#traditons

Learning how to correctly make these spritz cookies with my mother (while listening to musicals, of course) to keep passing on the tradition of them. The number of times I have attempted to make them and have cried over these finicky but delicous cookies is too many. They were passed down by my Czech grandmother to my mother with VERY little instructions jotted down over a phone call years ago and have been a huge family tradition since my childhood.

OK!

My most memorable christmas gift when I was a kid was the year my brother and I got popup tents. We lived in those tents in the living room until like the middle of January. I think I also got an EZ Bake oven that year and tried to use it to cook bacon. That year was so fun.

And my Christmas tree is small this year, and multicolored, because I have a 4 year old who likes to climb things he shouldn't and who loved every color imaginable. He's very creative, and very sneaky. So I got a little tree and put it on top of a table where he can't easily climb. But he loves it. He loves to stare at it at night and always asks me to sing him Christmas songs.

Mummery 

I think you all should know about Easter traditions in Slovakia. The main theme of the tradition is WATER and SPANKING. 

Yes, you read that right.

On Monday morning girls have to get up early in order to avoid being splashed with bucket of water in their beds :) Which is very hard thing to do on its own! Then they have make sure that have enough dry clothes ready in order to survive more water splashing and whipping.

On Easter Monday Slovak women and girls get splashed and whipped with special whips made of braided willow rods.

The whipping tradition stems from the fact that, in spring, trees grow new, young branches, representing vitality, strength, and flexibility—characteristics that the male whipper hopes to impart upon the female whippee.

Spanish playing cards portraying the traditional regional costumes from each Spanish province.