Terre Pruitt's Blog

It is Christmas, and while I did not have to “work” — as in teach a Nia class, I still have to “work” — as in post a blog post.  Had I been a little more organized I would have had it written and had it post on a timer, but I was not that prepared.  I had been thinking about what to write when last Monday after Nia one of my students was talking about one of her family’s traditions.  I had asked her to give me more info or to write about it.  But as I had been interrupting her story, I stopped my line of questioning/instruction and she finished her story and then I never got back to asking her more information.  Then on Wednesday I forgot.  I was thinking I would see her on Christmas Eve, but I did not.  So I am going to share her tradition without a lot details as to how it works for her family because I don’t know them.  I think the idea is so cute I wanted to share.  THEN, I got one of the greatest Christmas gifts ever last night and I wanted to share a bit of it too.  So Merry Christmas.  This is me sharing a tradition of one of my students that maybe you would like to do yourself and a beautiful gift I received.

First the cool tradition.  I haven’t heard a lot of the details but it sounds as if my student’s kids are going to moving out soon.  I believe that is one of the reasons she shared with us the tradition she started when they were young.  She has had her kids gift each other a Christmas ornament every year.  She was saying, when I came into the conversation, that this way they will have a start on having ornaments for their tree when they move out AND they will sentimental value.  Each ornament will be a memory.  She had said that one year her son crafted a little birdcage and put a picture of a bird in it to represent their family pet.  I thought that was so cute.  Not only did her son have an ornament for his sister, but he had made it.  You may know from reading some of my previous posts that I LOVE Christmas Ornaments.  I love the entire process of unwrapping each one to hang on the tree.  It is as if I am receiving little mini Christmas gifts with each ornament I unwrap and place on the tree.  And many have memories attached, so to me decorating the tree is a lovely process and tradition.  So I really, really, really, really, really LOVED this idea.  As I mentioned, I loved it so much I wanted to share it.  I think it is great to have kids receive “their own” ornaments that they can take with them when they move out and that will have meaning for them.

Now one of the greatest gifts I received was a book.  Apparently my nephew-in-law has a brilliant girlfriend.  She had a book made for his sisters that contains their grandma’s favorite recipes and a party tip.  His girlfriend designed it to have the actual copy of the recipe placed on the page along with family pictures.  You might have read some post on my blog that shared the fact that their grandmother (my mother-in-law) died last year in November.  My sister-in-law (John’s sister) is a smart cookie too and she knows a great idea when she sees it and she asked if she could use the book template for gifts also.  So SHE swapped out some of the pictures to include more of the recipient’s family.  So the ones made for the girls have more pictures pertaining to them.  The one made for my husband and I has more pictures pertaining to us and so on.  FANTABULOUS!  It is awesome!

I am in awe of BOTH of these things . . . . the ornament tradition AND this wonderful recipe book.  I hope you had a Merry Christmas and the rest of this season is grand for you.

Do you have any holiday traditions to share?  Maybe you have had a custom for a long time?  Maybe you just started one?  Did you get a gift that you are excited about that you want to share?  Tell us!