Carrying on the Christmas traditions.

All families have them, and they vary from family to family. Some of the traditions we have at Christmas I started with my own children, and have just carried them over to the next generation, others we have started with the grandchildren and will carry them on as long as some of them want to.

The tradition we are carrying on that I started with my children is the making of the snacks that get left out for Santa and the elves. This is important to Bob as he makes biscuits for the elves with allergies, and this is an important job. I wonder how many of you know that Prancer has an allergy to carrots, so he much prefers an apple or a parsnip.

Knowing that the children would be busy on Christmas Eve I had them over on Tuesday evening to make the snacks. They love doing this and would get rather upset if this tradition did not happen. Next year we will have two other little helpers to join in. Can see me still doing this in twenty years time with the next generation as well.

Bob with his biscuits

Fifi with her mince pies

This year I found Disney's sing a long a Christmas on you tube and so this gave me an opportunity to share with Bob and Fifi a memory of when their mum and aunts and uncles were children. The last part of our Christmas eve was them all watching the video and that heralded bedtime. So we sat and watched it together. 

watching sing along a Christmas 

Next off is a new tradition, one we started last year with the twins, a foot print made into a picture. I never had much access to the older two when they were young so could not manage to do this sort of thing, but it is lovely to look back on how much they have grown each year. I included all four children in this years as this was about it for crafting for us this year.

hands and feet, girls to the right, boys to the left

Our next tradition goes back to 2008, this was when we introduced Christmas No2. to Fifi and Bob. They had moved in with us the previous year when my daughter moved back to Scotland. In 2008 she was in her own house and wanted to spend her first Christmas on her own just enjoying the children. We popped in and saw them during the day but decided that we would give them our presents the next day when we would have them over. This spreads the Christmas as well as giving mum and dad a much needed few hours off.

But Dinky can be a bit funny and sometimes is great and other times just cries if mum and dad are not here. So we had them all over for Christmas No2. Normally the other daughters come over to spend the day with us but this year they both had to spend time with the other half's families.

We did not bother to wrap the twins parcels this year as they have not quite got the grasp of unwrapping so theirs are in the four bags along side their chairs.

Christmas No.2 awaits the arrival of the children

Minky crawls across the train track. 

Dinky plays with my bottle

and she plays with the car keys as well. 

Minky just ploughs his way through it all

and the big kids play with the little kids toys

So there you have it, traditions old and new, fab times and lovely memories, hope you and yours had as much fun as we did.