Holiday Traditions: How many is too many?

I love traditions. In particular, I love complete traditions. I like starting something from the beginning and never missing a moment in the cycle. One of my favorite holiday moments every year is when I put our family holiday cards on display. I have one for all ten years of our marriage. Even the year Nicholas lost his job and we sent email cards, I printed one because I knew I could not stand to have a year missing. 

If I start something, I finish it. If I do it one year, I have to do it every year.

Well, considering there are approximately three million holiday tradition possibilities (BEFORE you search Pinterest) and all of them appeal to me on some level as a Christmas junkie, then what we find ourselves with is a bit of a situation. 

This, ladies and gentlemen, is how the Holland family ends up with FIVE advent calendars.

I see an idea and I want to adopt it. Photo-a-day challenges."Snowing In" your neighbors.DIY Snow Globes. They all seem so fun!

Not to mention, every time I create a spontaneous holiday memory then I feel the need to turn it into an every single year holiday tradition. The only problem is if I keep this up there will be no spontaneous holiday memories because we will be too busy cramming in every mandatory holiday experience I've added to our traditions list. 

On the positive side, it shouldn't be difficult to get my children to sleep on Christmas Eve because they will have not slept for the entire month of December!

Luckily, the Christmas elves have thrown me a few bones this year. With regards to one particularly famous elf who lives on a shelf, my husband has drawn a line in the sand. He rightly pointed out we don't need one more daily activity during the holidays. Plus, another elf seems to have hidden a few of my advent calendars and we're down to three! 

I'm also trying to remember just because something is fun once doesn't mean we have to do it every year. We had a crazy fun time last year hunting a tree at Land Between the Lakes but we're skipping it this year in favor of an easier drive to Patti's to enjoy the lights. I truly enjoyed the Advent Walk this year but if we miss it next year, it won't be the end of the world.

However, the Christmas card tradition isn't going anywhere! In fact, I might want to get started on them before another holiday tradition demands my time...

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21 Days to a Peaceful Holiday

Two years ago, Nicholas lost his job right before Thanksgiving. Suddenly, I was facing a very different holiday season than I had always experienced. Gone were the fancy Christmas cards and giant trees. Gone were the piles of presents and big holiday parties. Instead, stripped away and laid bare, I had to decide what it was that I loved so much about this holiday. 

I found that while I love the sparkle and the celebrations, Christmas has so much to offer in the way of quiet magic and peace.

My dear friend Doña of a Nurtured Mama has taken a similar journey. We both believe deeply in celebrating the holiday season simply with mindfulness and great joy. We wanted to share some of the lessons we've learned along the way and have decided to launch an email class entitled 21 Days to a Peaceful Holiday.

21 DAYS TO A PEACEFUL HOLIDAY IS THE GENTLE ENCOURAGEMENT YOU NEED TO LET GO OF STRESS, EXPECTATIONS, AND TRADITIONS THAT NO LONGER SERVE YOU, YOUR FAMILY, OR THE WAY YOU WISH TO FEEL IN THE LAST MONTH OF THE YEAR. MAKE ROOM TO INVITE IN THE HOLIDAYS ON YOUR TERMS.

For 21 days from December 1 to Solstice on December 21, you will receive a daily email containing a story from our journey and tips and practices to help you in your own journey. The class is only $18 and will include access to a closed Facebook group where we all can share insights and inspiration.

Won't you join us?

Click here to register for the class and start your journey to a more peaceful holiday.

Fall mantle with chalkboard art

Bye, bye, Halloween mantle! 

Hello, fall! 

I made a pine cone garland using Thig & Thistle's tutorial, although I didn't have to punch holes in my ribbon. Bought my first chalk marker (holy moly, those things are awesome!) and created chalkboard art inspired by this Chalkboard House sign. I added some branches from my yard and dollar store pumpkins I spray painted a couple of years back and VOILA!

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Halloween costumes for the whole family

It’s October. Summer is officially over and it’s time to embrace all things fall from corn mazes to falling leaves to COSTUMES!

That’s right. October means Halloween and Halloween means costumes. I love dressing up and every year I look forward to planning out every little detail of what we will wear.

You see, we are family costumers. There is a theme. We all dress accordingly and have since Griffin was born. I love getting dressed up and I love being part of a group and I love these hooligans I call my family so it really is the perfect scenario for me.

It’s gotten harder as we have to work around actual children with actual preferences (aka we will be dressed as some types of superheros again this year) but I never tire of the challenge.

Since family costumes take a bit more preparation, I thought I’d give you a couple ideas early in the month in case you wanted to force – I mean lovingly guide – your family into a theme.

Baby Lobster and Chefs

Griffin’s first Halloween he was the lobster and we were the chefs. We literally carried him around in that pot for part of the night and it was a HIT. The lobster costume was adorable and it’s an easy theme to coordinate for new parents because all you need is white jackets and chef hats.

Pirates and Baby Parrot

My entire family got in on the act this year. We all dressed as pirates and Griffin was our parrot. Nicholas made Griffin’s costume out of felt. It was basically a blue felt poncho with felt feathers glued on. We rented our costumes, which was more expensive, but dang we looked good. The best part was the theme for my favorite house on Jefferson Street was Peter Pan!

The Wizard of Oz

When we added baby Amos to the mix, we suddenly needed four costumes instead of three – opening up a new world of possiblities! The Wizard of Oz is the perfect fit for those with boys and I’ve got to admit – wearing the ruby slippers was more fun than I expected it to be! Also, my mom got in on the act and it was awesome.

Spiders!

2012 was the first year Griffin had a costume request. It was all Spiderman all the time at our house so we knew that would be our theme. Griffin was Spiderman. Nicholas was J. Jonah Jameson. Amos and I were the radioactive spider and his web. Thanks, Martha! It worked out perfect since Amos still needed to be toted around and people flipped for my skirt!

The Avengers

Superheroes are on heavy rotation ALL the time at the Holland house so the Avengers were a natural choice. This was before I was pregnant for a million years so I could rock Black Widow. Also, Amos was the most amazing Thor ever and kept that costume on for the next 3 months.

Harry Potter

Harry Potter offers lots of great choices no matter the mix of boys and girls. We went with Hermoine, Harry, a dragon and Professor Quirrell because Griffin had only read the first book. My parents were Hagrid (worked well since he was carrying our little dragon most of the night) and Professor McGonagall.

Mario Brothers

This was a HIT and let's be honest Felix was the most amazing toad in the history of the world. We cobbled together bought, borrowed and homemade costumes for this one. 

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Black and Orange Halloween Mantle

Happy Halloween! I love decorating my mantle for Halloween every year. I've collected a fair amount of decorations and handmade decor over the years and I put it all together a little differently every year.

This banner I made our first year in the house using a free download from Carina Gardner.

My pumpkin face was made from a tutorial from parents.com. This year he got a hat to add a little flair. The bats were cut on my Silhouette and were a new addition. 

Add in a few ceramics I painted as a child and VOILA! 

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Pumpkin Picking

The theme this week is FALL. I'm on fall break and I've taken the boys to the lake to enjoy the nature and the trees and all the fall things. I'm writing about one of my favorite fall traditions - picking pumpkins - today on HerKentucky.  

It is one of the highlights of my year. I love the hayrides and the hot cider and the excitement on the boys' faces as they run among rows and rows of bright orange pumpkins

From the post: 

Every year through cold weather and warm we pick the perfect pumpkin (or pumpkins) for our family.  

Click on over to see photos from our fall tradition.  

 What fall traditions do you celebrate with your family?

10th Anniversary Vow Renewal

On July 13, Nicholas and I stood before our family and friends and renewed our marriage vows. We had been talking about how to celebrate ten years of marriage for a while and decided that a trip would be great but a party would be better.

Ten years ago, my dear friend Annie wrote a poem for our ceremony and our friends Mike and Smith performed Sarah Harmer's Open Window. All three of them were generous to travel from far and wide to be a part of this ceremony as well which was an incredible gift.

Nicholas and I wrote our own vows at our wedding a decade ago and it has always been one of my favorite memories of that day. So, again we wrote our own vows to each other.

To speak words of love and truth and commitment beneath the maple (a maple that had been TRANSFORMED by Sara of Flower + Furbish might I add) in our front yard with our children at our feet was an experience I will never forget.  

Afterwards, we went to our backyard (also transformed by Sara) and partied till midnight. There was pie baked by our nearest and dearest. There was (too much) bourbon. There was more music by James Michael Baker and lots of love and laughter by a fire pit.

 There might have even been some s'mores. 

In other words, it was perfect. I can't possibly imagine a better way to celebrate ten years of marriage and all the blessings that have come into my life as a result of saying "I do" to Nicholas Holland.

Photography: JT Crawford, Studio 55 Photography, and Emilee Gray Photography |  Floral Design: Flower + Furbish | Invitations: Pam Huber Design

The Amos County Fair

I chose to have my babies close together, which means I need to finish Amos’s invitation before Griffin’s party has even happened. It’s cool. Stress is energizing!

So, after enlisting my party planning committee (I love you Kim and Elizabeth!) to help with comic book banners and popcorn cones, I sat down and designed this invitation. I wanted the look of a vintage state fair poster with some classic symbols of the county fair. I also wanted to include a picture of Amos somehow but couldn’t make it work.

I’m still very, very happy with the results. Sure, it’s not a complete comic book but Amazing Amos made it an appearance in that as well… so he technically got two invitations!

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