Merry Christmas, blogosphere! At least those of you who celebrate, for those who don’t, Happy Wednesday!

In my house, Christmas has always been a big deal. In the world before Pinterest, my stay at home mother was the queen of doing crafts with me and my brother. Our tree was always covered in handmade ornaments (and every year I would get super upset that everything she did looked so much better than everything I did), we made tons of cookies and we would make a gingerbread house each year that would slowly get a nice film of dust on it by Christmas, which was when I was finally allowed to break off part of the roof and eat it (while my mom cringed in the corner and my dad told her a little dust won’t kill me – evidently he was right).

My parents come from really different backgrounds and we celebrate the holidays with both of those sides. My dad’s side of the family celebrates on Christmas Eve, where we all gather at my aunt’s house (my dad’s oldest sister – there are nine of them all together) and completely take it over. My dad is the baby of those nine, so most of my cousins all have kids too, on a year when most people make it, we can have 80-90 people over there for dinner (a full, delicious spread of Russian food that everyone looks forward to all year long). After dinner we cram into the adjacent living and family rooms and overspill into the kitchen and we all sing Christmas carols while one of my cousins play the piano. Then my uncle, who is a pastor, reads the Christmas story from the Bible and quizzes the littlest kids about the real meaning of Christmas.

And then we have the talent show. Each sub-family has to prepare a talent. So my older cousins with their adorable small children send them out to sing a Christmas tune. The ones with slightly older kids send them out to plunk out something on the piano or muddle through a recently learned clarinet version of Jingle Bells. Older aunts and uncles read holiday poems. And then there’s my family. We don’t have any cute little kids. My parents aren’t old enough to pull off the dignified poetry reading… our past talents have included playing the spoons, kazoos and a strange year where we were going to try to play water glasses, couldn’t find any, used plastic bottles and just hummed the sound we were trying to make. There’s one other branch of the family that’s in the same boat and they often do really bizarre skits. Needless to say, it’s incredible. And endlessly weird. I love my family.

Early the next day we trek from Maryland back to New Jersey and open gifts at our house with my grandmother (growing up it was both grandparents) and then we go over to my grandma’s for a nice, quiet dinner, because my mom’s side of the family is very small. She has one sister who lives in Florida, so we don’t see them often. The two days are pretty much as opposite as can be, but I love them both. Christmas is definitely one of my favorite times of the year, especially since I get to see so much family.

And since I’m off learning how to play a trombone version of Silent Night that my brother is going to beatbox to –  here’s a quick  round up of blog posts that I’ve enjoyed the last week or so:

Tradition, tradition! Tradition (Sing it Fiddler-style)

Quirky Christmas Traditions at Budgets Are Sexy

Holiday Traditions at Debt Discipline

My Christmas Parenting Wins (And Losses) at Femme Frugality

Christmas in a BIG Family (yeah, gift raffle idea) at Punch Debt in the Face

Christmas Lights and Sweaters… oh my! (I love that sweater) at A Time for Seasons

SPEND THE MONEY!! SPEND ALL THE MONEY!! Or not.

How to Increase Your Joy & Decrease Your Spending This Christmas at ChristianPF

Gift Giving: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (mostly cause I want the Tardis cookie jar) at Paperbag Princess

Smart Holiday Travel at See Debt Run  

That’s a Wrap

8 Creative Ways to Wrap Gifts and Not Go Broke at ChristianPF

Cheap Wrapping Paper Alternatives by Fit Is The New Poor

 

And don’t forget to enter for a chance to win a copy of Suze Orman’s The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke. Contest ends 12/31.
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brokeGIRLrich readers, what’s your favorite holiday tradition?