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One of my favorite things to do with my family is eat and celebrate. I love a party or a theme or any reason to celebrate. Here are some of our favorite random holidays that we celebrate every year.

Do more of what makes you happy. Here’s what I do.

I’ve talked a lot on here about Making Your Own Sunshine.

It’s a phrase my mom uses, and it means to do things that bring happiness into your life. You are the only one who can be in charge of your happiness, so figure out what makes you feel happy and then do it.

For me, one thing that brings me a lot of happiness is celebrating as a family. I love parties, I love setting the table in a pretty way, I love having a dinner or party theme, and I love making food that my family will love.

It doesn’t ever have to be over the top, but that little bit of extra effort makes me happy and makes for great memories.

Our perpetual calendar of random holidays we celebrate

Recently someone asked if I could share a list of what random holidays and days we celebrate, so here’s our perpetual calendar of random holidays or events we celebrate every year.

Chocolate lava cake for Valentine’s Day

The first holiday we celebrate isn’t a random one — it’s Valentine’s Day. I’m sure most of you celebrate that too. But our family tradition is to have chocolate lava cake for dessert. I’ve made it basically every year for the last 12 Valentine’s.

This is the recipe I use.

It’s easy to make and we only have it once a year on Valentine’s day, so it feels extra special. Once our boys came along, we started making it for them, so now it’s a family event! Philip and I rarely go out to dinner together for Valentine’s Day…we typically stay in with our boys and have a special dinner and this dessert, and then go out together another day to celebrate.

Pi Day

Pi Day is March 14th, and it’s called Pi day because it’s 3.14…get it?! So of course you have to make a pie!

I love pie, but I don’t really need a whole pie in the middle of the week. So instead, I usually make chicken pot pie for dinner, and mini pies of everyone’s choice for a small dessert.

I shared all about it right here, including our favorite pie recipes!

Breakfast in bed on Birthdays

We celebrate birthdays in all sorts of different ways, but one thing is always consistent. Breakfast in bed.

It’s a tradition we’ve had in my family for years. You get a fun, crazy cereal on a breakfast tray…something we don’t normally get, like Cookie Crunch, or Cinnamon Toast Crunch, or Reeses’ Puffs.

The boys love choosing out each other’s breakfast cereals when it’s not their birthday, and it’s always hidden away so the birthday person doesn’t see until it shows up in their bed on the morning of their birthday.

All of my boys have birthdays during the school year, so we just wake them up a little bit early so they can have breakfast in bed before they leave for school.

Welcome to summer dinner

This was our first year doing an official Welcome To Summer dinner, and it was the best!

I decorated the table super summery, we ate outside on the back patio cause the weather was beautiful, and I bought water balloons so we could have a fight after we ate.

We did this on the first day the boys were out of school. I wrote about it RIGHT HERE.

Harry Potter’s birthday

We’re big Harry Potter fans at our house, so we can’t let Harry’s birthday pass without at least some kind of celebration.

We keep it really low key, and basically just make Butter Beer for dessert after dinner. You could go above and beyond for this day, with Harry Potter trivia, costumes, themed food, and more, but during the summer we keep things pretty low key.

Back to School Dinner

We just did this one last week! It’s one of my favorite traditions. We do it the night before school starts, I decorate the table, we usually have homemade burgers, and we talk about our new theme for the year.

I wrote all about these back to school dinners right here!

Halloween Dinner

This is another tradition we carried down from my family. On Halloween night every year, we have a spooky dinner, completely with jello jiggler hands, bones breadsticks, dry ice in root beer, and more.

I switch up the menu every year just a little bit, but we always have the classic favorites.

I love decorating the table in a semi spooky way, and the dry ice is always the cherry on top.

There’s a whole post about it right here.

December 1st Boxes

This is another tradition that we adopted after hearing about it from a reader.

It’s a celebration on December 1st, where each family member gets a box with their Christmas jammies, an advent calendar, and a new Christmas book.

It makes it fun and special, and we sometimes watch a Christmas movie that night too.

I wrote all about it right here with lots of tradition ideas, and other ideas for holiday goodies you could put in your family’s boxes. 

Favorite Things Party

This is the only one in the list that I don’t do with my family. It’s a tradition my friend, Sara, started back in California, and I’ve carried it on to Texas.

I’m sure you’ve heard of a Favorite Things Party, but basically everyone comes with their favorite things, and then they get shared with everyone. It’s a fun way to get to know people if you’re new to an area, and such a fun girls night.

I love hosting it every year!

I shared all the details about how to host one (plus ideas of things to bring) in this post.

I hope this helps you realize that it’s easy to celebrate, no matter what the occasion. And it can be big or small.

I’d love to know what random holidays or traditions you have in your family!

IF YOU LIKED THIS POST, YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE THESE POSTS

Our Perpetual Holiday Calendar (All the Random Days we Celebrate)

One of my favorite things to do with my family is eat and celebrate. I love a party or a theme or any reason to celebrate. Here are some of our favorite random holidays that we celebrate every year.

 

Do more of what makes you happy. Here’s what I do.

I’ve talked a lot on here about Making Your Own Sunshine.

It’s a phrase my mom uses, and it means to do things that bring happiness into your life. You are the only one who can be in charge of your happiness, so figure out what makes you feel happy and then do it.

For me, one thing that brings me a lot of happiness is celebrating as a family. I love parties, I love setting the table in a pretty way, I love having a dinner or party theme, and I love making food that my family will love.

It doesn’t ever have to be over the top, but that little bit of extra effort makes me happy and makes for great memories.

 

Our perpetual calendar of random holidays we celebrate

Recently someone asked if I could share a list of what random holidays and days we celebrate, so here’s our perpetual calendar of random holidays or events we celebrate every year.

These are somewhat in calendar order.

chocolate lava cake

Chocolate lava cake for Valentine’s Day

The first holiday we celebrate isn’t a random one — it’s Valentine’s Day. I’m sure most of you celebrate that too. But our family tradition is to have chocolate lava cake for dessert. I’ve made it basically every year for the last 12 Valentine’s.

This is the recipe I use.

It’s easy to make and we only have it once a year on Valentine’s day, so it feels extra special. Once our boys came along, we started making it for them, so now it’s a family event! Philip and I rarely go out to dinner together for Valentine’s Day…we typically stay in with our boys and have a special dinner and this dessert, and then go out together another day to celebrate.

best pie recipes

Pi Day

Pi Day is March 14th, and it’s called Pi day because it’s 3.14…get it?! So of course you have to make a pie!

I love pie, but I don’t really need a whole pie in the middle of the week. So instead, I usually make chicken pot pie for dinner, and mini pies of everyone’s choice for a small dessert.

I shared all about it right here, including our favorite pie recipes!

breakfast in bed for mother's day

Breakfast in bed on Birthdays

We celebrate birthdays in all sorts of different ways, but one thing is always consistent. Breakfast in bed.

It’s a tradition we’ve had in my family for years. You get a fun, crazy cereal on a breakfast tray…something we don’t normally get, like Cookie Crunch, or Cinnamon Toast Crunch, or Reeses’ Puffs.

The boys love choosing out each other’s breakfast cereals when it’s not their birthday, and it’s always hidden away so the birthday person doesn’t see until it shows up in their bed on the morning of their birthday.

All of my boys have birthdays during the school year, so we just wake them up a little bit early so they can have breakfast in bed before they leave for school.

summer dinner party

Welcome to summer dinner

This was our first year doing an official Welcome To Summer dinner, and it was the best!

I decorated the table super summery, we ate outside on the back patio cause the weather was beautiful, and I bought water balloons so we could have a fight after we ate.

We did this on the first day the boys were out of school. I wrote about it RIGHT HERE.

easy harry potter costume

Harry Potter’s birthday

We’re big Harry Potter fans at our house, so we can’t let Harry’s birthday pass without at least some kind of celebration.

We keep it really low key, and basically just make Butter Beer for dessert after dinner. You could go above and beyond for this day, with Harry Potter trivia, costumes, themed food, and more, but during the summer we keep things pretty low key.

dining room

Back to School Dinner

We just did this one last week! It’s one of my favorite traditions. We do it the night before school starts, I decorate the table, we usually have homemade burgers, and we talk about our new theme for the year.

I wrote all about these back to school dinners right here!

merrick's art fall fest table

Fall Fest

I got the idea of the fall fest from a reader a few years ago, and it’s such a fun tradition. We do a special fall dinner on the first day of fall (it’s September 22 this year).

We eat a fall themed meal, dress in fall clothes, and watch a fall movie.

If the first day of fall is on a weekday, I’ll move the dinner to Friday so we can watch the movie.

I wrote all about it here with a bunch of fun ideas!

easy family halloween dinner ideas

Halloween Dinner

This is another tradition we carried down from my family. On Halloween night every year, we have a spooky dinner, completely with jello jiggler hands, bones breadsticks, dry ice in root beer, and more.

I switch up the menu every year just a little bit, but we always have the classic favorites.

I love decorating the table in a semi spooky way, and the dry ice is always the cherry on top.

There’s a whole post about it right here.

 

december 1st box boys with presents

December 1st Boxes

This is another tradition that we adopted after hearing about it from a reader.

It’s a celebration on December 1st, where each family member gets a box with their Christmas jammies, an advent calendar, and a new Christmas book.

It makes it fun and special, and we sometimes watch a Christmas movie that night too.

I wrote all about it right here with lots of tradition ideas, and other ideas for holiday goodies you could put in your family’s boxes. 

Favorite Things Party

Favorite Things Party

This is the only one in the list that I don’t do with my family. It’s a tradition my friend, Sara, started back in California, and I’ve carried it on to Texas.

I’m sure you’ve heard of a Favorite Things Party, but basically everyone comes with their favorite things, and then they get shared with everyone. It’s a fun way to get to know people if you’re new to an area, and such a fun girls night.

I love hosting it every year!

I shared all the details about how to host one (plus ideas of things to bring) in this post.

 

I hope this helps you realize that it’s easy to celebrate, no matter what the occasion. And it can be big or small.

I’d love to know what random holidays or traditions you have in your family!

 

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