The Great Tradition

Every year around the holidays (starting with Halloween) my dad calls me to tell me that a Charlie Brown special is on and I turn the TV on and watch it with my kids as he did with us all those years ago. It has become predictable. This year was unlike no other...I fed the kids early, we skipped a bath (I know...gross, but it is only one day!), and settled in to watch The Great Pumpkin. Rae, Addie Grace, and I sat around the living room together and indulged in a tradition that has now become our own. As I sat snuggled on the couch with my two monkeys I realized how thankful I am for my family...plain and simple. Tonight was bittersweet when I talked to my dad on the phone. My sister, brother in law, neice, and grandmother were all at my dad's for dinner and we weren't. It is hard to be so far away from the ones we love so much. None the less, this move has forced our tiny family of four to take a step back and look at the important things in life and we are closer for it.

Although this holiday season may not bring the same familiar faces, I know it will be a magical one full of laughter, memories, and a few of our own traditions. Trick or treating with new friends, cooking a Thanksgiving meal at home, and cutting down a Christmas tree in the snow...all of which we are really looking forward to. Friends and Family are who we choose to surround ourselves with during the holidays because their is a warmth that comes from that. But their is also a warmth that comes from branching out and staking your own claim on the Tradition front. Addie walked into the kitchen this morning and looked up at me with sleep still in her eyes. I handed her her sippy cup of milk like every other morning, except today she slung her pink blanket (it is called Mankie in our house) over her shoulder and said in a song-like tone, "Momma, ank you fowr giving me my mulk evry da-y" I said that she was very welcome. She smiled and skipped away to climb something (or undress!). I smiled and thought...to her her milk in the morning is a tradition at its finest. It won't be so hard to wow them this year...even if it is just the four of us. Enjoy your family and friends and always look for your sweet pea's Laughable Moments...you never know, it may become your family's tradition.