Cozy, Little Rituals

Been thinking about the holidays and parenting and doing a little post-processing. I love family tradition so the holidays feel like they're all highlighted as "Best Time Of Year Ever" or at least that they ought to be. It's the time of year when we actually do special, little family traditions, right? Although that's true, I am starting to feel like the December mania is a little too panicky to be my favorite and it feels slightly absurd to press all our energy for family ritual and "specialness" into that one month.

Instead, I've started thinking about the ways that we have little rituals scattered through our whole year, or even every day. We don't just hang stockings, make wishlists and sing carols...we also:

• Make a traditional clown cake for childhood birthdays (if they want one). A special passed down tradition from A's mother who did it for her seven children.
• We Eskimo-kiss. This is a new one, I started nose rubbing with the boys as our own variety of a family secret handshake. 
• I pray the same blessing/prayer over the boys, every single night before they go to sleep which, my Mama did for me too. I remember finding that really comforting as a child.
• We tell old family stories in the car. Not every time we're driving, just when I or A can think of a good tale and we're in the mood to spin a good yarn. The boys love it and we've been able to enliven a lot of the family legends and past figures this way.
• I light a candle in the morning when I get up to do my yoga and I slowly wake up to candlelight.

What do you do? I'd love to hear what little family traditions or rituals you've woven into your life, little ways you have made familiar, sweet or silly moments for yourselves.