Christmas Tag

I've now been tagged twice (by my buddies Kristi & Cindy!) for this one - so here we go:

1.Eggnog or Hot Chocolate??
Hot Chocolate, definately.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Depends, if he has a nice square box - he'll go for the wrap. No box, a gift bag. And if the item is just a downright weird shape, no wrap. Really depends on his mood!

3. Colored light on house/tree or white?
White on house and tree. Although we do have a couple of cute little trees outside that have colored lights on them, just to mix things up.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
Sometimes....

5. When do you put your decorations up?
Usually somewhere in the first weekend of December ballpark - depending on what the weekends look like and how much is going on. This year we had the outdoor stuff out the weekend before Thanksgiving since it was warm - and we just put our tree up this past weekend. It's a process....

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
Excluding dessert, huh?? I make a breakfast casserole every Christmas that we have about mid-morning (followed by my home-made cinnamon buns) that always tastes really good. I don't usually eat breakfast, but the warm, eggy,cheesy mix hits the spot about 10am!

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child?
Favorite?? That's hard since there were so many good ones. I do remember vividly the first time I was allowed to go to the 11pm church service on Christmas Eve though. It was really special - hard to otherwise describe - but special.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
Can't really recall that one -

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
I get the kids each an ornament every year - something to symbolize an accomplishment or interest that meant a lot to them that year (or something that I know they would love!) that they will eventually take with them when they have their own Christmas trees. We usually open them at dinner before church. If I'm really on it that year we will come home from church to new PJ's under the tree. Everything else is for Christmas morning.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
Our tree is a pretty interesting mix - we have ornaments that the kids have made, gift ornaments, ornaments from my tree as a kid, you get the idea. Almost every ornament has some sort of story behind it....

11. Snow. Love it or dread it?
Depends. If everyone is home safe, love it. If there's still someone out in it (driving or riding home)- hate it.

12. Can you ice skate?
I broke both bones in my left wrist ice skating when I was in 7th grade. Ice & I have never really been on good terms since!

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
I'd have to say that it would be the Kitchen Aid stand mixer that Alan gave me the first Christmas we were married. That baby is still going strong after 22 years of really hard use!!

14. What is the most important thing about the holidays for you?
JESUS!! Oh, my goodness, I am afraid to picture who I would be without Him!!

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert?
In our house it would have to be the cinnamon buns - but that's breakfast dessert (we do it big in our house!!) - dinner dessert is Jesus' birthday cake!

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
That's really hard to pick - church on Christmas Eve, Alan & I make sandwiches after we put all the stuff under the tree while watching "It's A Wonderful Life" - making the kids all come down together in the morning, breakfast - ohh, and Alan does this neat little visual with the candles on the birthday cake (we put a birthday candle for each person at the table on the cake & a "Jesus candle" then he reads Scripture and does a visual of how Jesus came from heaven and lights all the other candles - ok it's losing a lot in translation, but it's really cool - trust me)

17. What tops your Christmas tree?
An angel...

18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving?
Giving - I love seeing if people like what I got them and adding some surprises along the way...

19. What is your favorite Christmas song?
Another toughie - I love "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" any version - "Joy To The World" (the version I sang in church as a kid) - I love the old hymn standards more for the obscure verses that don't get sung all that often. Lots of great stuff in there.

21. What do you want for Christmas?
Can't really think of anything off the top of my head.

22. Do you attend an annual Christmas party?
Not really - we usually do something at church, but that's not always an annual event.

23. Do you dress up for Christmas Eve or wear PJ's?
We dress for church and make a beeline for the hot chocolate and PJ's when we get home!!

24. Do you own a Santa hat?
I don't. Colin does. And he has a Santa baseball cap.

25. Who do you normally spend Christmas with?
Usually just us (we're a crowd by ourselves) and Alan's mother.

There you have it - a peek into our Christmas! I know I'm supposed to "tag" 5 people from here - but I'm not really thinking of anyone off the top of my head that haven't already been tagged - sooooo, if you are reading this far (thanks!) and have a blog, and want to play along - consider yourself "tagged"!! Just comment me with your blog address so I can see how YOU spend YOUR Christmas!!
Blessings!!!