Wanted to take this time to wish all of you a very happy and safe New Years! I will write more when I get back home about my own year in review. I accomplished a few things this year that I never thought in a million years I could ever be capable of doing. This past year I really focused on making my physical body better, I think in 2013, I will focus on my spirit and mind. What are some of the things we are most proud of this year?
I hope everyone had a wonderful day yesterday! Sorry, this is a day late. I was too busy playing Bey Blades, Angry Bird Star Wars Jenga and Apples to Apples. I also had the pleasure of going to see Les Miserables (review to follow at a later date) with 2 of my favorite people. Our celebration continues today with my Sissy and her family.
Joy To The World: Aretha Franklin (my favorite version of this song)
is quite possibly my favorite Christmas hymn. I can’t help, but always tear up when I hear this song at Christmas Mass. I have enjoyed many versions of it. Here are some of my favorites, traditional and non-traditional. I have to thank my BFF for helping me discover many of these version through her Christmas compilations.
Jennifer Hudson’s version
Neil’s Diamond version.
Weezer’s version
Tracy Chapman’s version (this is very lovely)
One of my favorite things to do today is track Santa on NORAD with the boys. I think I get more enjoyment out of it than they do. If you would like to check it out click here.
Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas Eve day and night. I hope your day and night is filled with joy, laughter and love! Enjoy the ones around you, especially the little ones. It is great to see all of this through their eyes. xoxo
For those waiting for love ones to arrive!
An extra clip and songs for all U2 fans out there. If you scroll to minute 5, you can see the fabulous Do They Know It’s Christmas video. It has such a great showcase of the 80s fashion and all the magnificent coif’s of that time.
Sorry, yesterday was busier than I anticipated and I didn’t get a chance to post the song for day 4. As we approach the last few days before Christmas, please take the time to breathe and enjoy the company around you. These past few days, I have been able to see and hang out with some of my favorite people and it has been wonderful! Looking forward to having s’mores this afternoon with my family and my oldest, oldest friend and her husband!
Day 4: Wonderful Christmas Time by Paul McCartney
Day 3: Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas by Billy Joel (My favorite version)
This song is just cool. Bowie+Bing+Snowy 70s set=best Christmas song collaboration ever!
One of the more festive songs! I can’t listen this song without having a smile on my face or bopping my head.
I am going to be posting my favorite Christmas songs up until Christmas. Today’s song is Santa Claus is Coming to Town the Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band version. I love this song, because it puts a rocking spin on the original and who can resist Big Man’s Sax. Enjoy!
My heart has been very heavy these past few days. I thought that today is a good day to start doing some random act of kindness for someone in the memory of those that fell on Friday. Enhancing the goodness in our community is such a nice way to honor their memory. From this day forward try to do something kind everyday. It can be as simple as saying God Bless you when someone sneezes, going out of your way to hold the door for someone, or paying from someone’s lunch or coffee. Good will always win over evil, we just need to believe it.
My 4th grader recently had a homework assignment prompting him to write about his family holiday traditions. This inspired me to write about our family’s Christmas traditions on this blog. None of them are super unique or even that spectacular, but they are what makes this time special for us.
The weekend after Thanksgiving we decorate the house, buy and put our tree up. My hubby and I always set-up the tree, launching our annual “putting the tree in the stand” argument. Even though every year I make a promise with myself that I will be patient and not fight, it always ends up happening. In the end it’s worth it. Nothing beats the smell that a fresh live Christmas tree brings to the house.
I also load up all the fabulous Christmas CD mixes my BFF makes in the car. She makes a new one every other year. The kids and I have fun all season long singing along. The first Christmas song I traditionally listen to every year is:
I can seriously write a whole blog post on the awesomeness of this video!
My husband and I take time sometime during that weekend to watch “Love Actually” after the kids have gone to bed. We enjoy watching it with a hot cup of gluwhein (A mulled wine that is traditionally drank in Germany during Christmastime. We drank it while we shopped at the Christmas Markets).
On December 6th we celebrate St. Nicholas feast day. The boys leave their shoes out the night before and in the morning they are filled with goodies. That night I make a German meal.
The week before Christmas, we drive around and out and look at Christmas lights around our neighborhood. We also try to attend local holiday events in our town. Nothing is better than a hometown Christmas parade.
We have our big celebration on Christmas Eve. That is what I did growing up and thankfully my hubby was ok with making it our family tradition. My parents normally visit us during this time. We sometimes have friends and their families over as well. We normally go to the Children’s Mass, which is in the late afternoon. Afterwards we have our Christmas dinner. The dinner itself has consisted of many things over the years. I have cooked Italian, Salvadoran, Spanish, and American. I like it to be different every year. This year, we are leaning towards surf and turf. After dinner, we open family gifts.
We then watch “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” while enjoying dessert.
Before we put the boys to bed, we sprinkle reindeer food on our front yard and put out Santa’s treat. We have started to leave him whatever we had for dessert. We figure having cookies a billion times in one night can get old. Last year, he had Guinness chocolate cake and the year before flan. My hubby then reads them T’was the Night Before Christmas. Once they are dreaming of vision of sugar plums, Santa’s elves go to work (powered by festive libations, of course). Our Santa does not wrap; all the toys are ready for play. SO whatever their presents are, they must be in working order and have batteries in the morning. A few years it has been a breeze, but the Playmobil Christmas year was really a pain, especially once the said libations kicked in! The year Santa brought the life-like cardboard bricks was also hard. I was surprised all 60 of them fit in such a small box. Silly me! They had to be put together!!!
Christmas morning is very low-key in our household. We have a nice light breakfast and we really just watch the kids play with their presents. We also don’t travel on this day, no matter what. That is the only rule my hubby has during the holidays. During his childhood they did a lot of traveling on Christmas Day. He hated that he didn’t get a chance to really enjoy his presents that morning. He doesn’t want our boys to have to go through that frustration. We spend the rest of the day eating leftovers and hanging out. If my parents are visiting, my hubby and I sometimes sneak out to the movies. Some years we have gone to friends houses for lunch and dinner.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, this year we will be surrounded by a lot of friends and family that we normally don’t see during this time of year. I am so excited for all the new memories and possibly new traditions that we will make this year.
What are your favorite Holiday family traditions?
Ordinary Life is Extraordinary 