How Do You Prepare For The Fall/Winter Holiday Season???

**TheRootedNomad** · 10-25-2007, 07:47 AM

The fall/winter holiday season is my favorite time of the year. I have very specific things I do to prepare for the upcoming holidays that I actually consider part of my traditions. Growing up in our multi-generational house we would begin getting company and start our holiday routines a couple weeks before Thanksgiving. The flow of people, prep for, and actual gatherings didn't end until the day after New Years. New Years Day, also being my grandfather's birthday, was always the huge closing event. Though I've moved hundred's of miles away from that branch of my family I have been slowly building and recreating what I can of those experiences. Enjoying the preparations the same as we all did back then.

What are some of you're routine/traditional preparations for the season???

Some of mine are:
~ Make the fruitcake about now. This gives it plenty of time to start marinating. ...... We don't give fruitcake as gifts - we just eat it.
~ Make the bourbon balls so they can marinate
~ Change the curtains to greens and reds and start slowly pulling down the decorations.
~ Start slowly deep cleaning the house with holiday music, older Italian music, or singers such as Frank Sinatra, Tom Jones, or Engleburt Humperdink....pay close attention to oiling all the wood in the house.
~ Put male members of the family at the table with mounds of in the shell nuts and have them shell and jar them for easy use in holiday baking
~ As the season progresses there is lots of baking that must include biscotti, struffoli, lemon logs, and zappels (I never spell that right)

My list goes on .....but I am curious about others preparation tradtions, and if they consider them as such???

**Laurie in Bradenton** · 10-25-2007, 08:00 AM

Here its color changes.
We go from summer light colors to fall heavier colors. The BBQ/Surf board tablecloth gets washed and put away.Out comes the leaf tablecloth.
The fish/pineapple wreath comes down and the scarecrow/fall leaf wreath goes up. The vase of silk plumeria/heliconia blooms comes off the porch and the lighted leaf basket goes out. The box of assorted pumpkins/black cats and leaf decortions come out. The cinnamon spray and fall boils come out away with the flora sprays. Extra dining room chairs come in from the porch. Livingroom furniture gets moved around so the spot for the tree is open.
Calandar get pulled out for marking parties. The flyer for our group Christmas party gets made up and handed out this weekend at our Halloween parties. Tickets for Nutcracker, Hoilday Tour of Homes and an Evening with Dickens get purchased.
My calander already has sticky notes for new cookie recipes we want to make.

Laurie in Bradenton

**acidcookie** · 10-25-2007, 07:13 PM

Hm, guess I never thought about it. I'm not a big holiday decorator and live alone so I just get my costume ready for Halloween! I LOVE dressing up.

**Missy** · 10-25-2007, 07:28 PM

what i used to do I won't be doing anymore i guess. I really am kinda lost this year. Thanksgiving was a big even of piking up my mom from the airport, and making the turkey. she only ever missed it twice the whole time i have lived here. really, i am lost. guess i will have new stuff to do to celebrate. If we celebrate at all.

**Edna_E** · 10-25-2007, 08:27 PM

Cringe! Not seriously. I hate being cold long enough to get achy, but I actually like crisp mornings and evenings. I tend to hang rugs against the outer walls and some windows, make sure everything is well sealed and caulked, and get out winter clothes and blankets and shift to flannel sheets. My mother was/is rather antisocial, so I did not grow up with traditions like yours, but they sound wonderful. I may try working a little harder at looking for opportunities to introduce some of that into my life.

**kittykatstrong** · 10-25-2007, 11:33 PM

I love this time of year.

Baking cookies

wrapping presents

snuggling up with my hunny and just talking wraped up in ablanket while it is snowing outside.

It makes me happy just thinking about it.

Katy

**TheRootedNomad** · 10-26-2007, 07:49 AM

Originally Posted by Edna_E

My mother was/is rather antisocial, so I did not grow up with traditions like yours, but they sound wonderful. I may try working a little harder at looking for opportunities to introduce some of that into my life.

The reality is....none of these were my mother's traditions. What was handed down was from my grandparents and great aunts on my father's side. Mom became apart of these when she married dad but she never carried all of them out once my grandmother passed away. Some of them she continues but most of them are picked back up because I picked them back up and revamped actuality of them, keeping the "spirit" of them, to fit my life. We don't have to rely on what our parents traditions orlack there of are. We can create our own pulling from what sounds and feels wonderful. The fruitcake thing----never was on the growing up baking list----but it's been part of mine for years. It started as a joke. I hope you find some wonderful traditions that help center you on paece, love, and life.

**baxjul** · 10-26-2007, 09:12 AM

We don't have any family down here, so I just do the decorations. I do however, have Christmas Eve dinner for our friends. Traditional Polish. Otherwise it is just us, so I decorate, and dd and I carefully place out the nativity set.

There is also some furniture arranging, when it is time to put the tree up.

**MNmommy** · 10-26-2007, 09:25 AM

I start putting up what little fall decorations I have up around Oct.1st. I need to get more decorations for fall. Than they stay up until the weekend after thanksgiving and then the fall gets taken down and the christmas goes up! Each year me and the kids make new decorations for the tree so its not the same tree each year. This year christmas is at my home so we have to go the extra mile decorating the house and such. we also do alot of baking with a few friends of mine and make christmas gifts and I start shopping around the last weekend of october.

**oct2667us** · 10-26-2007, 10:02 AM

well we always start looking at the Christmas decorations in the stores in Oct. Last year I put up my tree and lights before Thanksgiving. I also start getting the things I will need for backing. I start wrapping gifts. Make a Christmas list of what other gifts I need to get. The day after Thanksgiving I change out my dishes to my snow man ones and I get out all my Christmas coffee cups. I love putting lights up all over the house out side and inside. this year I am putting green and red towels in the bathroom along with a red or green shower curton. I have wrapped little boxes for decoration. When I did not have cable I would get out all the Christmas DVD and we would watch them all the time till Christmas. I still get them out but we only watch about one a night. I love to play Christmas Music all threw the house. I have been playing Christmas music all of Oct . lol I love this time of year.

**TheRootedNomad** · 10-26-2007, 12:12 PM

Originally Posted by MNmommy

Each year me and the kids make new decorations for the tree so its not the same tree each year. .

That sounds like a wonderful tradition.

When the kids are all grown up they can say, child 1 "hey remeber the year Uncle so and so sang christmas caroles". Child 2 "the year we had flowers decorating the tree?" child 1 "No, no, the year we made all the snowflake ornaments with mom. Remember you kept wanting to make them all puple"

I can hear "memories" that kind of tradition can create running all threw my head.

**Royal** · 10-26-2007, 01:38 PM

Well here in Holland before we celebrate Christmas we have Sinterklaas. That's on December 5th. It's kind of the same idea as Santa Claus and his elves. We open gifts then. The day after (december 6th) we usually buy our real Christmas tree. We have two Christmas days here in Holland. They are called first and second Christmasday. (the 25th and the 26th) On the 25th we always get together with my husband's family. My family doesn't live in Holland. We (DH,kids & I) are starting our own Christmas traditions. This starts with the decorating of the tree and home. I have mixed feelings about this time of year. On the one hand I love it because we have a great time with my husband's family and on the other hand I miss my family and the great memories of Christmas' past.

**persimmons** · 10-26-2007, 08:33 PM

harvest, process, and freeze persimmons!

Seriously...I can't think of a Thanksgiving or Christmas that would be complete without persimmon pudding (and other persimmon delectables).

Others? I'm Christmas shopping/planning now. My family usually sits back and laughs at the madness of holiday shopping. We prepare well in advance, then while most are spending what little down time they have from their jobs, we're holed up with family.

**ms. frugal kugel** · 10-27-2007, 08:01 PM

Originally Posted by Missy

what i used to do I won't be doing anymore i guess. I really am kinda lost this year. Thanksgiving was a big even of piking up my mom from the airport, and making the turkey. she only ever missed it twice the whole time i have lived here. really, i am lost. guess i will have new stuff to do to celebrate. If we celebrate at all.

oh, you sound so sad! I hope can celebrate with someone!