It’s September and it’s time to start thinking about and making some plans for the holidays!
First is Halloween. Sometimes buying costumes can get expensive so a few years I made my kids costumes. So one year I made my son into a black widow spider. He had a solid black backpack. I stuffed it with newspapers. Then I bought some black knee high hose and stuffed them with stuffing for the legs. Then I took red shoe strings to tie them together and to the arm holders of the backpack so when he moved his arms the legs would move too. He loved it! My daughter was a Christmas tree. I cut the Christmas tree shape out of foam and round circles for the ornaments and bought silver ribbon for the tinsel. So I bought green material and covered the foam hot gluing in enough in spots on the back and front for it to stay on. Then I wrapped each ornament in Christmas paper . Then I draped the silver ribbon across the tree to look like tinsel. Then I cut out a star with the foam and made holes for the eyes and mouth and covered it in yellow material and attached two shoe strings to make a mask. She loved it and even one best costume at my Sunday school class Christmas party. So be creative and come up with your own ideas for costumes.
Next is Thanksgiving. We always have turkey and even though I have a family recipe for cornbread stuffing it’s a lot of work so my daughter just makes stovetop. Then she always makes her green bean casserole which is delicious. And we usually have some kind of pie. Pie is one of those forgotten desserts I believe. But it’s so good and special since we have it at Thanksgiving. So create your own Thanksgiving meal that is special and delicious for your family.
And my favorite holiday Christmas! My daughter makes gift giving at Christmas so easy for me. I give my kids and 3 oldest grandkids money. The two little ones still love toys so she makes a list on Amazon of toys she knows the kids will like and they help pick the toys to put on the list . Then I choose two or sometimes three toys off that list. Then everyone gets what they want for Christmas. I’m sure all of you are like me and have gotten Christmas gifts of things you really didn’t want or wouldn’t use. So we came up with this so the oldest grandkids and my kids could buy what they want since I have no idea what all they even have. As for the meal it’s different each year. One time it was ham cooked in the crockpot with cheesy potatoes on the side, another year it was roast potatoes and carrots and another year root beer pulled pork sandwiches. You can find the recipe on Pinterest. It’s sweet and savory and very delicious. So don’t feel like it has to be the traditional ham or turkey. Do something in the crockpot that’s easy. Christmas is such a busy hectic day it’s better to be very easy on yourself and make a easy meal. I make sweets to put in a treat box for each of my kids and grandkids. They love it and it’s fun to make. Sometimes I make a Texas Sheet Cake which the recipe is under my recipes on the blog.
Then last but not least New Years. While some people go out to parties or bars for New Year’s I stay home and have most of my life. I’m not comfortable driving at night New Year’s Eve with so many people on the road who could be driving while drinking. I will say this if you do go out to drink at a party or bar be careful and smart by taking uber or Lyft there and back for your safety. I always had a New Year’s Eve party for me and my kids. I’d make some meat, cheese and cracker trays to snack on while we watched the New Year’s Eve celebrations on television. Then New Year’s Day a tradition that I think is mostly in the southern states of the United States , is to eat black eyed peas for New Year’s for good luck throughout the year. I love black eyed peas with cornbread. It’s delicious and maybe I’m showing my southern roots here! I grew up in a small town in Oklahoma and lived in Oklahoma and Texas my whole life until I moved to Arizona 5 years ago to be close to my daughter son in law and 4 of my grandkids live here.
So that’s just some of the things I’ve done for the holidays in the past. But create your own holiday traditions for your family or with your friends. It’s the most wonderful time of the year!
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