Love Knows No Borders: New and Old Traditions

I've always been kind of lazy. :) I like doing things but at the same time I'm often ok with doing nothing as something can sound like a lot of work. This is especially true now with two kids. Getting in a shower is an accomplishment, anything else seems exhausting. Davie is similar, so between the two of us it can be a fight to do certain things.

So I wasn't too worried about trying to make our first Christmas here a big deal. Kaylynn won't remember anyway and Eduardo hasn't had big celebrations in the past, so he won't know any different. I was fully prepared to do bare minimum and be ok with it with everything going on. It's lucky the people before us left an artificial tree or else we might not have had a tree even!

Except, as I started seeing people selling trees around town, I really was sad we weren't going to get a real one this year. And Eduardo started asking about decorating the house weeks ago. And little by little I started to get more excited about making this a "real" celebration this year.

The only tradition I had wanted to start was making hand prints for the grandparents from the kids. We did that Tuesday. I don't think Davie or Eduardo had ever seen anything like that and I think Davie thought I was a little nuts for attempting it with a three month old. But I think it turned out great and I'm excited to compare them next year to see how much they've changed. (Spoil alert Mom and Dad on your present. :))

Other than the handprints, I didn't really think we would start any traditions this year. It's hard to know what traditions to start and what will really continue year after year. I also still didn't think I wanted to do Santa Claus.

I don't know why I'm so ambivalent on Santa Claus. Maybe because he's such a part of the American culture that it doesn't seem like a big deal. And being here, where we aren't surrounded by stories of Santa Claus, it definitely didn't seem like a big deal. But then Tuesday Eduardo asked me if Santa was real. I asked what he thought and he said yes. I could tell that he probably really didn't believe, he was just fishing to see what I would say, but it started me thinking maybe we should do Santa after all.

Davie and his family celebrate Christmas on the 24th. I was all about adopting that tradition so we could keep the 25th lowkey and calm before we travel. I had found a recipe for apple fritters that I wanted to try for breakfast and I was going to make a turkey for lunch. But then I ended up with a job interview Christmas Eve at 10am. There went the apple fritters. And I was thinking I wanted to do Santa Claus, but he can't come the 24th! So, I decided that meant we would celebrate for two days. Nothing is better than celebrating as long as possible anyway. :)

Yesterday we did "Family Christmas" and opened presents early evening then ate a huge dinner with turkey breast, stuffing, potatoes, green beans and rolls. We also watched Santa Claus is Coming to Town and talked about Santa with Eduardo. He left cookies and milk out for Santa before going to bed. I did have to tell Davie that ritz crackers would not cut it with Santa. He needs the milk chocolate milanos! :) Davie stole a cookie off the plate then Eduardo wanted one too. I think they may need awhile to get used to Santa traditions. :) All in all it ended up being a great day.

So far this morning Eduardo and Kaylynn opened their Santa presents and then I got to make the apple fritters. I got Eduardo wooden building blocks from Santa as he has been using an old Jenga game to build roads for his cars and buildings and all sorts of things. He immediately started playing with them and kept yelling "I love Santa Claus!" Makes me very, very happy I decided to do Santa and that I was able to find the blocks!!! I had looked a couple places already and decided to try one last place yesterday afternoon. It paid off!!!

The apple fritters were good and made enough that the boys can take some with them tomorrow morning for the bus. Tomorrow promises to be a long, very early day for all of us. Wish us luck!

Now I'm hoping we can relax and enjoy each other and the day before getting in bed early. Davie and I need to pack and he's finishing up Kaylynn's laundry now. It's cloudy here today, so here's hoping it dries!

I'm looking forward to continuing to start new traditions and hopefully incorporate some old ones from my and Davie's childhoods as well. We are very blessed.

Happy holidays everyone!! Thank you to everyone who helped make our holidays special and for all the support you've given us this year. 2014 has been amazing. 2015 promises to be as well!!

Such a haul!

So tired! But she did a good job sticking with us through the present opening.

Presents, paper and boxes everywhere!!

Davie and I love this awesome canvas picture Mom and Dad got us!

First thing after all the presents were opened - Eduardo sat down with this book from uncle Mike. I love that it was the first thing he wanted to use.