When we moved into BHH over the summer, more than one person remarked that we bought the ultimate “Christmas house.” It seems that people could easily imagine this house completely decked out for the holiday. The green exterior screams Christmas, and the entryway is a doppelganger for the Home Alone house.
We never really got around to going all-out in our “Christmas House,” but on a freak 70-degree day in November, before the huge snowstorm, the kids did shimmy up the tree in the front yard and wrap it in lights. S. tells me that it looks more like a barbershop pole than a tree. We were all excited about hanging a lot of lights on the house, but our lack of proper power outlets put the kaibosh on those plans. I am afraid that we may have disappointed our neighbors just a bit.
We are pretty low key about Christmas around here. Andy and I were raised in different faiths, so we brought separate cultural traditions into our family life. I have always loved that because we have been able to carve out new family traditions within the context of our own upbringing. We share the best parts of our holidays with the kids, and personally, I have enjoyed learning about a religion that is very different from the one that was shared with me when I was a child.
Because of our mixed-faith upbringing, we end up celebrating the Hanukkah miracle while looking at a Christmas tree, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
What I am most excited about is Solstice. Bring back the light, I say. Andy loves to tease me by declaring excitedly, “It’s finally winter!” That is the ultimate joke since we have had snow on the ground since November. The short days in this part of the country are no joke. It gets light around 7:30 am, and the sun has set by 4:30. Productivity takes a nose dive since it feels like bedtime at 5 pm.
Hanukkah ends near Christmas Eve this year, so our holiday mash-up will include lighting the menorah followed by watching Elf, which we do every year. The rest of our week looks surprisingly un-festive. M. has gymnastics team practice. The electrician comes tomorrow to assess the ORC electricity issue (Yay!), I am waiting to hear back from an HVAC company that I called to come troubleshoot a furnace problem (More on that later.), and we expect to be pulling an HGTV-worthy, One Room Challenge wrap-up on the bedroom because my sister arrives for a visit the day after Christmas, and I do not want her to have to sleep on the couch.
How do you celebrate the holidays in your house? Do you have any family traditions that you love? If I do not get another blog post written this week, I want to wish those of you who celebrate, a very Merry Christmas from all of us here at BHH.
4 Comments
Heather
I love, love, love your entryway!
Stacy
Thank you Heather! 🙂
Liz
I smile as I read your blog. We moved to Texas after living a major portion of our lives in Western NY. So, as you accommodate to the joys(?) of living in the rugged North, we are trying to make peace with the boring, snowless South. We too celebrate both traditions, with a Hanukkiah in front of the Christmas tree. However, we have been doing it for forty-five years. Our children have figured out how to make their crazy upbringing work and are incorporating our unique traditions into their own families. We’ve owned eight houses…fixers to new; survived fourteen moves; and now have chosen to downsize by half to live a simple but rich retirement. Challenges have moved into each house, right along with the furniture, but we never chose the easy path and have a wealth of tales to tell. So, keep telling yours, they make me homesick, but make me smile!
Stacy
Thank you for reading and commenting. I have so much to learn from you! I often wonder what my kids will do in their own homes once they leave ours. The seasons are beautiful even though they are an adjustment. I do miss the California sun so much. Thank you again for your kind message.