The holidays are fast approaching and I know I could use a dose of inspiration! So let's share our favorite holiday rituals (whatever holiday(s) you celebrate) and some of your family's best tips for projects, outings or games.
Do you make handmade gifts?
How do you save money and make every holiday feel luxurious?
Share photos of your past celebrations and talk about what parts mean the most to you.
Unschoolers are really great at thinking outside the box and I'll bet there are some great ideas out there about celebrating in meaningful ways. Personally, I'd love to see recipes too.:)
How does the unschooling lifestyle assist your family in the celebrations you choose to create?
There is a saying that jumps up and down in my mind when I think of holidays... "Friends are the Family you choose"
We most certainly have a lovely time with our family on Christmas...my parents and brother, Dirk's parents and sister all come to Clovis and celebrate with us! It's mostly because I refuse to go anywhere else :) Maybe when the boys are older, but for now, there is something magical and important (to me) about them waking up in their own beds on Christmas morning...the stockings on our hearth, bulging and overflowing with gifts to be gone through while we wait for everyone to show up if they're not already there...breakfast casserole and sweet rolls in the oven, coffee brewing...aaaaahhhh. Okay, you get my point ;) back to Christmas later...it's time to talk about the roll our friends play in our celebration of the holidays.
HALLOWEEN:
Let the wild rumpus begin! We've been in Clovis for 4 and a half years now, and have a fabulous community of friends that we love celebrating with...just last night, we were at the home of friends for their annual Pumpkin Carving Party!
This is one of my favorite gatherings of people...the kids have a blast jumping on the trampoline and running around the yard playing tag (my boys had so much fun this year, they didn't even want to stop to carve their pumpkins! ) I have an equal blast eating amazing food and visiting with friends (Shaylah and Derek make the BEST soups...last night's array was tomato, chicken and the "famous" albondigas! Shaylah thinks of everything...pasta on the side for kids (and adults!) who like lots of pasta to just pour the broth from the soup over the top...sour cream and salsa to mix in to soups...mmmmmmm) and everyone brings an appetizer or other good to share. Everyone also brings their own punkin to carve...the pics show you how varied and fun the people there are :) GOOD FOOD + GOOD PEOPLE = GREAT FUN
We also have a Halloween Party with the boys' bookclub...a group of about 10 kids that has been together (in different variations, lol) for a few years now :) Traditional fun- dressing up in costumes if they want, some years a parade around the neighborhood or bobbing for apples! Always fun food and activities... this year the boys and I are bringing bags of Tootsie Rolls for our treat- to make sculptures with! Declan and Torin have both been enjoying this activity at home, and decided to share it with our friends :) I'm thinking of finding a "scary story" to tell as well.
This year on Halloween night we'll be joining another group of homeschooling/unschooling friends for food and trick-or-treating fun! It's a potluck weenie roast with a firepit and lots of room to run and play! We live in a very "slow" neighborhood as far as trick-or-treaters go, and so I'll leave a big basket of candy out and let them help themselves :) We'd much rather be enjoying ourselves with our favorite "people". And they truly are our PEOPLE...I feel more at home with these soul-friends than I do when I go back to Tucson to see my parents...
THANKSGIVING:
Our Thanksgiving is in flux...my favorite holiday and we just can't seem to get a tradition together :) The common theme is always "Friends ARE Family"... we had years of driving the 12 hours to Tucson for a HUGE potluck with about 50 family friends. That group has kind of fizzled (with moves to different states and such) and for the last couple of years we've driven down to Riverside to be with friends there...a single father friend of ours has a huge home (including kitchen) that we take over...we all bring our favorite holiday dishes and it a great time for kid and adult alike. Alas, no plans seem to be in the works this year...
And along comes one of my dearest soul-friends, with an invite to Thanksgiving "open house" at their place. I've wanted Dirk to meet her and her hubby (whom I haven't even met yet, lol) for a long time... and so here is the perfect opportunity!! I'll be taking my "famous"...
Sweet Potato Casserole
1 (29oz) can sweet potatoes
3/4 stick butter (melted)
1 1/4C sugar
1/2t cinnamon
1/2t nutmeg
2 eggs
topping:
3/4C cornflake crumbs
1/2C chopped nuts (I use pecans)
1/2C brown sugar
3/4 stick melted butter
Drain and reserve syrup from potatoes...mash potatoes to a smooth consistency using a blender or mixer (using reserved syrup as necessary to get the consistency you want). Add other ingredients and mix well. Place in casserole dish and bake uncovered 20 min at 400.
Mix together topping, spread on casserole and put back in oven for another 10 minutes until nicely browned :)
Serves 4-6
notes: the original recipe (which was in the Tucson newspaper about 6 years ago) left the syrup in and called for warming before mixing. I found this made the casserole pretty soupy and warming seems to be an unnecessary step to me :) Because I'm usually taking this dish to a potluck, I double the recipe (well, I triple the topping because I like lots of crunchy stuff on top!) ENJOY!!
CHRISTMAS:
And we've made it to Christmas! The one holiday we spend with our family-family (though THIS year, I may put together a gathering of soul-family...oh, and the boys' bookclub always has a lil gift exchange for the kids and moms separately)
Some fun traditions:
Christmas Eve: we usually "do" Christmas Eve Mass (though Dirk had to work last year...or was it the year before that?...and the boys chose to stay at home with Aunt Kelly, I think) and spend the evening after that eating tamales, beans and rice with chips and salsa!! YUMMY :) this is what I remember eating on Christmas Eves in my childhood...maybe because being in Southern Arizona, our community was rich with Hispanic rituals. Funny, though, now I've found out that many Hispanic families have only seafood, no meat, on Christmas Eve. :)
The 10 adults in the family have stockings that we "stuff" for each other (Santa's busy with the kids' stockings all over the world, so we do our own!) Each person buys lil gifts (candy, pens, ornaments, etc) for the 9 other stockings... well, personally I buy stuff for my own, too LOL
Boys' gifts: each year the boys each get 3 gifts from Dirk and I... 1. books (it was supposed to be "a" book, but I have a hard time picking just one, so I wrap the books together and it counts as one gift) 2. toy 3. passion (Declan usually asks for science experiments, last year Torin wanted a violin). They also get a big joint gift (this year it's the huge KAPLA block set they played with for hours at LIFE is Good) and Santa makes sure their stockings are overflowing with unique and FUN stuff! Add in the gifts from aunt, uncle and grandparents, and it's still an abundant Christmas for the fellas.
Creche (aka Nativity Scene): this is a tradition from my childhood... the nativity is out all of December, but baby Jesus doesn't make his appearance til midnight of Christmas Eve. I have a number of nativities, so it's fun to unwrap the baby Jesus figurines and put them into their lil mangers all over the house :)
This year there will be more of an overlap of families (long story, but we've found in the past that there's more harmony if my parents and Dirk's parents only have a 3 day overlap in their visits...) so I'm sure we'll come up with new traditions to spend time together in fun ways...
I love this pic of "T in a blanket"....Dirk's Aunt Jo sent us this beautiful quilt (anniversary gift, but it arrived for Christmas!
NEW YEAR'S EVE
Dirk usually works on New Year's Eve...but our first year here at this house, the boys were 5 and almost 2, we decided to ring in the New Year with Bogota! They hit midnight at 8pm our time, and so it seemed "do-able" and fun! We looked up stuff on their culture and I found a couple of recipes to try out...we made shakers/noisemakers and then made a bunch of noise :)
For me, the things I remember most are the fun times shared with family and friends...that's the warm feeling I get from any holiday and the memories that last! Our unschooling lifestyle allows us to do things without the constraint of anyone else's idea of the "right" way to do things....really, we all just have a different mindset, huh? Living a FREE life gives you freedom in all areas of life...
NOW, off to get costume stuff together for our friends' weenie roast tonight...my intention is for the sky to stay clear til after the goodies are gotten!! :) then the rain can come down!!
