This Is Me: Celebrations

It has been a few weeks since I took on another "This is Me" chapter, so I figured I better get on it!  For those of you unfamiliar with this little challenge, I found it on Pinterest (or you can find it here) and thought it sounded like a good idea to record my personal history of sorts.  There's about 20 different sections, so I'm slowly getting there!  Now on to this week's topic: celebrations...
What are some of your personal and/or family traditions for each holiday?
I should probably reiterate before I begin that I am a big cornball when it comes to traditions.  I love having them and have worked hard to establish some for our little family. Since the boys are so young, a lot of them have just begun in the last couple of years or less, so it's hard to say for certain which ones are traditions that we'll continue vs. one year phenomenons!  But for argument's sake, I'll just list the things that I have enjoyed and hope to continues.  So let's start with January and work our way through a year of holidays!
New Years: no real traditions as of yet,  but we did do an early midnight toast with the boys around 8 this year
Valentines Day: the boys get a little gift of some kind, we make special treats/Valentines to deliver to all our local Valentines, Josh and I get an actual date night (but usually not on actual Valentine's Day...amateur night as Josh likes to call it!), we prepare a special meal at home on Valentine's night
St. Patrick's Day: make leprechaun traps
Easter: dye eggs, surpriseegg hunt in our yard (creative, huh?!?)
4th of July: beach day...cookout and party
Back to School: back to school fairy visits, special breakfast and cake for first day

Halloween: trick or treat (duh!)
Thanksgiving: leaf photo shoot, watch the parade
Hanukkah: craft, latkes, family party
Christmas: Christmastown, tree decorating/hot chocolate night, drive to see the lights, Chirstmas Eve Open House

Obviously, not much originality, but they're all near and dear to my heart!

What traditions have you carried over from your childhood? Which ones did you start in your own family?
Considering I didn't celebrate many of the above holidays growing up Jewish, I've created a lot of the traditions on my own.  The only one I can see as coming from my childhood would be our family Hanukkah party.  Growing up, I distinctly remember huge Hanukkah parties at my grandma's house with all my cousins, lots of presents, and lots of revelry!  We now do the same thing with my parents, aunt and uncle, and the ever-increasing amount of baby cousins!
How do you celebrate adults birthdays?
Well, I leave it up to Josh to plan my birthday celebration and I plan his.  In general, though, we tend to go out to a nice dinner with my whole family for mine.  For his, we tend to do a more casual dinner out with his family members.  Then, we tend to do either a date night or night out with friends in addition.
How do you celebrate kids birthdays?
BIG!  We surprise the kids on their birthday morning with balloons in their room.  And then  it is totally their day...they choose breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  For dinner, we invite over any family members who want to come join us for that and cake, and it is there that the kids open their gifts!  The day is devoted to doing the kid's favorite activity or activity of choice.  Plus, the kids have their birthday parties, which mommy tends to go a bit overboard on!
How do you celebrate your anniversary?
Josh and I do not give gifts for our anniversary, and instead choose to use the money we would have spent to buy something together...past year's choices have included a new puppy, a new bedroom set, and a weekend getaway.  The night of our anniversary is definitely a date night and at the end of the night, we come home and write down some anniversary facts: stuff we've done over the year, trips we've taken, big things that have happened, etc.