Meaningful Holidays

No Thanksgiving photos to post here. We had so much to bring to dinner (two pies, sweet potatoes, rising rolls, baby and baby bag) that I forgot the cameras I had put in my own bag. I had even charged the batteries.... We had a great dinner even though Bella waited until we were all stuffed to the brim and prostrate on the couches to finally switch to a happy and playful mood.

Sharing the holiday with a different set of family members than I'm used to has me thinking about my own holiday habits and what I imagine when I dream of the holiday season. With a new(ish) baby, this year feels like a great year to start planting new traditions and decide which old ones to honor.

Here's what we've been doing:

Pumpkin pie from scratch. Until this year I've always messed up the dough. I think I've finally gotten it right, though :O)

Listening to Harry Potter audio books. Dave and I both work retail, and turning these one when we come home instead of Christmas music helps keep us sane.

Baking baking and more baking. Bread, cookies, meringues, you name it! Especially this year, as it will compliment our gifts of time that we plan to give out in lieu of toys, etc.

Orange rolls with fresh coffee on Thanksgiving and Christmas mornings. This year we didn't plan ahead and had to run out and get them last minute. I expect on Christmas I'll plan to try out homemade orange rolls.

We don't have a tree tradition, though I've heard of people making an ornament with their children for each Christmas. My mom's tree is full of these and I love to look at them!




Candles, we always light a candle at every meal we manage at the dinner table. A reminder that it's the little things the keep love going. I would love to make our own candles to last us the year and distribute to others.

I also like the idea of everyone saying something they are thankful for at grace. At big family dinners we repeat Bless Us O Lord, which is a nice way to start the meal, but as Dave and I are not big on organized grace, I think something genuine from each person would be more meaningful.

We haven't tried any volunteering and we have yet to be in a position to adopt a family to give presents, but it's something I always think about. I'm a fan of inviting over as many people for the holidays as possible.

And on that note, as much as I would like to boycott Black Friday, I must head to work and serve the throngs.