My Family Culture

This is what makes my home, mine. It is:

• Sitting on mom's lap even when you're 9 or 11 years old. 
• Listening to our favorite songs on Rhapsody, and Jonas making requests.
• Watching fantasy shows or movies together. 
• Letting chickens fall asleep on our laps.
• Spreading blankets out in the front yard on sunny days and having the best heart-to-hearts there.
• Buying new Lego minifigures when they come out with a new series.
• Drinking Sonic slushes.
• Talking in the treehouse, and arguing about who gets the hammock.
• Checking out the entire cat and dog section from the library on Sundays.
• Playing the Wii and immediately erupting into fights about who got the longest turn.
• Eating fried eggs and bacon. 
• Husband and wife guitar jam sessions.
• Growing things in the garden that die. And trying again every year.
• Going to model train and air shows. 
• Eating Dominos Pizza every Friday night.
• Loving BBC shows.
• Hearing the lament "Oh, I hate screens!" several times a day.
• Going for bike rides and neighborhood walks as a family.
• Kids wanting to sleep in mom's bed.
• Thrift store shopping, where mom looks for maxi dresses, and kids look for Legos.
• Changing the radio station in the car every five seconds and saying "The radio sucks!" but stopping for certain Katy Perry songs, or some good '80s.
• Daddy going to hockey games on Saturday nights, and mom watching her favorite show-of-the-moment while he's gone.
• Frequent conversations about how Lance the Corgi is the BEST DOG IN THE WORLD.
• Bedtime prayers that kids cannot go to sleep without.
• Fighting over the middle seats in the van. 
• Spending hours looking at Usborne books.
• Watching whatever documentary happens to be on PBS.
• Backyard bonfires, and smoked brisket.
• Deals made in the garage for shirt folding work.
• Printing dozens of coloring pages for the kids from Google images, and if I can't find the right one, I fix it in photoshop.
• Hanging out with grandmas that live within a mile from our house.
• Last minute frantic housecleaning, no matter how early we started. 
• Hiding from the Jehovah's Witnesses who ring our doorbell every other Saturday morning. 
• Knowing that someone will be fixing themselves a "second dinner" or popping popcorn when it's bedtime.

And I could go on and on....

Some of these are silly, but all are part of the fabric that makes up our daily life. It's the traditions that my kids depend on and will remember. What are yours?