We all have some sort of Holiday Tradition during the month of December, so I asked a few of my friends to share with you their Holiday Traditions and a book.
So get cozy by the fire, grab a cup of coco and get ready to read some amazing traditions and some fantastic recommendations for the holidays.
Holiday Tradition
When Michelle asked for guest posters for her blog, sharing some of their holiday traditions, I jumped at the chance to help her out. It’s a wonderful blog and since finding the COYER challenge on it this past year, I have made lots of new blogger friends.
I never grew up with what I would consider “traditional” Christmases. We always had a tree and gift exchange, but we never went to large family gatherings and didn’t partake in many of the usual festivities. My husband basically grew up the same way, so when we got married, we basically decided to make Christmas what we wanted it to be. Christmas Eve has turned into a big deal in our household and in my mind, almost as much fun as the day itself. We usually spend the day taking care of odds and ends, but try to have everything done around 6pm. My husband always cooks Christmas dinner, so around that time, he starts smoking the ham. We have a large smoker outside, so some of the evening is spent being outside checking on it and being able to savor the wonderful smells. Around 9pm, we open the family “Christmas Survival Box.” Think stockings, but on a larger scale. I pack some festive cups/glasses, packaged Christmas chocolates, chips, jerky, a bottle of our favorite liquor, a new movie and two dog toys in a box, wrap it with a big bow, and that is the Christmas Eve gift. We then settle down to watch the movie while the pups play and the ham cooks. We don’t end up in bed before 1pm, but since there are no little ones to wake us the next morning, it’s no big deal.
Now I am all about enjoying the “odd” things in life so the Christmas movie at our home is usually a horror movie, or the latest Marvel release. Last year we watched “Annabelle” and the year before was the new Batman movie. I also love non-traditional Christmas books and have a blast reading them so I wanted to share a new one I stumbled on this year.
The Book
The Three Sisters (The Krampus Chronicles Book 1). This book is set in 1854 and centers primarily on the grandchildren of Clement Clark Moore, writer of “Twas Night Before Christmas.” Fourteen-year-old Maggie Ogden thinks she knows everything there is to Grandfather Clement Clarke Moore and his legendary poem,’Twas the Night Before Christmas. But all this changes Christmas Eve 1854 when Chelsea Manor receives an unexpected visitor – Henry Livingston; who’s searching for evidence to prove that his grandfather, Major Henry, is the true author of the famous holiday poem. The night takes a strange turn when Maggie and Henry come across another intruder in Chelsea Manor. After following the peculiar boy down a secret opening within the fireplace and through an underground tunnel full of mechanical sleighs, Maggie and Henry discover Poppel, a hidden village under New York City. Faced with the deadly challenges presented by the legend of The Three Sisters, Maggie and Henry are forced to play by Poppel’s rules and those who run the cursed village. And they quickly learn that not only is leaving Poppel harder than arriving, but there are even more dangerous lies and mysterious truths to Clement Clarke Moore, Christmas, and a menacing creature called Krampus than anyone could have known.
This book is full of twists, turns, mystery and adventure. It weaves a lot of “Twas Night Before Christmas” into the action while not a traditional Christmas story, is very Christmas filled. My only complaint was that I was expecting more horror. I mean come on, have you seen the trailer for the new Krampus movie???? However, this is a trilogy and the ending has led me to believe the evil character definitely plays a bigger role in the next book. Anyone who likes Christmas with a twist would probably enjoy this new book which was just released last month.
So there you have it. A little insight into my family’s Christmas Eve tradition and a scary Christmas tale all rolled into one. That’s my kind of Christmas!
About the Guest
Barb is a blogger at BookerTsFarm
http://bookertsfarm.blogspot.com
Twitter @boxermommyreads
Thank you for stopping by to check out today’s Holiday Tradition and Book
Have a great day!
Happy Holidays!
It’s great that you got to create your own Christmas traditions with your husband, Barb! And I love both the idea of a Christmas survival box and the fact that you don’t watch a Christmas movie 😀
I hope you’ll have a terrific Christmas this year, too!
I love that you and your hubs created a Christmas tradition all your own! That’s fantastic. And the book sounds fascinating. Thanks for sharing your holiday traditions!
My mom used to leave a box under the tree for my sister and I to open on Christmas eve, it was always a new Christmas PJ and some socks. I always looked forward to it. I never did that with my kids but I do buy them PJ’s since our Christmas card is always them in front of the tree with PJs on. I need to go grab that book!
I love the idea of the Christmas Survival Box! I want one…lol. How cool. Growing up we had the open one gift on Christmas eve tradition but now I don’t really have any traditions…except eating way to much…lol.
What there is a Krampus book I didn’t know about—SCORE!
I love the Christmas Survival Box! I saw something similiar to that on Facebook and thought about doing it this year. 🙂 We let the kids open their presents from their grandparents on Christmas Eve because they live in Ohio and my mom ships the stuff down well ahead of time. So the box sits under the tree until the 24th, when I pop it open and unpack what’s inside. Their stuff is wrapped and she sends goodies we can nosh on. 🙂
Oh yeah! I forgot about the book. *slaps forehead* It was free a few days ago and I managed to snag a copy. I’m looking forward to reading it.