30 days of thankful - day 20

30 Days of Thankful - Day 20

Traditions

Disclaimer:  I realize I am skipping days (Paige!), but it is a busy time of year!

Aren't traditions grand?

I love 'em.

For example, today was Baby Polar Bear's birthday.

I can never remember the exact day,

but Ellie never forgets.

So he got a candle in his breakfast strawberries this morning.

He turned 5.

Whether big or small, I think they are so very important.

When I was little, we always had BLT's, kidney beans, and sun tea on the first warm day of spring.

Such a small thing.

But a sandwich never tasted as good as it did on that day.

And every year, my mom got this amazing tin of chocolates from someone she worked with.

She always saved the strawberry one for me.

And I got to put up the nativity every year, and we always made caramel corn to give to our neighbors around the holidays,

even George, who lived across from Wayne and Linda and scared the peewaddens outta me.

I try to continue things on for Ellie.

It is such an important job.

We do turkey cookies every year for our friends and neighbors.

And of course there is Benjamin.

We put our tree up the weekend after Thanksgiving every year,

and she is almost old enough to be trusted with the nativity.

She gets an ornament every year that depicts what she was into that year.

This year is a dolphin, of course.

We go home for the fair every year.

And go see my mama.

We look for the first robin, come spring,

but always get beat.

It is a contest that Paige and Mom started.

Whoever sees the first robin of the year, wins.

I swear Paige stands at her window starting Jan 1 until she sees one.

We carve pumkins on the 31st, not a day sooner,

and we have Jeff and Megan to pass out candy and go through the ever important sorting process.

Traditions make me happy.

They make me feel connected.

They bring back all the old memories.

The ones I never want to forget.

I am thankful for traditions.