It’s November, y’all! I know I said that last Friday, but it still has got me by surprise.
The calendar turns to November and my mind turns to the holidays. And to holiday traditions. We Barefoot Hippies have carved out our own traditions that are a blend of both our family back grounds and our own personal interests.
Right on November 1, we start our favorite Thanksgiving tradition, that of the Thankful game. During morning devotions, every morning in November, the kids and I go round and round listing the things we are thankful for. It is a great exercise is remembering the abundance and convenience we have been blessed with. It is my kids’ favorite part of Thanksgiving, and even Meres is getting in on the fun this year.
Our other Thanksgiving traditions include…
An obscenely huge Thanksgiving Day feast. It is my favorite meal of the year. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, squash, marshmallow jello, cranberry salad, rolls, green bean casserole, and pies. Absolutely amazing. My mom is a phenomenal cook, as are my sister and sister-in-laws. We always have plenty of very good food.
We generally spend Thanksgiving in TX since my parents moved there 9 years ago. We have not missed too many Thanksgivings down there. The weather is much nicer there than by us. It kind of stretches out fall and shortens winter. Which, in my opinion, is a plus.
Whether in Texas or at home, we run a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day, and have for the past 5 years. There is something very fun about getting up early in the morning, and running your heart out before you feast. It makes you feel a little less guilty about the huge dinner. We are running the Dallas Turkey Trot for the third time this year. Mr. Hippie and I are running the 8 mile course. My boys are joining my sister on the 5k course.
When we are here at home, we attend a Thanksgiving Day service at a local church after our race. It is the perfect opportunity to communally reflect on and thank God for our blessings.
Our Christmas traditions start with December. Rather than playing the thankful game daily in December, we use a felt advent calendar, and the kids move the snowflake from pocket to pocket as the month progresses. I fill the pockets with chocolates. Whoever’s day it is to move the snowflake gets the chocolate.
We host and attend several Christmas gatherings, open houses and concerts during December. We have our work crew over for a big, we are so thankful for all of you dinner party. We visit our local Presidential museum and eat cookies, listen to carolers, look at decorated trees and enjoy the current exhibits. We dress up the family and attend a Male Choir concert that my family started attending when I was rather young. There is a pipe organ and it is wonderful to hear all the carols well sung.
Every December we make a trip to our local Hobby Lobby, and each one of us picks out an ornament for the year. We go to HL because the ornaments are always half off. And we are frugal like that. We pick out our tree on that same day, and decorate it the next day, always the weekend before our employees Christmas party.
I do a grand baking day sometime about the middle of December. I usually make many types of cookies and bars which get eaten over the next few weeks and I give them as gifts to people in our lives who serve us daily and weekly-like the mailman. I give him more and more every year, and yet he tells me they never make it home to his family.
Our Christmas Eve tradition is to listen to the King’s College Christmas Eve service via the internet. It starts there around 3:00, which puts it at about 10:00 here. I listen while whipping up my appetizers for our evening with the BFF and family. Christmas day we eat eggs benedict for breakfast. I make the hollandaise and Mr. Hippie makes everything else. The kids and I memorize new Christmas poems every year.
So, our holidays are made up of a bunch of little traditions. Nothing spectacular, exactly, but ours nonetheless.
What are some of your holiday traditions? I’d love to hear.
