New Traditions

My husband and I are very fond of traditions, given our Catholic faith, which is so rich in them. We applied it to our courtship with weekly rituals, (Monday gift days, Wednesday communication, Friday date nights), and now are growing with family traditions. The holidays are such a beautiful opportunity to create family traditions, and with each year, we're building more and more.

I thought this article was great food for thought for every Catholic family. I think we'll be adding this tradition this year. Other new ones we're taking on this Advent is celebrating the feast days during this time. We are celebrating St. Nicholas's feast and had our little girl set out one of her boots outside her bedroom last night, and this morning, she had a little gift of some new hair clips inside. It wasn't anything pricy or opulent, but her face lit up with surprise and excitement when she saw that her boot had been filled while she slept.

Another neat tradition we've started is a Jesse tree. I drew the stump and our 2 year old made leaves by fingerpainting green leaves, and each day, we add some magazine clipping or draw something signifying a moment or person in salvation history. For example, Creation- stars and moon, Noah- a picture of a ship, Passover- a lamb, David-a harp, The Visitation-an angel, The Nativity- a picture of a newborn baby, etc... It's a great way to teach little ones the various stories that lead to Jesus birth, and the salvation of the world.

Just a few ideas to keep the focus on the real reason for the season!

May God bless you and your families this advent. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel!

Happy Birthday to You

My daughter's 2nd birthday is fast approaching and it got me thinking about how our family celebrates birthdays. We really have no traditions yet so I'm trying to establish some with this birthday (there's a tiny chance she'll remember it!)

My family tends to go big for birthdays - they're a family affair and everyone is included. First birthdays are the biggest, and when I finally asked my Grandma why they were such a big deal, they told me that many babies (in the Dominican Republic, where she and most of her family is from) don't make it one year, so it really is reason to celebrate. My own first birthday was quite elaborate: my grandma made me a dress and pinata, I had a cake comparable to a wedding cake, there were flowers and balloons, and even a marionette show. Wish I could remember it! Hubby's family on the other hand tends to do small parties at home, and if you know my hubby you know how much he just looooooves parties and being the center of attention. Right.

So last year when it came time to plan Ella's 1st birthday I felt really stuck in the middle. I wanted to invite everyone in our family and all our friends because I really really really hate excluding people (esp. my extended family because someone always finds out and then gets mad) and the event planner part of me was DYING to plan something. Anything. We had dirt for a backyard but hubby didn't want me to rent a hall or park for the party so he agreed to put in a backyard. And yes, looking back I don't think we needed quite so much food and I didn't need to spend so much money on favors, but at the end of the day we really had a great time, and so did the birthday girl...once she stopped screaming and took a nap.

This year we've decided to start toning things down a little bit. Her birthday will be smaller, but still so special. And we decided that our birthday traditions will include going on a family outing to somewhere special, 3 presents for the birthday kid, and we will celebrate their baptism day as well with cake and relighting their baptismal candle.

I guess to sum it up, you don't need to do something huge and amazing and elaborate every year. Whatever you do will be special to your child :)

Do you have any neat birthday traditions?