The Christmas Pickle

Yes you read that right – The Christmas Pickle. This is a fairly new tradition in our household but one that became very popular, very quickly. So the way this tradition goes is someone (usually me) hides the pickle somewhere in the tree. Then the children will search through the tree on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day depending on your preference until someone finds it.

Now there are many different traditions when it comes to the reward for finding the pickle. For some it simply means that you will have good fortune for the following year. For others you get a reward of some kind – an extra present possibly. However, knowing that in my family the awarding of an extra present would result in arguments and a general loss of Christmas cheer – we instead opted for the pickle granting the finder first dibs on their presents. Meaning they get to open the first present.

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PNP Video from Santa!

Another tradition for us, every year the kids receive a video from Santa that they absolutely love!! The boys have gotten to old in the last couple of years to get one but my daughter still gets hers.

The PNP site allows parents to customize the messages that the kiddos can get sent to them. You can decide if your child gets a video from Santa in his work shop, or on his sleigh or maybe in the library. You can upload pics to Santa for him to put in your child's book.

It is so fun watching my daughter see Santa talk to her and show her all around the North Pole! Click here for an example of the free video I made really quickly for my daughter. This is a fun free way for your child to get something special from Santa. There is a paid version that allows you to make more than one video and choose different options as well as let your child if they made the naughty or nice list. The paid version is only about $9 so it isn't too pricey but the free version is fun as well.

Decorating the Tree & White Christmas

Decorating the tree is a pretty standard tradition for most people. For us, we put the tree up the day after Thanksgiving and decorate it while watching White Christmas. White Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday movie. Bing Crosby and Danny Kay singing and dancing with Rosemary Clooney it just doesn't get any better for me.

Some people are fans of It's a Wonderful Life or Frosty the Snowman – some just listen to holiday music while they decorate. We also love to watch the original Grinch Who Stole Christmas and A Charlie Brown Christmas.

What holiday movie is your favorite?

Christmas Cookies

And last but not least our holiday season would not be complete without making and decorating Christmas cookies! Of course, this is my daughter's favorite of all our traditions.

Every year she helps me cut out and bake the cookies and then the real fun begins! We make our own icing with powdered sugar and food coloring and then we top them with every sprinkle and decoration possible! LOL.

It's usually a pretty big mess that I end up spending well over an hour cleaning up, but it is totally worth it. It's a memory, something that I remember doing as a child and I hope she will remember all her life.

So what are YOUR family's holiday traditions? Are they similar to ours or do you have something different that you do? Let us know in the comments…