traditions

Creating an annual birthday tradition is a great way to make your child's special day even more memorable. As Circle of Moms member Ashley B. shares, "I'm wanting something that me and my son can go and do every year for his birthday — something that we can have a tradition of doing every year on his birthday that he gets excited about — something special just for him." If you, too, want to start a special birthday tradition with your child, here are five great suggestions from Circle of Moms members.

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You don't always have to stick to traditions when it comes to weddings. If you met online or have friends spread out across the globe, feel free to bring the magic of technology into your big day. With over 650 million active users, Facebook is the worldwide unifier, so it's no wonder that the social network is being incorporated into more weddings all around the world. How can you inject a bit of Facebook flavor into your big day? Find out below!

• Fan Pages — Instead of making a wedding website, couples are opting to create wedding fan pages so friends and family can keep up on their favorite social network.
• Chronicling the events — It's a given that during your engagement, bachelor/bachelorette parties, rehearsal dinner, and even the day-of grooming, there will be a number of cameras around. Posting these pics on Facebook helps to keep far off friends and family involved, even if they can't make it in person. Just don't tag any pics of the bride getting ready if you're posting them live. The groom will get a sneak peek! Same goes for embarrassing mid-dressing shots; it's just poor form.

See the rest of the list after the break.

In my family, the holidays mean two things are certain: we will be drinking Manhattans and fighting over who gets the last cheese diablo wafer. I find it comforting that every year, no matter what, these two things are constant. What about you guys? What are your very favorite Christmas or Hanukkah traditions? Do you try new things each year or do you have some tried-and-true recipes that you would never stray from? Share with us in the comments!

Halloween is a sugar rush! Before most kiddos set foot out the door, lots of parents lay down a couple of safety guidelines for the night. Here's what LilSugar mamas had to say.

• Deciding which costume to make or buy adds to the excitement of Halloween so 73 percent of mamas let their children choose their own outfits.
• Lil darlings love to dip their hands into the bag of goodies and munch on sweets as they walk around on Halloween night. Seventy-percent of mamas carefully monitor their tot's intake.
• Knock, knock, do you need to know who's behind every door? While some moms map out a specific route for their trick-or-treaters, others allow their kids to venture into unknown neighborhoods. Sixty-three percent of mamas let their kiddos go to strangers' homes.
• You might have carried your costumed kiddo or pushed them door-to-door in a pram, but at some point the youngster wants to gather candy with friends. Forty-five percent of moms said this is OK for teens.
• Before a child eats their treats, some mamas have their youngsters shake their sacks out on a table and sort through the sweets for suspicious-looking candy. One hundred percent of mamas said they check the candy.

The cake-cutting ceremony is one moment for which wedding guests are sure to save their appetites — and if they're lucky, they may be looking forward to not one, but two sweet endings. At many weddings, a dessert called a groom's cake will take residence next to the towering white original.

A reliable history of the groom's cake is difficult to trace. Among the many legends, some believe it was served by the groom to the bridesmaids; others say a bride wanted a chocolate cake for her wedding without forgoing the white color scheme. Despite the dessert's nonessential role in the wedding, it's long been traditional in the South, and has made somewhat of a comeback in recent years.

Because the cake is a gift from the bride to the groom, it often reflects the groom's interests and comes in a variety of flavors (although chocolate has been historically popular) and themes (such as sports teams). A groom's cake with a sentimental message is a heartfelt, timely, and surprising wedding present to your significant other. If the idea of another cake at the wedding sounds redundant, consider serving it at the rehearsal dinner, an apropos occasion since the groom's family typically hosts the occasion. What are your thoughts on the wedding tradition?

One of my favorite things about the holidays is celebrating old traditions. Baking cookies, sledding, going to the Nutcracker, and ice skating are just a few items many families check off their list. In my family, our Christmas Eve celebration is our most cherished event.

Since I can remember, my aunts, uncles, cousins, parents, sister, and grandparents have gathered to drink margaritas, eat tamales, sing songs, and when we were younger, put on Christmas pageants. When we turned into teenagers, the plays passed as did the caroling. Some 20 years later, our family has grown as we have welcomed seven great-grandchildren into the brood. Sadly, we lost the matriarch of our family just a week before Christmas and it was the first year where my sweet lil grandma was not with us. While we missed her beyond belief, the wee ones kept the focus on the future and helped to make the celebrations a little brighter. And, for the first time in years, the youngsters put on a show and soaked up the limelight. It was a changing of the guard and for the first time in my life, I realized I was now in The Middle Place.

The holidays are ripe with rich family traditions — from opening one present on Christmas Eve, making homemade treats, cutting down a tree to wearing silly matching PJs and giving dad or grandpa the gift of ugly ties. In my family, taking a photo of the entire crew in their Christmas Day garb has been a staple tradition since I was a child, but we sneak in plenty of more seasonal and fun customs — especially now that the "kids" have kids — like making popcorn and watching Christmas flicks and eating my aunt's almost inedible fruitcake. What is your family's favorite holiday practice?

Source: Flickr User svenstorm