Ideas for Family Traditions

There are few things I'm more passionate about than creating family traditions. I think this mostly stems from growing up in a home where traditions were abundant and the family culture was rich and vibrant and fun. In hard times, our traditions buoyed me, providing a familiar shelter warmed by years of laughter and love. Now as a mama of 4, I'm constantly reimagining family life in terms of the traditions that keep routine and provide a stability and place of belonging for my children. 

I wanted to give you a list of family tradition ideas that our family has adopted! These will hopefully get you thinking about ways you can incorporate even simple things, like family dinners together:) 

1. Dinner together  (This may not seem like a "tradition" but did you know this is one of the biggest indicators of childhood success in life? To me, it might be the most important tradition to keep alive!) 

2.  Asking "high's and low's" at the dinner table- each night we have the kids share their highlights from the day. During the Autumn season, we ask what they are thankful for! 

3. Sunday afternoon Swedish pancakes- After church we all have a nice lunch together of Swedish pancake. Substitute your favorite meal, and enjoy sabbath together. One fun addition is reading James Herriot's Treasury for Children See HERE. The "All Creatures Great & Small" Veterinarian in Yorkshire, England has so many wild adventures with animals that my kid's love! 

4. Friday night pizza and movie night- This is a staple in our home and the kids look forward to it every week! I buy the pizza dough and sauce at Trader Joes, but you can also homemake it! 

5. Seasonal Books- For years I have been collecting books for each season. I store them away, and when the first day of the new season arrives, I pull them out. Each September, I pull out all my Fall books. The day after Thanksgiving, my Autumn books will go in storage, and out will come my huge basket of Christmas books! I use Thriftbooks, or look for deals on Amazon, or hit up yard sales or thrift stores! 

6. Library Day- Every Monday I take the kids to the library. We bring back our old books and find new ones. The kids grab books and have a relaxing afternoon reading, they truly look forward to it! 

7. Valentines & St. Patrick's Day breakfast - For both these holidays, I decorate the dining room table with appropriate decor so that the kids get a fun surprise when they wake up! We make pink heart pancakes for V-day, and green pancakes for SPD. I usually find some Target $ bin or dollar tree items the night before to make it fun! 

8. Good Friday Meal for Easter- On Good Friday, I make a charcuterie board of items that all represent the walk to the cross for Jesus. (ie: Olives for the Mt. of Olives, a toothpick for the spear, a Hershey's kiss for the kiss when Judas betrays Jesus, etc.) We read through the scriptures associated with each food item, and then end the evening washing each other's feet, it is so special. I have it saved as a reel on my IG HERE if you're interested 

9. First day of summer- When the kids are officially out of school, I gift them each some pool toys to use for the summer. Everyone gets an inner tube and pool noodle and a few rings or sinkable toys. (Thank you Dollar Tree!) Then I give each of the kids a special Bible verse I want them to memorize for the summer. You can see more about our summer tradition HERE. 

10. Summer Read Alouds- During the summer I print out a list of read-a-louds we want to read. We usually set a goal of how many books we want to read together, and the kids have fun crossing them off! I love Read Aloud Revival for book lists! 

11. Midsummer- My dad's entire family is from Sweden, and after my children were born, I realized I wanted to incorporate more of his heritage in to our yearly calendar. In late June we celebrate the summer solstice (longest day of the year) by wearing flower crowns, eating Swedish food, and then dancing around the mid-summer pole! You can see more about it HERE. 

12. Annual Summer Trip- Every summer our family goes to the beach in Santa Cruz. It's not fancy, but it is full of family and full of love, and it's the kids absolute favorite! Even if it's simple like camping, pick a week each year and make it a priority. 

13. Back to school camping trip- At the end of the summer, Kevin takes the kids camping the weekend before they start school. It is a way our kid's mark that the summer is over and the Fall is about to begin! 

14. Autumn Party- Every year the kids and I have put our head's together to plan an Autumn party. Most years we do apple bobbing, pumpkin painting, and bake loads of apple and pumpkin treats. One year Avonlea and I planned an Anne of Green Gables Mother/daughter watch party. Be creative! 

15. Thanksgiving Run- One tradition we've had for decades is doing a "Turkey trot" event on thanksgiving morning to help raise money for our local homeless shelter. It's a beautiful way to start the day, exercising in the park with our family, and raising money for a good cause! Check your local guide to see if there are any events that would work with your family! 

16. Cutting down our Christmas Tree- We live a short drive away from a National Forrest that allows certain areas to be cut down for Christmas trees. The weekend after Thanksgiving we load up our thermos of hot chocolate and a packed lunch, and head up the mountain. We play Christmas carols in the car, and I bring a new Christmas book that I reveal to them on the drive up. It is one of our favorite days of the year. 

17. Santa Lucia Day- Every December 13th, our family celebrates our Swedish heritage by observing St. Lucia day. The night before we make the traditional pepparkakor and Lussekator buns, and then on the morning of the 13th, the oldest daughter wears a crown of lights on her head and delivers the treats to my husband. The boys follow my daughter as "star boys". We then take all our baked goods around town to all the widows we know.  You can see more about it HERE. 

18. Christmas Baking- I used to do this with my Grandmother, and now my mom does it with my children and I! We pick a day and all gather at my parent's house and spend the entire morning making Christmas cookies. We basically stock up for all the festivities over multiple days! The kids love using the cookie cutters and decorating with sprinkles, red hots, pearl candy and frosting! An easy tradition to implement! 

19. Christmas Family Movie Night- One night in December I invite my parents and all my siblings and their families to come watch The Polar Express at our home. We drink apple cider, play games, and then sit by the fire and watch the movie with the twinkle lights on the tree and mantle. It's such a fun time! 

20. Æbleskiver on Christmas morning- Christmas dinner may change from year to year, but we ALWAYS have Æbleskivers (a danish puffy ball shaped pancake) on Christmas morning. We fill them with whip cream, lingonberries, maple syrup or eat them plain! 

The WONDERFUL thing about traditions, is that you can start at ANY time! Some of these traditions I grew up with, and others I have incorporated as an adult with my own children. Some of them I've done since my kids were born, and others I have started this year. 

Now...tell me YOUR traditions!

Santa Lucia 2021

If you've been following my blog for a time, you would know that I LOVE traditions and I LOVE my Swedish heritage. So any time I can find a new Swedish tradition to celebrate in my home, I'm all in!! (You can see the last 2 years of celebrating Santa Lucia here and here. As well as our Swedish midsummer parties here and here!) 

On December 12th, the kids and I baked up a storm. We baked the traditional pepparkakor and Lussekatter buns to celebrate Lucia day. All December I've been reading them a kids book called Lucia Morning in Sweden which is just adorable, and explains how a typical family in Swedish celebrates Lucia day. 

I love Celebrating Lucia day because it is a beautiful opportunity to talk with your children about the real St. Lucia and the way she gave of herself for others. It also illustrates the how Christ is truly the light that came in to the darkness. In the morning, when Avonlea puts on her Lucia crown, the light fills the darkness and demonstrates the power of light:) 

On the morning of the 13th, Avonlea and Everett and I woke up early and put on their costumes...Avonlea was Lucia in the white gown and crown of light, and Everett was Star Boy. (Ollie was a last minute star boy too hehe). I filled Avonlea's tray with pepparkakor and lussekator and then she ascended the stairs singing the traditional Lucia song (we learned it in English from a lady on YouTube here). 

Kevin kindly pretended to be asleep (haha), and the kids "surprised" him with their tray of goodies. We hung out upstairs, and then went down to Yukino's room (our exchange student from Japan) to sing to her and bring treats. 

We then headed to my parents house to sing and bring treats. My dad is Swedish, so it's a lot of fun going over there! Then, the rest of the afternoon Avonlea and Everett and I went to different widows houses that we know. We had such a lovely time surprising them with Santa Lucia treats and a song:) 

Enjoy the pictures! xoxo 

Breakfast in Bed // The Tradition Series

If there is one tradition I want to share with you from my own life, it's this one. And since today is my birthday, it's the perfect time! My parents were pure genius to start this tradition in our family, and every year I look forward to it with much anticipation. Here's how it goes…

Each year on my birthday, I would wake up to breakfast in bed. The night before, my mom would ask me what I wanted to eat for my special day. As a child, she would take me to the grocery store and let me pick out any cereal I wanted (which was a big deal because we usually were not allowed to eat sugar cereal, so of course I gravitated towards the most ridiculous cereals like cookie crisp and cinnamon toast crunch! ha ha!! Go crazy, I know!). As I got older, I'd usually ask for Swedish pancakes! Every year the food always went atop a special red plate that read "You are Special"!! 

The morning of my birthday I would be woken up to my entire family (parents and siblings!) all singing happy birthday. {I usually woke up before that, soooo giddy, but would pretend I was asleep!} My parents would carry the tray of food with candles lit, and my siblings would come bearing all my gifts in their arms! I'd eat a few bites, and then someone would drop a present in my lap to open! It was such a fun morning, and set the cheerful and celebratory tune for the rest of the day! 

Since being married, Kevin and I have tried to carry this tradition on. It is absolutely one we plan to start doing with our children as well. I cannot think of a better way to tell a child they are So special and loved, than to start their birthday focused on them, brining cheer and happiness to their bedroom! The fun part about this, is that even when it wasn't my birthday, I LOVED being a part of my sibling's and parent's special days! 

As I mentioned above, for most of my teen and adult life, my special birthday breakfast was always Swedish pancakes (which is essentially a crepe!). When I found out I was gluten and dairy free, I gave up eating crepes. But just recently I found an AMAZING paleo crepe recipe that I wanted to share with you. These paleo crepes are the easiest things to make, and are perfect for a special morning! 

Paleo Crepes: 

Five eggs
1/2 cup almond flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons honey
dash of salt

Mix all ingredients together and pour on hot skillet with coconut oil. Cook about 1 min on each side. Cut up fresh berries to top the crepes, and then drizzle a little pure maple syrup over them. Perfection!

Celebrating Santa Lucia Day

I have literally waited YEARS to celebrate Santa Lucia with my sweet daughter. Growing up in a household that took our Swedish roots VERY seriously, i'm always surprised that our family never celebrated Lucia day. So naturally when I found out more about it about 8 years ago, I started dreaming of the day I could crown our daughter with a wreath of candles and bake with her a plate of Swedish buns:) 

Traditions have always been important to me. They bring a nostalgic gleam of safety and comfort, that the world is still right and good, and we are still loved. Maybe that's overdramatic, but in the craziness of the world today, I seem to find so much solace in repeating the traditions of my childhood, the warm and familiar feelings that I belong…this is my place. 

So now as a mama to two (and hopefully more in the future), I have spent a lot of time thinking and praying and journaling over the traditions I want to start in my own home. My prayer is that my kiddos see Jesus, bright and beautiful and bursting forth to capture our hearts. 

Sweden revels in Lucia day, which is December 13th. When I've visited with my cousins in Sweden, they all know the special Lucia song (which I've tried to learn in Swedish SO many times and have crashed and burned miserably...but am hoping to learn the English version for my daughter's sake!). There is an official Lucia service that is aired on TV the morning of the 13th that the whole country watches. I watched some on YouTube and cried it was so beautiful! 

But the point of the holiday is to celebrate St. Lucia and the coming of light into the darkness. There are lots of stories that talk about Lucia's significance, but the two that I've read most are as follows:

1) St. Lucy, whose name Lucia refers to "light" is known to have been a Sicilian saint who suffered a sad death in Siracusa, Sicily, around AD 310. She had been engaged to a pagan, and she instead decided to give away her dowry to the poor. The man she had been engaged to was so enraged he reported her to the authorities for being a Christian where she was attacked and died a martyr.

2) Legend also has it that she brought food and aid to Christians hiding in the Roman catacombs, wearing a candlelit wreath on her head to light her way and leave her hands free to carry as much food as possible. 

But the basic gist is that she was a kind and compassionate saint who cared for the poor and spent her life wanting to give to others. 

I'm no expert, but the basic tradition in Sweden is that the first born daughter (if you have more than one daughter they take turns each year) arise early on December 13th and dress in a white dress, with a red sash, and a crown made of leave and candles. She bakes Lussekkater, or saffron buns, and brings the buns and coffee to the rest of the family who are still fast asleep in bed. The light from her candles signify the light of Christ coming into the world. 

So this year, I got my act together and bought this electric candle wreath on Amazon, and this sweet children's book that describes one family in Sweden celebrating Lucia day. I prepped Avonlea a few days before by explaining who Lucia is and what the day looks like. We watched a service on YouTube and I read her the sweet book from above called Lucia Morning in Sweden. 

Avonlea was So excited to celebrate it, I literally almost died of happiness by how much she was getting into it, haha! We put on her crown and white dress, tied the red sash, and I gave her a tray of buns and coffee. Before you start thinking I'm super organized, I'm not really. The night before I realized I didn't have saffron and cognac, which go in the real Lucia buns, so I just took gluten free sugar cookie dough that I had on hand and shaped them into the bun shapes, haha!! There are supposed to be currants on the buns, and I didn't have them, so I perused my trail mix on hand and found that I did have dried blueberries, haha!! It worked, and the memory of it was still special! 

I made Kevin go and act like he was sleeping, and I put on Lucia music, turned out all the lights and let her crown light the way to our bedroom where she woke Kevin up all excited. We all sat in bed, eating treats, and talking about light coming into the darkness, and how Jesus is the light of the world. It was a sweet day, and it was pretty deep considering Avonlea is only 2.5 years old, haha! But she loved it and a few hours later, told me she wanted to "do it again!". Next year!! 

Have you ever celebrated Lucia day?? xoxo