I have known Jerusalem since the early days of blogging, back when blogging was just about sharing our ideas and inspiration. Her blog has always been one of my favorites. So when I found out my friend was writing a book, I was so excited and proud for her. Then I got my hands on the book and it was nothing like what I was expecting, to be quite honest, it was so.much.more.
The book is based on the Liturgical calendar, which I'll be honest I knew little or nothing about. I am now more educated on the subject but in truth that is not what draws me into this book. I'm pulled in by the warmth of her voice. Her obvious love for her people, home and traditions. I'm pulled in by the recipes and the projects that I can't wait to make. I love her ability to make the small moments feel special without spending a ton of money or time making them so. The girl is a natural and I would have wanted this book whether she was a friend of mine or not.
Congratulations on this amazing accomplishment J! You did great!
I'm so excited that I get to share a copy with one of you dear readers. I'd love it if you would leave me a comment telling me about one of your favorite family traditions and I will randomly pick a winner Thursday March 28th at 8am Eastern time.
I would love to win this book! My favorite family tradition is that at every holiday I made pancakes to suit the theme, ie: on Valentine's day, the pancakes are heart-shaped and pink. Thanks so much for the chance to win the book :)
ReplyDeleteSandy
Me, me, me, I want a copy!!! This book looks positively yummy!
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite family traditions is an assumption of sorts within my family (of origin). "You are invited, and please bring..." At Christmas, we are invited, and I bring peeled potatoes for cooking and mashing as well as peppermint patty brownies. At Thanksgiving, we are invited, and I bring cinnamon jello salad, and apple pie. At Easter, we are invited, and I bring a side dish. Never do we have to wonder if we're celebrating, or if we're welcome. ALWAYS we talk about it weeks in advance (regardless of the assumed invite, and counted-on dishes), and ALWAYS we look forward to the time spent together. Maybe this is more of a blessing than a tradition? -- and there ARE days that WE do the inviting. Regardless, I hold it dear, knowing that we always have a place to be.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet book :) One of our traditions (happening this week :)) is that I bake a daffodil cake when our daffodils bloom :) It is a yellow and white cake ~ kinda like a angel food cake . NO REAL daffodils are used in the cake ~ here is a link to the recipe~http://www.cookscountry.com/recipes/Daffodil-Cake-Recipe-Cook-s-Country/23602/
ReplyDeletehaPPy day :) crystal
not trying to enter again ~ here is a link to the recipe if you aren't a member to the one site :)
ReplyDeletehttp://thedaffodilsociety.com/wordpress/?page_id=2690
My favorite family tradition has to be our Christmas "dinner." Instead of a big sit down affair with ham or turkey and all the traditional sides, we have a HUGE smorgasbord of appetizers and snacks. Each year, our counters are literally covered in a variety of cute little finger foods that people can snack on throughout the entire afternoon and evening. I love it because it's so different than what most people do, and because we always have fun trying out new recipes every year. Some of our BEST recipes have come from our Christmas meals!
ReplyDeleteI love traditions so picking a favorite isn't easy. I think Easter afternoon when we all gather at my parents home. The kids all look adorable and watching the next generation of little's hunt for eggs is priceless. The book is one I have on my list and I can't wait to get my hands on a copy!
ReplyDeleteMy 16-year-old daughter's high school has "late start" on Tuesdays, which means she goes in an hour later. I also delay going into work for an hour on Tuesdays, but we get up at the same time, get ready, and go to Starbucks for breakfast instead of eating at home (oatmeal and soy cappuccinos are the standard). Our Tuesday mornings are so enjoyable and we really do look forward to this time together.
ReplyDeleteThe book looks like it has a lot of good stuff in it! My fingers are crossed.
We celebrate a Christian Passover leading up to Easter. For us it tells the complete story. It's tonight actually! All kinds of yummy things are cooking right now getting ready.
ReplyDeleteThe books looks amazing. Would love to win a copy.
Blessings!
My husband and i live far from immediate family so our traditions are simple and shared mostly between the two of us--a week night each week where the tv and internet are turned off and a mad game of Scrabble commences!
ReplyDeletemaggiecolorado@gmail.com
I just ordered her book today but i would love to win another copy to give to a friend! I can't wait to get my hands on it.
ReplyDeleteHmm....to pick a favorite tradition..One of my favorites is Christmas time..we have a few traditions surrounding this time of year, but one favorite would be reading about Jesus being the light of the world, bundling up, loading our family of 6 into the van, grabbing some hot cocoa for the kids and coffee for the hubs and I, and driving all over town looking at beautiful lights!
wonderful moments that I will cherish forever.
What a lovely giveaway. One of our family traditions is going to the Easter vigil Mass which welcomes all the new people coming into the church. It is a beautiful celebration that our family enjoys together as part of a much bigger family.
ReplyDeleteblessings,
Danielle
My favorite tradition is reading The Night Before Christmas to my daughter before we go to bed on Christmas Eve. With all the chaos of the holiday and travelling all over Arkansas to see family it's our time to slow down, snuggle up, and enjoy the magic of Santa.
ReplyDeleteAs a fellow Arkansan I can't wait to read her book!
Thanks, Katrina
Hi! Such a fun idea for a giveaway! One of my favorite traditions is the annual sleepover at my Grandma's house for our Christmas celebration. It started one year because of a blizzard, and has continued for 20+ years. Grandma just turned 80, but is such a great sport about staying up late, playing games, and letting a couple dozen grandkids age 5-30 destroy her house. We all eat brunch at my parents the next morning and then drive into town in our pjs to invade the local bowling alley. A fierce bowling competition follows, with a small, but cherished trophy on the line. This is by far one of the best days of each year!
ReplyDeletejackie
Traditions! Same as most but we do have one. Going to the local beer festval and drinking alittle too much so are feet hurt and we walk home bare foot!!!!! Not sure if a tradition or just repeating mistakes.
ReplyDeletesarah... that's a darn good tradition! :)
DeleteMy favorite family tradition is the blessing my husband writes for our children every year. He reads is out loud to them on Christmas morning.
ReplyDeleteOne of our family traditions is to decorate our home for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. My husband and son hang the lights outside while my daughters and I decorate inside. For lunch we have heated leftovers from our delicious dinner the day before. :)
ReplyDeleteWe have lots of traditions we've started with our two boys, but in general decorating and getting ready for each holiday is my favorite tradition. Bringing up decorations we haven't seen in a year, picking places for everything & seeing the excitement in my little guys' eyes makes it all special.
ReplyDeleteOne of our family's favorite traditions is spending time with dear friends (the kind who are Aunt and Uncle to our children) and their family for New Year's Eve. We go to a hotel with a pool and swim, have a potluck meal, play games, talk, and stay up very late to ring in the new year. We've been doing this for 13 years now!
ReplyDeleteOne of our favorite traditions is the Easter egg hunt in the backyard- and our children are now in their mid 20's! and single. Every year we each take a turn hiding the eggs and finding them- parents included :) In all the years we have only "lost" one egg, which was found the next spring intact and CAREFULLY disposed of.
ReplyDeletewe have so many that i can't narrow it down to one! :) so, i'll just list three.
ReplyDeletetwo from back home in alabama....a couple of weeks before halloween, the girls and i would "haunt" 6 or 7 of our friends (some people call it "booing"). we'd make a bunch of halloween goodies, print out this "haunting" poem my oldest wrote, cut out ghosts, leave the goods on the friends' doorsteps, ring the doorbell and run. the people we haunted would have to haunt 4 or so more people and they would haunt 4 other people and so on. we did this for 15 or sixteen years. so fun & scarey! i loved driving through town and seeing copies of our ghost pinned on front doors.
starting when my oldest was 2 (she's 22 now), we had a Santa Supper with several of our closest friends. the kids would draw names for a gift exchange & "Santa" (my Jewish father-in-law :)) would arrive and hand out more gifts. we did it until the oldest ones graduated from high school.
at easter, along with easter baskets, Peter Cottontail would leave a cake, on a pedestal that was decorated for easter. my girls (22 & 16) still demand this.
so loving seeing your other readers' family traditions! thanks jen!!
We always serve cupcakes for desert with dinner on our kid's birthdays ( even if it means hubby bringing them with him & having the kids meet me at a local restaurant if I'm working a night shift) We serve a cake at their actual party which is held on a weekend.
ReplyDeleteAt our home we always make mocha cakes for Christmas ONLY. Even if somebody (hubby) begs for them.
ReplyDeleteWe have several traditions. On Thanksgiving day many of us eat dinner at my grandma's house. She is getting close to 90 years old. We have been having Thanksgiving at her house for as long as I can remember. After we eat we make Christmas ornaments or another type of craft. Then we look through the sales papers and make our lists. Most of us go shopping either that night or the next day. We do not buy much but it is fun getting in the crowd and being together. I would love to have this book! It looks like something I would enjoy!
ReplyDeleteI would love the book it looks amazing! One of my favorite family traditions is cutting down our Christmas tree the Saturday after thanksgiving. We go out to the same tree farm and search for our perfect family Christmas tree. Usually one that has full needles and is so fat it takes up half of our family room! That evening we have egg nog and decorate the tree.
ReplyDeleteI would love this book. I guess my favorite family tradition is Thanksgiving, where all 35 of my family members on my mom's side have gotten together for the last 34 years. I am a single mom of a two-year old and looking for ideas for traditions I can start with him. I want him to have a very happy, memorable childhood :-)
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a wonderful family-based book. My favorite tradition is going to my daughter's house for Christmas every year. Before they open any gifts they sit down and Mom reads the Christmas story (in a children's book form). When they get to the part where the three wise men bring their gifts to Jesus my daughter stops reading and the girls go find the three gifts that "santa" has left for each of them under the tree. They then listen to the rest of the Christmas story and then open their three gifts. It can be something as simple as a hula hoop or as complex as a Nook...but it just 3 gifts each..something each one wants. Of course, there is a parent gift and a grandparent gift, etc....but I love the way the morning begins- xo Diana
ReplyDeleteWe are all about Tradition at our house ... some special Easter traditions are hanging coloured eggs from the trees outside, Easter egg hunts, homemade Bunny cake & family Easter dinner ♥
ReplyDeleteThank you for the giveaway Jen ~ A Homemade Year looks wonderful.
Every Friday night, if we are not going to a home sporting event at school, take our supper into the living room, and watch a movie together. All 4 of us. It's quickly become a tradition this year, a year where we've been so busy, the year has flown past. I LOVE Friday nights now!
ReplyDeleteWe have many traditions but I have to say my favorite one is a new one. This year I put a love note on the kids door every night for the month of February. The kids loved it much more that I thought they would. I loved it as well because when the kids were in bed and the house was calm I looked back over the day and enjoyed it again as I wrote the notes.
ReplyDeleteOne of our favourite traditions is guessing what's in the gift. Our one son is soooo good at it. We love buying him quirky gifts to trick him.
ReplyDeleteSo many traditions that it's hard to pick my favorite but since Easter is near, I'll share this ... although my daughters didn't really love candy (shocking, I know!), their Easter baskets were always overflowing. But the peeps and jelly beans always held far less interest for them than the bunny paw prints that always dotted the table where they'd left their Easter baskets sitting in hopes of a visit from their furry friend. Imagine their surprise -- years later -- to discover that those tiny tracks were the result of me spending a few extra minutes late on Easter eve dipping my thumb in confectioner's sugar and tracking the Easter bunny's movements across the table.
ReplyDeleteSince both my kids are grown and at one time were both out of the country, 7 years ago we started a new Easter tradition. We and two other couple travel to Hilton Head Island for much needed rest and heat and sunshine. The guys golf most every day, the ladies beach, shop and have lunch. We take turns making dinner at night and play games afterwards. My husband went to grade school with them and I have been friends with them nearly 38 years. We all look forward to this time to reconnect, laugh and just have fun. I do hope I win this book. Thank you for the give a way. Happy Easter!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a lovely book! We have family traditions throughout the year, but my favorite is probably Christmas Eve cookie baking!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite family tradition is inviting someone who has nobody to celebrate with to our celebration. Our family has done this for generations, and I think it helps my kids to see that it's not all about us. It's about giving, blessing others, creatively making that person or that family feel welcome, doted-on, and part of our family.
ReplyDeleteI can remember when I was a kid, going up to my Mom at our Christmas Eve party and saying, "Who's that guy sitting under the piano?" to which she replied, "He's a strange but nice man from church who doesn't have a family!" She said it so matter-of-fact that it seemed perfectly normal. I even brought him a plate of food and slid it under the table to him. LOL.
To this day, we invite someone who doesn't have family to share with to every holiday party we have. It's been so good for my kids ~ just as it was good for me!
KateJ
We have three daughters and on the night before their birthdays, while they are asleep, my husband and I hang already "crafted" garland that says "Happy 16th Birthday Claire" and then we wrap their four-poster beds with streamers so they feel celebrated from the moment they awake on "their" day.
ReplyDeleteOh I would love to win her book!...
ReplyDeleteit looks like every page is filled with sweetness and
an opportunity to make lasting family memories:)
My favorite family tradition is getting together with my parents and sisters every Christmas Eve. Church, then back to someones home for potluck dinner. It's my favorite night of the year!
ReplyDeleteMy girls have stockings that I add old buttons to each year. We also open them on New Years Eve. My mom started this tradition. I think because she got the Christmas candy on sale. But it is brilliant. Something extra to look forward to. The stockings don't get lost and you can fill them with back to school stuff.
ReplyDeleteWe have a tradition at Christmas time with our 6 grandchildren. I buy rolled cookie dough, roll it out and the kids one at a time lay their hands on the dough. I trace around their hands and place the hand shaped dough on the cookie sheet. When the hand shaped dough is baked and cooled the kids go to town decorating them. I keep a stash of colored frosting, sprinkles, anything we can find to decorate them. Mind you, they would not win a decorating contest the kids just have fun. The oldest is 14 down to the youngest 7. Still, they want to decorate hand cookies. Not only that, their hands are getting pretty big! When they place their hands on the dough they spread out their fingers as far as possible!!! Guess I will need to buy more dough this Christmas!!
ReplyDeleteOur traditions are simple. Spending time together is most important. Sometimes we plan something, and it just does not happen the way we want. It turns out even better. My daughters each make a favorite dish on Thanksgiving. A few days before Christmas, we jump in the car and pick out a tree. We are going to try Easter egg coloring this year with natural dyes.
ReplyDeleteWhen they were young, I would bring disposable pie tins outside, we'd spend the afternoons making mud pies!
Happy Easter!
One of our dearest family traditions is having the all the kids camp out in our room on Christmas Eve in their matching jammies(not as easy task with 7 kids). We then slowly wake up in the morning(usually around 9). I'm the first to leave the room and wait for everyone at the bottom of the stairs and I take a picture of them on the stairs. We then cook a huge Christmas breakfast and the little ones get to open their stockings. After breakfast, we clean up and then head to the Christmas tree and one by one we go around and open our gifts. It makes the day last so much longer and everyone has time to digest the goodness of the day without it being over in a mad rush.
ReplyDeleteTiff
One of our favorite family traditions is going out to eat at a fancy restaurant the night before my husband leaves for his business trips once a month. It just makes life happier:)
ReplyDeleteMy four children, ages 2-14, exchange handmade gifts on Christmas Eve by the fire. The weeks before are spent figuring out projects, hiding supplies and possibly a missed half day of school to enlist my help- which builds the excitement and makes everyone feel very elf-like. I love the fact that they seem to now look forward to this even more than getting anything and my hope is that they will continue to exchange handmade gifts when they are adults.
ReplyDeleteOur family tradition is whenever we visit a place we go around and all tell our favorite part of the day, the adventure, the activity. If there are others around, they have to answer too. We have been doing this since my kids were little, and we just did it again during our recent Spring Break. I should mention that they are now 20 and 17yo.
ReplyDeleteThe book looks wonderful! Happy Spring,
Kelley
One of our family traditions is buying my daughter a Christmas book each year for one of her Christmas gifts. It can be a thrifted book, picture book or a novel but all with a Christmas theme. She loves it and when she moves out on her own she will have a small library to start out with.
ReplyDeleteMy mom would give us an ornament every year that reflected something from that year. I continued that tradition with my husband until a few years ago because the tree just can't hold any more. So, we started a new tradition on a different holiday.
ReplyDeleteWe bought a little farm as a second home 4 1/2 years ago in Wisconsin. On Easter morning before the sun comes up we drive up to the top of the hill with our coffee and Daily Word in hand and as the sun starts to come up we read the Daily Word and reflect. This year we not sure if we'll get to the top or anywhere near it because of all the snow. We see when we get there and if so maybe a new tradition will be born!
oh, i have this book saved in my amazon cart! :)
ReplyDeleteone of my favorite family traditions is baking a special birthday cake for each family member. my mom did this for us growing up...and i love doing it too. i don't think my family has ever requested the same thing twice (except a certain cheesecake for my husband!) usually the kids give me a color or flavor or decorating style...and then i surprise them with the rest. i LOVE baking something special for them.
My favorite family tradition is putting balloons in my daughter's bed before she awakens on her birthday. My mama began this tradition with me and my siblings and I scarried it on with my daughter when she turned one. She will be 19 in June and no longer lives at home, but somehow, someway it's going to happen this year as well! PS found you thru "Making it Lovely" and I'm enjoying your blog!
ReplyDeleteI always loved Sunday dinner at my grandmother's.
ReplyDeleteOur family tradition was celebrated for the last time this year as it involves my mother making sausage/cheese drop biscuits Christmas morning for everyone. Mom is still with us in body but is suffering from ALZ and we had to put her in a home on New Years Eve. We all stand around in the kitchen chatting, eating the biscuits, sipping coffee or hot chocolate and enjoying each other for the morning. We finally make it into the living room area where we open gifts, laugh, hug and take pictures. Thank you for the opportunity to win this wonderful book.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a fabulous book! What a treat! I have so many favorite little traditions with my family! Having a picnic on the first day of Spring (this year it was in front of the fire!) eating ice cream for breakfast the first day of summer... but one I am cherishing
ReplyDeleteOops! One I'm cherishing now is new. Planting an Easter garden with my girls for the kitchen table & adding various elements to it over Easter weekend telling them about grace, love, hope, making bad choices, forgiveness, sacrifice, & faith!
ReplyDeleteWHat a neat book!
ReplyDeleteThe book sounds great. I would love to win a copy of it.
ReplyDeleteOne of our favorite family traditions is the family tennis game. Thanksgiving morning we head to our tennis club and play a friendly game of tennis - dad and daughter vs mom and son. We look forward to it every year.