Category: Journal Your Christmas

How we celebrate Christmas

IMGP1714 1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?

I am the only one who drinks egg nog in our house, but I anxiously await the appearance of the little jugs in the grocery store each year and then drink the stuff very slowly so I can enjoy it that much longer.

The kids love hot chocolate and are always asking if it’s cold enough for hot cocoa.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? 

Santa is way too busy to be bothered wrapping presents!  Besides, who wants to wait to see what he brought?

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?

I am a white light girl. The girls, well, they like the colored.  Usually, I insist on white only. This year, I compromised so we have both. All are happy.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?

Nope. 

5. When do you put your decorations up?

Usually the weekend after Thanksgiving is when we start getting things up.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish?

everything!

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?

Dinner and opening gifts at my grandparents’ house on Christmas eve.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?

That he lives at the North Pole?  a long time ago.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?

We used to open gifts at my grandmother’s on Christmas Eve and then our family gifts on Christmas morning.  Since we have started our own Christmas traditions with our little family, we do Christmas morning gifts – followed by New Year’s opening at my mom’s (she lives too far away to visit on Christmas day).  This year, they changed up on us, though and came here on the 21st! So we have had Christmas WEEK celebrations.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?

pre-lit tree, homemade ornaments and ornaments I’ve collected through the years from our travels, some gold & “glass” garland.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?

Wish we’d get some. Never do.

12. Can you ice skate?

I can’t.  Probably can’t roller skate either, although that is probably the closest I’d get to ice skating around here.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?

I remember the year my parents gave me my class ring for Christmas.

14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you?

Watching my girls’ excitement. Spending time with people I love. Celebrating the birth of our Savior.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert?

all the cookies I bake (and then wear for the next few months)

Pizzelles – they are an Italian cookie. Mom and I used to make them with Grandma. Now, I make them with my girls. I love the sense of tradition and history I feel as I teach my girls the traditions I grew up with.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?

Oh, goodness. Decorating the tree. Baking. Christmas gatherings.  Christmas cards. The quiet and anticipation on Christmas Eve after everyone goes to bed. We usually sit by the tree and look at the twinkly lights and talk about all the things that have happened this year.

17. What tops your tree?

A Boyd’s Bears Angel

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving?

Giving, definitely.

19. What is your favorite Christmas song?

White Christmas (The Original), I’ll be Home for Christmas

20. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum?

Yum, but I don’t eat them much anymore. Too sticky.

21 Favorite Christmas Show?

Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

22. Saddest Christmas Song?

That one about the shoes. I mean, really, who wants to cry at Christmas?

 

Ok, now your turn!  What are your answers?

 

That mischievous little elf…

Our Elf on the Shelf has been much into the mischief this year…

IMGP1678

While he was getting used to us, he hung out in our wreath.

IMGP1702

Then, I guess he got comfy, because he TP'ed MB's bedroom

(no pictures for that one,
although it was fun to hear the kids when they woke up!)

Then, he decided to take Barbie on a date:

IMGP1849

I guess he figured he was welcome to do whatever he wanted then…

So he ate a little snack:

IMGP1881

That is… ate a snack while perched on the ledge above our 2-story foyer

(we think he must’ve flown up there)

It’s a good thing Santa comes tomorrow night.

There is no telling what mischief he would get into if he stayed too much longer.

That mischievous little elf…

Our Elf on the Shelf has been much into the mischief this year…

IMGP1678

While he was getting used to us, he hung out in our wreath.

IMGP1702

Then, I guess he got comfy, because he TP'ed MB's bedroom

(no pictures for that one,
although it was fun to hear the kids when they woke up!)

Then, he decided to take Barbie on a date:

IMGP1849

I guess he figured he was welcome to do whatever he wanted then…

So he ate a little snack:

IMGP1881

That is… ate a snack while perched on the ledge above our 2-story foyer

(we think he must’ve flown up there)

It’s a good thing Santa comes tomorrow night.

There is no telling what mischief he would get into if he stayed too much longer.

Christmas Traditions, New and Old

I have decided that the only way I am going to finish this Journal Your Christmas album is to do it digitally. I can't seem to find the time to journal, scheme the page design and then actually sit down and do it. Especially since the kids will be home from school after today – once they are home "real" scrapbooking ends for me. Too many little fingers in the stash!

I am working on documenting our Christmas Traditions.  I think I am going to end up with four (!) pages about this because we have a few new ones to capture as well as a few old ones I want to record. This book is going to be HUGE when I finish, but with the digital pages, at least it won't be bulky or heavy.

Here is my Traditions (new) page. I'll add the "old" one later when I get it done. I am waiting to take a photo on Christmas Eve for that page.

Christmas Traditions - new Pages are done with Creative Memories' StoryBook Creator Plus and their Frost kit.

MB has been asking for an Elf on the Shelf this year. I think a lot of the kids in her class must have them and she has been hearing stories about the antics of the elves.

So, one Saturday while I was out with Ang, we got one. MB was so very excited and read the story to Ang right away. Now, our Elf, Jingle, makes a nightly journey to Santa's to report on the girls' behavior. Then he picks a spot to perch for the day and keep an eye on things. You never know where Jingle will turn up. The lights, the wreath,  the bookcase. He is a crafty elf.

Let there be light(s)

Every year, we tweak our outdoor decorations just a little. This year, we did something totally different. Colored lights (for the girls) on the shrubs and SuperMan added lights to the Tulip Tree. I love it. It looks like an outdoor Christmas tree.

We also have little bitty trees on the front porch. I have seen that for years and loved it so I splurged last Christmas and added them to the decor. I think next year I will add some decorations to them (when the puppy isn't such a puppy and hopefully won't eat them all!)

Let There Be Light Pages are done with Creative Memories' StoryBook Creator Plus and their Frost kit.

SuperMan also got all of my garlands and wreath lights working this year so we have a lot of lights in the house, too. It makes things very festive and I am keeping them on pretty much all the time. I like the glow!

The stockings on the mantle are from one of my trips to the UK with work (years ago) and every time I pull them out I remember shopping in Harrod's with Mom and getting them.

I hope your holidays are filled with light, love and good memories, too!

Lists here, Lists there, Lists, Lists, everywhere

I am a big list-maker.  I am also a big paper girl. I love the tactile sensation of writing things down… and then the satisfaction I get from crossing things off the list.  Whether it is groceries, gift lists, to-do’s, packing lists, whatever. I have a list for it. (surely I’m not the only one?)

Here are some of my lists:

IMGP1689_edited-1
 

The obligatory “HONEY-DO” list, the planned dinner choices for the next week, and the grocery list – notice that someone wrote an address on my list – sacrilege!  🙂

IMGP1690_edited-1
 

My husband laughs at me because I rewrite my grocery list before going to the store.  Call me crazy, but I like a nice, neat, LEGIBLE list when I go shopping. But when I’m adding things to my list as it hangs,vertically, on my refrigerator, legibility is not what I’m going for. I’m just documenting things I need. So,I rewrite the list before I go to the store. Invariably, this reminds me of things that are NOT on the list and should be. It also helps if I decide to pull out the coupons. Then I can mark for which items I have coupons and be sure not to forget to turn them in at the checkout.

Christmas is the king of list-making time for me.

I have the “TO BUY” list. The “TO MAKE” list which goes nicely with the “TO GIVE” list as I usually give homemade goodies to our friends and family. (which reminds me that I haven’t made this list yet (eek!).

Then there are the shopping lists for the kids (which has to be very discreetly tucked away as my 8 year old is now getting very snoopy about things like Christmas gifts) and the list of things to purchase for my husband and the stocking stuffers. 

I am not doing very good with the list writing this season, though. I have gone almost completely digital this year with my calendar and time management (which was a HUGE adjustment for me – I still carry a little bitty calendar as my “binkie” because I’m so tied to writing things down!)  I did a lot of purchasing online this year and used my email confirmations of my purchases (stored in a folder that was mislabeled to discourage snoopiness) as my “PURCHASED” list.  

IMGP1691_edited-1
 

But, I’m feeling rather disorganized because I never made the master “TO BUY” list.  So, tonight I sat down and wrote one.  Now, I’m feeling a little pressure because I have so much to do! I will have to schedule a shopping day soon and get it knocked out.  I am pretty good at that, though. IF I have my list.

What about you? Are you a list maker? Or do you fly by the seat of your pants? (I love that phrase!)

Christmas Ornaments – a little bit of history on a tree

I love decorating my Christmas tree each year.  We have ornaments that date back to when I was a little girl and I love pulling the ornaments one by one out of the box.  As I pull each one out, I remember a little piece of my history.  Ornaments I used to put on our family tree as a girl, ornaments I made myself when SuperMan and I were first married (and I had time to hand-craft things like that!), ornaments I've received as gifts from family and friends…

But some of my most favorite ornaments are the ones that my girls have made for us – and the ones that I have picked up through the years on our travels.  Instead of other souvenirs, I always try to pick up a Christmas ornament when we make a journey somewhere.

There's the one I got at the Tower of London:

IMGP1669_edited-1
I went to London for business and my mom tagged along that year. We had so much fun picking out ornaments to decorate our trees. Now, I see those ornaments each Christmas and remember that trip – and all the fun times we had together. (like trying to drive a stick shift sitting on the "wrong" side of the car and driving on the "wrong" side of the road)

 And this ornament that SuperMan and I got when we went to Hawaii one year (another business trip – that was a good company to work for!)

IMGP1671_edited-1
The one in the background is an ornament I had engraved for my labrador's first Christmas (he was my 18th birthday present to myself)  He is gone to puppy heaven now, but I remember him every year when I put this ornament on the tree – I remember when he was my only baby – and these babies I have now were not even glimmers in my eye.

Christmas, for me, is a time of remembering, celebrating, and hoping.  Remembering things past, celebrating and being thankful for the bounty of the present, and hoping for the future.

MckLinky Blog Hop

Counting down the days…

Anticipation….Anticipaaaation… It’s making me wait… It’s keeping me waiting… 

(remember that song? or am I dating myself?)

“Mommy, how many more days until Christmas?”

“Mommy, is it Christmas Eve yet?”

“Mommy, is Santa coming tonight?”

I must answer these questions (or some variation of them) at least 10 times a day (per kid!)

And, as Christmas draws ever closer, the anticipation mounts.  The girls watch the ornaments go on the tree, the gifts start to appear, magically, under the tree each night, and the annual Advent calendar appears.

Ever since I was a little girl, we have had an Advent calendar.  I think we may have even had more than one growing up.  But the one I remember the most is the one that was filled with chocolatey goodness. 

IMGP1672_edited-1
 My husband had them, too, growing up.  He is the youngest of six and is always reminding our girls that he had to wait SIX WHOLE DAYS for his turn at the chocolate candy (kinda like walking to school both ways uphill in a snowstorm, I think).

Our girls are really enjoying this tradition.  Although, it seems unbelievably painful that they only get one piece of candy every-other day (not every SIX days, mind you) it helps them to count down the days until Christmas is finally here.

For me, there are other things I use to count the days of Christmas… the countdown until the last day of school before winter break, the number of days before I get my vacation time, the number of days before I have to have all the Christmas presents purchased, wrapped and under the tree…  My countdowns seem to be more milestone-driven, but I enjoy knowing that this time of year is here and our traditions are still strong.

What are some of your holiday traditions?  How do you countdown until Christmas is here?  Share them with me in the comments! I’d love to hear.