​Tis the time of the year for Christmas traditions. But, as is with this year at our house, it's also the time for change, and new traditions to be born.

One of the traditions we had when I was growing up was the yearly trek to the mall to visit with Santa. My mother always did things well scheduled and planned, so my sister and I looked forward to the moment when we'd et dressed special and visit the Big Guy.

These keepsakes were kept in a frame that came out each Christmas. It was fun to see how we'd grown from year to year. There is even the very special photo with my life-long bestie who was always with us...okay, that sister from another mother.

The last photo with Santa is one of the most memorable. It was perhaps the only unscheduled trips to Santa. That year my sister and I fought our mother on this. We didn't want to sit on his lap. The magic perhaps was lost by then, and we were just too old. But, we obliged. We were perhaps two of the last kids to visit Santa on that Saturday night. I know it was a Saturday because we are wearing our bowling shirts. Dad was with us, and I remember thinking that it was interesting when we were done, that my dad stood there with Santa and just had a conversation like to regular men. (Even though I knew the Lakeside Mall Santa was no more than a regular man.) 

When that Santa asked my sister and me what we wanted, we both replied that we didn't want anything special. We were grateful for whatever was brought to us that Christmas. When we were done, and Santa and Dad had their conversation, Santa was telling our dad that he appreciated us. We weren't greedy, and we were thankful for what we had. He wished more kids were like that.

After that year, we took two more photos, but they were with our grandfathers, and equally as special. But, no matter how old I get, I'll always remember going to see Santa each year. It truly was part of the magic of Christmas growing up.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of my This House of Boys friends. I love sharing my journey through parenthood with you all.

Love,
​Bernadette Marie

​My husband comes from a very large family. Well we both do, but his family still gets together for Christmas. So, every year, on the First Sunday of December we make the drive to the Central Valley in California, leaving around 7am for the 2-hour road trip, praying there is no fog to Celebrate Christmas with our extended family.
 
Every year we have a Family Christmas Party where close to 100 or more family members gather to continue the tradition that my husband's grandmother started more than 50 years ago, we start planning sometimes 4 months before, deciding what food we want, if it will be brunch, or traditional Christmas dinner or maybe something new like this year which was Hofbrau style.
 
We each bring a table decoration or 2 so the tables look festive. Years ago, I made over 100 Christmas decorations with family members names (think of Days of our lives and the Horton Family Christmas tree.) to put up on our Christmas tree that someone always brings. Parents with children under the age of 13 bring a gift to put under the tree and Santa comes to visits the kids.
 
What I love the most is listening to the older cousins/aunts/uncles talk about the memories from the past. We bring pictures and talk about the crazy things that family members used to do. For years, we had entertainment, my daughter would play her Clarinet and my son would get up there and ham it up by lip syncing to a song. We would sing Christmas Carols and we even have our own song to the melody of the Battle Hymn of the Republic that we sing. (not very Christmassy I know but we love it.)
 
We always have way too much food and desserts but it’s seeing and talking with family that is most important. Yes, we play poker and card games. Watch the kids with Santa and hold all the new babies and meet all the new editions to the family but it’s the Tradition of the Family Christmas party that is the most Important. That is what we tell our kids and are passing down, so they can see how important it is to be part of a big family that loves to get together for the holidays, to keep the Tradition going. 

​Kenzie Rose lives on the Central Coast of California with her husband and grown children where the inspiration for her books comes from.  When not writing, you will find her sitting on the deck reading romances and listening to the waves.
 
She also loves to cook and throw parties for friends and family so this is her excuse to spend way too much time on Pinterest. She loves to talk to readers and connect with them through Social Media.

Thank you Bernadette, for the invitation to share a cherished holiday tradition from my family with your readers!

Winter is one of my favorite seasons. My instinct is to slow things down, to take stock in the year that’s ending, and get ready for the year to come. The holidays, beginning with Thanksgiving, are an excellent time to reflect and seek gratitude.
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But the Christmas season makes everything feel magical for me. I’m one of those people who can’t wait for the radio stations to begin their 24/7 holiday music cycle, and I secretly love seeing Christmas decorations seeping in around October 31st.
I can’t help myself. I am Will Farrell’s Elf from the movie, fists clenched in my lap and mouth agape in excitement and disbelief that Christmas is only 49 Fridays away! The winter holidays are like a giant ball of warmth and yummy food, family and friends, kids and wishes, and tradition all rolled into one.

​Before he goes, we all take pictures with Santa and send him on his way. This year, the youngest kid in the family is ten; the oldest is 94! Like I do each winter, I am looking forward to getting together with everyone again, toasting the year, and making memories. 

Happy Holidays and I hope your 2017 is full of fabulous memories.
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Do you have a beloved holiday tradition?

​Christmas time is here; happiness and cheer.  Time for fun and time to break out those holiday traditions with your family.  One of the best things about being a parent is sharing with your kids the things you did as a child, and Christmas is prime time for that.  Some years we forget to do certain traditions, like last year when we forgot to put out cookies for Santa.  Oops!  He didn’t seem too upset about it.  Some years we create new traditions.  Here are some of our favorite holiday traditions:

Christmas Light Displays – Make some hot chocolate to-go and get in the car to see some neighborhood Christmas light displays.  You can use Google to find light displays in your area, or just walk around your neighborhood. 

Gingerbread House – We always make a gingerbread house each year.  This was a tradition we didn’t do when I was a kid, but one I always wanted to do.  So, I have made sure my family took on this tradition and it is a favorite!  I usually go for a traditional gingerbread house with gumdrop and peppermint candy decorations, but this year I went for a Willy Wonka gingerbread house with Runts, Nerds, Bottle Caps and Sweet Tarts.  I really only picked it so we could eat the leftover candy!

Hostess Snowballs – This year we started a new tradition.  While watching Elf, we made hot chocolate, and ate Hostess Snowballs.  We also used our “fancy” dessert plates to make it a little more special.  Buddy makes a mean snowball and so does Hostess!

Giving Back – My daughter is in Girl Scouts so they usually do several service projects at the holidays.  As a family, we also purchase a bag full of groceries for a local food pantry each year, and we help a family by buying gifts from an Angel Tree.  These are just a few ideas, there are several ways to give back, whether it’s volunteering your time or donating money to the cause of your choice!
 
Christmas is one of my favorite times of year, and these traditions are what help make it special!  What are your favorite traditions?

​​Angela is a freelance writer and publicist.  She loves coffee as much as wine, and spends her days filling her 9 year-old daughter’s head with 1970’s and 80’s pop culture.  She has a rescue a cat named Violet, as in Beauregard, and you don’t want to play 80’s Trivial Pursuit with her, because she wins every time.

I am so excited to be over on This House of Boys!  Bernadette and I have known each other for…um…quite some time, no need to share how long.  My blog is called The Bubbly Hostess – I love to cook, entertain, plan parties, and of course…drink champagne.  Being a wife and a mommy, my party style ranges from birthday parties for little ones to elegant cocktail parties for the grownups.  I hope you will visit my site, leave feedback, and share with others!  You can also follow The Bubbly Hostess on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. 

In December of 2012, I wrote a post about Pizzelle Cookies, how my dad would make them every year (lots of them) and how I was super excited about my own CucinaPro Pizzelle Maker that I purchased from my cousin Dino earlier that year at Valente’s Deli Bakery & Italian Market.  I also said that I was excited about starting an annual tradition in my own home to continue the pizzelle making each year with my own family.
 
My brother Scott, along with many other members within my large Italian family have kept up this tradition over the years.

Unfortunately, I didn’t make them in 2013 with the diagnosis of stage III breast cancer in January of that year.  The pizzelles could wait, and they did.  But I’m happy to report that I am cancer free and have successfully brought the annual tradition of making pizzelles back into my home!

In 2014, I followed the recipe that my dad always used (less the anise) and made vanilla pizzelles that year.  My dad always made them at the kitchen counter with a dish towel draped over his shoulder (or around his neck in this photo!)  I made sure I did the same, there is something about the dish towel over the shoulder that makes the cookies that much more special. 

My cousin Matt made some pretty cool looking “half and half” pizzelles that year, I had to follow suit.

This Christmas marks the third year my "middle" son has asked to hold a food drive for Christmas. It's a miraculous thing to see that on a Christmas wish list. Last year's drive doubled what his first year had collected. This year, he's hoping to double again, and he's well on his way. 

His friends and family rally behind him. We've had people we've never met, who saw our post on Facebook, hold collections for him. My former high school teachers have sent monetary donations, and the Hockey Association put him front page and the teams are gathering food for him. It is an amazing time of year to see this kind of giving.

Of course, when you ask a 12-year-old why they do something like this, you get a shoulder shrug. "I don't know." So one day I sat him down, and I asked him, why do you want to do this? We've never needed the food bank's help, so this isn't first hand. There aren't a lot of kids who go to school and brag about needing it either; that's something usually kept very quiet. So why does he do this? Tears still spring to my eyes when I think about his answer. "I took my queue from you, Mom."

I can't remember the birthday exactly, but I think it was when he and his twin brother turned 4, we had our big BBQ/Birthday party. (My birthday is the day before theirs.) In the past when their older brothers had parties and people spent their hard earned money to buy my kids gifts, they didn't make it very long (the gift that is.) Toys are quickly ruined or discarded. I didn't want that again. I thought there had to be something better. There had to be a way to give back instead of take. So we had a food drive that year instead of gifts. 

The first year we donated to the local food bank where my mother knew the lady that ran it. She put the boys on the scale first and weighed them. Then she weighed the food. The brought in double their weight. The next year they did the same.

He'd remembered that, and he wanted to build on what I'd shown him.

Now the food drive is his, and he's the voice behind it. Our friend works at the bigger food bank, and she guides us along the way. When we deliver the donations, she lets him be there and weigh it and then gives him a tour of the facility to show him where his donations will end up.

Sometimes our lessons are bigger than we think they are.

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!
​~Bernadette Marie~