Real or artificial tree? Grew up with artificial, have only had real since leaving home (we can't afford an artificial yet--and yes, I know we've spent about the same as a cheap artificial in the last few years, but not all at once and we've enjoyed the smell). BUT, I am really excited to get a pre-lit tree next year--I don't enjoy putting the lights on, but I also don't enjoy the way it looks if you hastily wrap them around so I spend way too much time carefully weaving lights into all the branches of our tree.
Do you like eggnog?Love it--little nutmeg sprinkled on top--YUM! We only buy it once or twice during the holidays--way too many calories in there.
Favorite gift received as a child? Um, I'm really not sure. The one that stands out right now is when I was 8 and got a guinea pig. The funny thing was, I had asked for a hamster and when I saw the cage with this fat, hairy animal in it, I had NO idea what it was and was a little dissappointed, but raising guinea pigs over the next few years turned out to be so much fun--and they are way better pets for a little kid than a hamster.
Do you have a nativity scene? We have 3--two very small ones (one only has Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus in a manger made from popscicle sticks) and then we added the Little People Nativity to our collection this year and it has been a HUGE hit. I love that the kids can play with it. Seemed more logical at this stage in our lives than a big, breakable one, although I'd love one of those some day as well.
Hardest? Easiest person to buy for?The hardest is probably a tie between all the men in my life. My brothers are both pretty much minimalists who say they want nothing. So I try to come up with non-clutter, useful gifts, but with the limited budget we have, it isn't always easy. Especially to make it fun. And Daddy-o--I know there are things he wants, but he has so little free time right now that I am usually at a loss to get something fun for him that he'll actually be able to play with. And even our little Bugaboo is a little hard to shop for because we already have plenty of toys for his age range and we've been determined to not just wrap up all the things they need and we would buy anyway (like clothes, socks, etc. . .) just to have presents under the tree. I figure that I'd rather have Christmas giving about finding something special for that person than giving them a multitude of presents in the name of Christmas.
Easiest--By far, Bean. As our oldest, there is always something we don't have that I know she'd love and she's now old enough to be very clear about her interests. Plus, I'm making a lot of gifts this year and its just easier to make gifts for girls than boys.
Favorite Christmas movie? It's a Wonderful Life. I love the Daddy-o and I both love this movie and have been watching it every year together since before we were married. Makes me cry every time (well, if I can stay awake. For some reason ***cough-kids-cough****, the last couple years I haven't made it to the end)
White lights or colored lights?
White lights. And I have to steal this from a friend because her reasoning is right on: No blinking lights anywhere - I love the serenity provided by steady lighting. I chase enough moving things in a day already.
Favorite Christmas song? The classic--Silent Night. It just signifies everything I want Christmas to be. But I also love Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree & Let it Snow (since moving to Utah, the first line of that song gets sung all winter long around here, and if I keep going, Bean always informs me that, "No, Mom! We have some place to go!")
Travel for Christmas or stay home? We switch off every other year--its worked out that way since we got married because we've had a newish baby (1-6 months) every other year. And I have really LOVED how easy its been the years we stay home. But I also love seeing family at the holidays--we switch every other travel year with the two sides of our family, so they really aren't getting much of us--but considering how our Christmases have been, I'm not sure they are all that dissappointed--we're still waiting for the fun Christmas morning with an excited kid instead of a sick exhausted one.
Do you open presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?
I think we've only opened them Christmas morning, but honestly not sure--growing up we opened the grandparent gifts Christmas eve--not sure why, but we did every year.
Do you tell the Christmas story? Yep--we always read Luke 2 Christmas eve. And this year we are having the fun of acting out the story and telling it each week for Family night. Bean is old enough to get the story and loves riding the donkey/Daddy-o around to look for a place to sleep.
Favorite Christmas tradition: We're still in the process of creating our family traditions (and I guess we always will be--I hope its a holiday that will evolve for our family as we grow).
My favorites from my childhood that we've continued are reading Luke 2 and singing carols on Christmas eve & cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and the best one--giving Christmas boxes to families who needed them--Christmas dinner, sometimes gifts for the kids or even clothes depending on how much the family was struggling at the time. Seriously, my absolute favorite Christmas memory is of watching from behind the bushes as a couple little kids who couldn't be more than 6 answered the door and started excitedly yelling for their mom to come look at all the food they got. I was only about 10 at the time, but that sight was enough for me to realize that THIS was so much better than opening my own presents.
New ones we've started: Buying an ornament for the family as well as one for each kid each year--this way they'll have a small collection when they leave home and its fun to look at what they picked (well, Bean's the only one who has picked one so far, but this years is a BRIGHT pink ball with a smiley face on it). And we buy a new building for our Christmas village each year. Daddy-o and I have both always wanted one of these villages and we're having fun watching it grow--By the time we have very many, we will also have more room to put them. And maybe then we'll add a train! We've also started a tradition in our little family that on Christmas eve, we each write down a gift we're going to try to give our Savior in the upcoming year and place it in an extra stocking which we then open the next year and read what we've tried to do and make a new gift. Looking back on this last year, I've done a HORRIBLE job at my "gift" but I still like the idea and I think it helps us to remember a bit of what we're actually celebrating. And as the kids get older, I want to add more service and random giving to our Christmas traditions--for now, we support Angel trees, occasionally doorbell ditch goodies or small gifts.
