Stevens Center, Holiday Concert at the coliseum, and being a part of A Clemmons Christmas at Center Grove. It made me sad that this was the first year Emma didn't ask if daddy and her were going on a sleigh ride around Mocksville on Frank ( the resident horse). When she asked if we would watch the Macy's parade while I cooked Thanksgiving dinner I told her no, because now we have to travel to see family and they aren't coming to our house this year. She seemed disappointed and I realized that these things, although not set in stone, and not neccesarily yearly events, had come to represent the holidays to us. I realized that in a couple more years my children won't remember these things and that it is our responsibility ( Jason and I ) to not wallow in what we miss and be sad about what used to be but get out there and find new traditions to enjoy.
One new thing we started last year was the celebration of Advent which was a big hit in our house. The children still talk about it and had we not come here and become a part of  Mt. Vernon we may never have found this wonderful new tradition that truly represents the meaning of Christmas. We will continue the tradition of cutting our own tree and we are going to A Clemmons Christmas in a couple of weeks because I don't want Emma & Lydia to forget this wonderful depiction of Christ's birth, life, death and ressurection, but I also know that we have to find  things here in this new place and chapter of our life so that one day when Emma and Lydia are asked the question "what are your traditions?" they will have an answer! and so begins the search of all things Christmas that will become the tradtions that we can pass down to the next generation.... I am open to suggestions! :o)


It comes every year and will go on forever. And along with Christmas belong the keepsakes and the customs. Those humble, everyday things a mother clings to, and ponders, like Mary in the secret spaces of her heart. -- Marjorie Holmes