Holiday GTKY 2015

[Deleted]

Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus,  some combination, or something else?

Do you send holiday cards?

Do you do a tree?  If yes, real or fake?  White lights or colored lights? When do you put it up?

If Santa comes to your house does he wrap his presents or no? 

Favorite holiday tradition from when you were a kid?

What holiday tradition to you want to start with your own family?

Favorite holiday song/songs?

Holiday song that makes you crazy?

Favorite holiday movie?

Favorite holiday meal?

What are you most excited to give this year?

Anything in particular you want this year?

Share a particularly memorable holiday memory with us.

[Deleted]

Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, some combination, or something else? - Secular Christmas

Do you send holiday cards? - Yes!

Do you do a tree? If yes, real or fake? White lights or colored lights? When do you put it up? - Yes. Fake. White lights. No earlier than the day before Thanksgiving but usually the weekend after. Ours went up this moring.

If Santa comes to your house does he wrap his presents or no? - Not wrapped

Favorite holiday tradition from when you were a kid? - Candlelight church with my family, then opening one present on Christmas Eve, and of course, Christmas morning. We had to wait until everyone got up and then all went in to the room together.

What holiday tradition to you want to start with your own family? - Instead of church we drive around looking at lights, then go out to eat dinner on Christmas Even, then come home to get Christmas pajamas, read the Night Before Christmas by the tree, and then bed. Also, DS1 knows to come get on our bed with us Christmas morning so we all go out to the tree together.

Favorite holiday song/songs? - O Holy Night, Dominic the Christmas Donkey, I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas, and... UO alert... Do They Know it's Christmas.

Holiday song that makes you crazy? - Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You, Wham's Last Christmas.

Favorite holiday movie? - Elf, Home Alone, and A Christmas Story

Favorite holiday meal? - We do Roast Beef for Christmas & chocolate candy cane pie for dessert.

What are you most excited to give this year? - DS1 is going to flip his shit when he finds out we... er, uh, Santa... bought him an XBox.

Anything in particular you want this year? - Just the new TV we are buying for the basement family room. Nothing specific for me alone.

Share a particularly memorable holiday memory with us. - When I was 4 my whole family, six of us, drove from New Mexico to North Carolina for a Christmas family reunion on my grandparent's farm. My dad was one of six kids, all of whom had between 2-4 kids of their own so that's a lot of people. I remember sleeping in sleeping bags by the tree with my cousins and crying on Christmas morning because someone gave me a Barbie doll and I was a tomboy who didn't like dolls. It's also the only memory I have of my grandfather, holding and tickling me and just being so loving. He died two years later.

[thecatsmeow]

Oooo! I like this @jimbobcooter!

We celebrate Christmas.

I love sending out cards and love getting them in the mail. Honestly I probably get way too much enjoyment out of making my card list, addressing the envelopes, choosing stamps, etc. Sometimes I do photo cards, sometimes a newsletter, I did a cartoon caricature card one year. So fun!

Team fake tree here. I'm on the prairie, trees are scarce! Haha! Seriously we both grew up with fake trees, so that's what we do. And you can't throw a sheet over the decorated real tree and stick it in storage January through November. When LO can help decorate it I swear we'll do that, but for now the sheet it is. Also, colored lights and comes out any time after TG.

Not sure how we will handle Santa. Growing up Santa did our stockings Christmas morning so maybe that is what we'll do.

My favorite childhood tradition was going to candlelight Christmas Eve service with extended family, then opening gifts that evening. My cousins usually spent a week with us on the farm so we had a blast sledding, wrestling, and playing cards.

A tradition I would like to develop, is focusing more on giving. Doing shoebox gifts or giving tree, buying gifts for the local humane society and delivering them, things like that... both of our families are so about presents and it is so frustrating to feel obligated to purchase stuff for people swimming in "things".

I love classic Christmas songs and hymns. Bing Crosby's version of "O Holy Night" is probably my favorite. Not a fan of most newish versions. Also can not stand "Away in a Manger". Not sure why.

I have always loved "It's A Wonderful Life". We even went to it in the theater a couple years ago. The claymation Rudolph is probably my favorite TV special. I think I'll save the rest for a themed Ten Things Tuesday.

Food wise, a turkey dinner is always good, although I am all about the sides and desserts. It is the Christmas treats that are memorable to me. My mom's cut out sugar cookies are the best, and since she always stored the goodies in the freezer I still prefer them frozen. Yum! And fudge... need I say more?

Skipping the gift questions, because I really have nothing to say.

I'll have to keep thinking about the memory. I have wonderful childhood Christmas memories, but nothing that really stands out as a good story. Excited to read everyone else's stories though!

[carolyngrace]

Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, some combination, or something else? Christmas!

Do you send holiday cards? Yes! And I get disappointed when people don't return the favor.

Do you do a tree? If yes, real or fake? White lights or colored lights? When do you put it up? Yes, real, white, and usually this weekend but so far I haven't accomplished that!

If Santa comes to your house does he wrap his presents or no? Santa only leaves stockings, and they're a mix of little wrapped and unwrapped gifts.

Favorite holiday tradition from when you were a kid? A late night "meal" of hors d'oeuvres followed by reading the Christmas story and opening pajamas (on xmas eve).

What holiday tradition to you want to start with your own family? That's a good question.. Maybe I'll get ideas from reading other people's traditions!

Favorite holiday song/songs? Mariah Carey and Amy Grant's Christmas albums from the 90's

Holiday song that makes you crazy? None really

Favorite holiday movie? Elf and the original Rudolph

Favorite holiday meal? I couldn't pick. We have a bunch that are traditions over the week of Christmas and I love them all.

What are you most excited to give this year? I got DH a calendar with all of our important dates on it because he's constantly asking me when birthdays and stuff are. Plus, personalized it with photos of us, of course!

Anything in particular you want this year? Not really.

Share a particularly memorable holiday memory with us. The first Christmas I ever spent away from my family, DH and I watched movies and stayed in our pajamas all evening and the next day... It was so non-eventful at the time, but I love the memory of it.

[tiffbot]

Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, some combination, or something else?
Christmas

Do you send holiday cards?
Yes, this is something I get way too excited about.

Do you do a tree?
Yes
If yes, real or fake?
Fake
White lights or colored lights?
Normally I'm all about the coloured but we currently have white!
When do you put it up?
We did today! Normally last weekend November/first weekend December.

If Santa comes to your house does he wrap his presents or no?
So far he hasn't, but last year was the first year we did Santa and DS still didn't really get it. Will have to talk about it this year!

Favorite holiday tradition from when you were a kid?
Christmas morning, taking forever to open gifts.

What holiday tradition to you want to start with your own family?
Same! Christmas morning at our house with just our little family, making hot chocolate and opening gifts together in our pjs.

Favorite holiday song/songs?
Um, any? Lol...I love singing along to anything.

Holiday song that makes you crazy?
Nothing really. At least not off the top of my mind.

Favorite holiday movie?
Elf, Love Actually (have it on TV right now), Rudolf..definitely going to get my kids into those old classics.

Favorite holiday meal?
Turkey dinner specifically with my moms cooking and stuffing! We miss is this year the way our visiting works out

What are you most excited to give this year?
Our kids gifts for sure, especially the imaginarium train set we got DS. He's piecing together what's going on a bit more this year and I know he's going to be ecstatic when we start real celebrating.

Anything in particular you want this year?
Mmm, I told H I should get some new luggage. Currently have trips planned to California and Hawaii next year and haven't gotten new luggage since my parents gave me some in high school.

Share a particularly memorable holiday memory with us.
Well in recent years, it was December 2012 we found out I was pregnant with DS, we bought 3 stockings for our fireplace and took a picture of them and at each of our family Christmases showed our families our new decor. Both parents were going to be grandparents for the first time so it was a big deal for all of us!

[stinybean]

1.Christmas

2. We usually don't send cards, but will this year.

3. Real tree with blinking colored lights. We'll probably get it next weekend.

4. People don't wrap gifts? I've never heard of that. I love surprises so I will always wrap gifts.

5. Up until my sister got married, she and I would watch a holiday movie together on Christmas eve. Also, we (my parents, sister & I) would go out to dinner Christmas eve to a German restaurant.

6. I would love to continue the holiday movie tradition with J & maybe go look at the Christmas lights around the neighborhood.

7. My favorite holiday song is Silent Night.

8. Idk if any holiday song drives me crazy.

9. I love White Christmas.

10. I don't really have a favorite holiday meal.

11. I'm going to give my bff a monthly subscription box. I'm excited to give that. DH is getting The Cure tix, but he already knows.

12. I'm having a hard time coming up with ideas for myself this year. I'm falling back on massage gift certificates.

13. My favorite holiday memories are walking home from Christmas eve dinner(we lived a few blocks away from the restaurant) and looking up in the sky for Santa. A more adult memory is having coffee cordials sitting around the fire with my parents on Christmas eve.

[Deleted]

stinybean ,we wrap our gifts to each other but presents left under the tree or in the stockings from Santa are unwrapped so you can see them when you first come into the room. That's how it was when I was growing up. We were able to play with those toys while our parents got coffee before unwrapping everything else. I'd never heard of Santa gifts being wrapped until someone on my local mom board said something about it a few years ago. And apparently some people who wrap the gifts from Santa have a special paper that only Santa uses so you know which ones are from him vs family..

[mrsmonogrammed]

Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, some combination, or something else?

Christmas!

Do you send holiday cards?
Hell yes we do! I loooove getting them and love sending:)

Do you do a tree? If yes, real or fake? White lights or colored lights? When do you put it up?
Fake tree, colored lights, goes up the Sunday after Thanksgiving! Last years tree-


If Santa comes to your house does he wrap his presents or no?
Santa will come to our house and he does wrap his presents, but in a special wrapping paper. ETA- he wraps all the things, including every last tiny gift in our stockings!

Favorite holiday tradition from when you were a kid?
Making Christmas cookies with my grandma:)


What holiday tradition to you want to start with your own family?
Special Christmas PJ's on Christmas Eve.

Favorite holiday song/songs?
Ehh, I can do without most of them. I do love to listen to "I'm gettin' nothin' for Christmas" on my grandma's record player while we make cookies though:)

Holiday song that makes you crazy?
Most of them:P

Favorite holiday movie?
Santa Clause with Tim Allen. I also love a good Home Alone

Favorite holiday meal?
We eat fried chicken on Christmas Eve (for as long as I remember, never thought to question how that got started??) and then Christmas dinner changes to shaver we're feeling...usually ham, sometimes steak and lobster, sometimes turkey.

What are you most excited to give this year?
A Michael Kors purse to my grandma for watching Charlotte a couple days a week. She helps us out so much, I'm excited to spoil her:) (she's a purse lady, but is just stating to try out "designer" ones)

Anything in particular you want this year?
I asked for a treadmill- I feel so lame:( and a new diaper bag!

Share a particularly memorable holiday memory with us.
When I was about 9, our family dog took the steaks that were meant for Christmas dinner right off the counter and had eaten most of them before he was discovered. I think we had hamburgers that year because that was all that we could unthaw quickly enough, lol.

[mrsmonogrammed]

Nov 28, 2015 19:12:28 GMT -5 @jimbobcooter said:

stinybean ,we wrap our gifts to each other but presents left under the tree or in the stockings from Santa are unwrapped so you can see them when you first come into the room. That's how it was when I was growing up. We were able to play with those toys while our parents got coffee before unwrapping everything else. I'd never heard of Santa gifts being wrapped until someone on my local mom board said something about it a few years ago. And apparently some people who wrap the gifts from Santa have a special paper that only Santa uses so you know which ones are from him vs family..

Omg, we weren't even allowed in the living room to SEE the (wrapped) Santa presents until alllllll the adults had woken up and brushed their teeth. It. Was. Torture.
I'm totally going to have the same rules for this LO and any future ones;)

[Flick]

1. Christmas, despite my lack of religion.

2. This is the first year we will.

3. Not yet, but will be getting a pre-lit fake tree with colored lights.

4. No, Santa will be bringing her one new book and the rest is from SO and I.

5. Making the gingerbread house.

6. I dislike all Christmas music.
7. All of them.

8. A year without Santa

9. I'm excited to do some hand painting with Maddie to give as gifts for the white elephant exchange.

10. I wanted a new planner and I got it so I'm all done being shipped for. Mostly just want the best family day ever.

11. I honestly don't really have one. Christmas was never that big of a deal for us growing up so I'm excited to make traditions with Maddie and SO over the next few years.

[stinybean]

@jimbobcooter oh yes we tend to wrap "santa" presents in different paper, too. It just never occurred to me to not wrap. It's so interesting to find out everyone else's traditions.

[kemdupuis]

Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, some combination, or something else? Christmas. Was raised Catholic, but I wouldn't consider myself religious.

Do you send holiday cards? Yes, absolutely! We just got our family pictures back, so I'll be printing them out shortly. I just need to pick my design, first!

Do you do a tree? If yes, real or fake? White lights or colored lights? When do you put it up? Absolutely has to be a real tree. And has to be white lights. I am also very picky about what kind of ornaments make it onto the tree. I collect the Hallmark yearly snowflake (they are white porcelain) ornaments, and also the Danforth pewter yearly snowflakes, and those make up the majority of the ornaments. We have a few ornaments that mark special years in our lives- the year we got married, the year we bought a house, this year for B- and all of those ornaments are either white, silver, or red/green. We have some glass ornaments that are red and green, and that's pretty much it for ornaments. I figure when B starts bringing home ornaments that he's made at school, we can have a special 2nd tree for them, maybe in his room, or in the kitchen.

If Santa comes to your house does he wrap his presents or no? Santa comes to our house, and he always wraps his presents. Usually in different paper than mom and dad, though.

Favorite holiday tradition from when you were a kid? My dad is not big on gifts- that's always been mom's job. BUT, every year, he got us chapstick for our stockings and put a card on the tree for each of us. The cards were always really sappy, and he always wrote special things in them. I've saved them all, and they always make me cry.

What holiday tradition to you want to start with your own family? I'd like to start the Pjs/book on Christmas eve tradition, and I'd love to start the card tradition, too. I also like the idea of watching one of the old Christmas movies every night (or weekend nights) in December as a family. We've kind of started doing that this year. It's nice to have the family bonding time, and the movies are so sweet, and really put you in the holiday spirit.

Favorite holiday song/songs? Oh, I love all of the classics- any of them that are sung by Bing Crosby, the Andrews Sisters, Eartha Kitt...

Holiday song that makes you crazy?
I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas
The Chipmunk Christmas song...
Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer

Favorite holiday movie?
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
A Christmas Story
Elf

Favorite holiday meal?
Boiled Ham. I also love our traditional Lasagna the night after.

What are you most excited to give this year?
I've got some great gifts for DH- some powertools and a Northface jacket that I think he'll really like. I got my dad some Bernie Sander's stuff, and I know he will love it. I'm also just so excited to open gifts with B. I think he'll really enjoy the exersaucer we got him, and I am looking forward to reading all of his new books with him.

Anything in particular you want this year? A coordinates bracelet. I've been asking for one for a while, and I really hope DH is finally taking the hint. They aren't that expensive, but they are meaningful, and I love that.

Share a particularly memorable holiday memory with us. Every year, my parents would make us wait at the top of the stairs until they had taken showers and the coffee was made. My brother and I would sit up there and go nuts. It was torture! When they were finally ready to let us come down, mom would be sitting at the bottom of the stairs with the camcorder set up- so we have all of these ridiculous home movies of us in our pjs practically trampling each other to get downstairs to the tree first. Some of the videos are pretty funny, and it's neat because if you watch them all back to back, you can really see the changes in each of us through the years.

[dogmama22]

Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, some combination, or something else?
Christmas

Do you send holiday cards?
Yes - ever since we got married we've done a photo card. I hate taking the picture, but I enjoy coming up with the idea and designing the card

Do you do a tree?  If yes, real or fake?  White lights or colored lights? When do you put it up?
Fake tree, colored lights. It always used to go up on Black Friday after shopping and a nap. Now it goes up sometime before Christmas.

If Santa comes to your house does he wrap his presents or no? 
Santa always wrapped his presents. When we were a bit older, he had different paper than what we had at home.

Favorite holiday tradition from when you were a kid?
Decorating with my family. We've never done one of those magazine decorated Christmas trees, just a bunch of ornaments collected throughout the years and mostly homemade. We like to reminisce about where each one came from.

What holiday tradition to you want to start with your own family?
Christmas PJs and a book to open on Christmas Eve. I also want to continue going to Christmas Eve candlelight services at church because it just feels magical when everyone lights their candle at the end.

Favorite holiday song/songs?
I like most of them. I'm not sure I have a favorite.

Holiday song that makes you crazy?
Santa Baby is by far my least favorite holiday song. I swear I heard it 10,000 times last year and I hate it!

Favorite holiday movie?
All of the super cheesy ones on the Hallmark Channel. Elf is funny too.

Favorite holiday meal?
Christmas breakfast sweets

What are you most excited to give this year?
All the baby presents!

Anything in particular you want this year?
Mom gear - I need more yoga pants

Share a particularly memorable holiday memory with us.
One year my grandma got all 4 grandchildren new scooters. We had one last small package under the tree that was a piece of paper that sent us on a scavenger hunt. We had to bundle up and do some walking to find our way to actually opening the gifts. We had so much fun together.

[musicfrk2002]

Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus,  some combination, or something else?
-Christmas

Do you send holiday cards?
-not usually. We did last year, mostly just to announce our pregnancy

Do you do a tree?  If yes, real or fake?  White lights or colored lights? When do you put it up?
-yes, fake, colored lights. We have a cheapo one that's been around for 10 years, hoping to upgrade to a prelit one this year. Our is sitting in the garage with a garbage bag over the top because I didn't feel like untangling the lights again.

If Santa comes to your house does he wrap his presents or no?
-santa still comes, and he always wraps gifts. One year, his elves gave gifts instead though.

Favorite holiday tradition from when you were a kid?
- I can't recall any. We used to all go to my mom's side on Christmas eve, then my dad's side either Christmas day or the Saturday before, alternating years.

What holiday tradition to you want to start with your own family?
- we are starting the new jammies and a book on Christmas eve. Might start the 24 books next year when J is more interested in them.

- also, starting for H the "something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read" thing. He is getting an electric toothbrush, a new pair of headphones, a pack of shirts, and a book. J is giving him a calendar and a board game.

Favorite holiday song/songs?
- I love them all! My favorite last year was Home Free's rendition of O Holy Night

Holiday song that makes you crazy?
- nothing comes to mind right now

Favorite holiday movie?
-elf! (Ffsc, last year was the first time I saw it.) Also enjoy home alone, frosty the snowman, and the Santa clause.

Favorite holiday meal?
- my stepdad always makes a breakfast casserole. We usually end up either eating frozen pizzas later in the day, or sometimes we have a full meal

What are you most excited to give this year?
- all the things! I ordered a few things for our parents on shutterfly. I bought way too many things for J.

Anything in particular you want this year?
- I asked for a Microsoft surface. My laptop is beyond its life span, and my tablet isn't much better. A few other things that would be nice are a programmable crock pot and a wireless phone charger.

Share a particularly memorable holiday memory with us.
- last year, we had Christmas with my dad's side of the family before we had mailed our Christmas cards out. We play bingo, where we bring $1 (or so) wrapped gifts. All the things last year we purchased were baby related. When the game was done and we were ready to open, my mom held up one and told everyone who had that particular wrapping paper to open them (all the baby things). It took a minute, but then my aunt shouted "who's pregnant?!" Then she asked my mom if she was the one who was pregnant before asking us.

[Deleted]

I can't believe that, so far, I'm the only one who doesn't wrap the Santa presents. On my local board it's pretty much 50/50. There were lots of stories of people having big blow ups with their DH's after the first kids were born because one says wrap and the other says no wrap.

musicfrk2002, I love that story. So funny!

[wegrowsheep]

Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus,  some combination, or something else? Non-secular(is that a classification?) Christmas, as well as St. Nick's Day, and St. Lucia Day

Do you send holiday cards? Only in my very glamorous, well-organized dreams.

Do you do a tree? Yep
 If yes, real or fake? This year, real.
 White lights or colored lights? White leds.

When do you put it up? When I clean up the livingroom and make a place for it.

If Santa comes to your house does he wrap his presents or no? Well, yes. In different paper.

Favorite holiday tradition from when you were a kid? Decorating the tree, playing Christmas music with my aunts, uncles, and cousins at family Christmas (they are a musically talented bunch).

What holiday tradition to you want to start with your own family? We do St. Lucia Day and St Nick's Day as a nod to our heritage. I'm looking for a Mexican tradition to add as well (from DH's side).
Favorite holiday song/songs? Merry Christmas and Jesus, Light of the World, both by Third Day.
Holiday song that makes you crazy? If I hear Jingle Bell Rock anymore, I'm going to vomit.
Favorite holiday movie? Polar Express, Home Alone.

Favorite holiday meal? Breakfast: Rice pudding, in the oven, with cardamom. Also, twisty rolls (like cinnamon rolls), and bacon, and spiced tea.
What are you most excited to give this year? All the crafty things I just got DD. And a D(ecorate)IY stormtrooper mask for my niece. And the gruesome special effects makeup kit for a different niece...

Anything in particular you want this year? Cowboy boots. Mine are getting trashed.
Share a particularly memorable holiday memory with us. The year after DH and I started dating, he was with family for Christmas , as well as all my relatives on my mom's side. It was the last Christmas we had with my grandma. He gave me a little white and gold box, that had a couple more boxes nested inside. I was terrified that he had gotten me a ring and was going to propose in front of everyone. Instead, much to my relief, it was a gold necklace with a single pearl hanging on it that he had purchased in Hawaii in highschool, and had saved all these years for the girl he wanted to marry.

[missjenniebean]

Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus,  some combination, or something else?
-Christmas

Do you send holiday cards?
-I missed last year but I normally do.

Do you do a tree?  If yes, real or fake?  White lights or colored lights?
-yes, fake and like two feet tall, colored lights. When V gets bigger I am hoping to get a live as I did when I was young.

If Santa comes to your house does he wrap his presents or no?
-yup! He wraps.

Favorite holiday tradition from when you were a kid?
- we watched all the traditional movies but on Christmas Eve we all sit and read the night before Christmas and open one present from the family. Also, a few days before Christmas my mom would bake and we would decorate he cookies.

What holiday tradition to you want to start with your own family?
- no sure yet!


Favorite holiday song/songs?
- I want a hippopotamus for Christmas is my favorite.

Holiday song that makes you crazy?
- oh my gosh my golly - played all the time in TJ Maxx I wanted to stab someone in the eye every time I heard it when I was working. Also any songs before thanksgiving.

Favorite holiday movie?
- idk

Favorite holiday meal?
- don't really have one

What are you most excited to give this year?
- v playing with wrapping paper

Anything in particular you want this year?
- not really

Share a particularly memorable holiday memory with us.
- none come to mind but I have no bad ones. Just being completely accepted by so's family was nice last year, they somehow knew I love fuzzy socks.

[jessila]

Yay!! I love this time of year!

Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, some combination, or something else? Christmas

Do you send holiday cards? We started the year we got Carl so this will be year 4. My SIL is doing a photo shoot with Carl and Owen tomorrow while she watches O.

Do you do a tree? If yes, real or fake? White lights or colored lights? When do you put it up? Fake because of allergies. Just got a new one that can be white or colored. Currently it's set to colored. I would set it up November 1 but DH makes me wait until Black Friday.

If Santa comes to your house does he wrap his presents or no? Santa always left one big one unwrapped, wrapped other smaller ones, and did stockings.

Favorite holiday tradition from when you were a kid? SANTA DECORATED MY TREE! It was so magical. We were poorer so no tree until Christmas Eve because they were cheaper. Then we'd bring it home and put it up. I think we helped put lights on. In the morning it was magical Christmas world. The tree was decorated (with tinsel too) and there were presents with the stockings filled. We had to get my parents up, wait for them to get coffee, then we did stockings at the kitchen table.

What holiday tradition to you want to start with your own family? DH always did Christmas pjs so we've done that since we got married. We'll keep it up for O. Maybe the Christmas books thing? I got a Christmas book at my baby shower filled with stories so I'm excited to read that to him.

Favorite holiday song/songs? Oh, boy. I celebrate the day by Relient K, Breath of Heaven by Amy Grant, anything by Bing or Frank Sinatra, O Holy Night, I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas, Santa Baby, All I want for Christmas is You. I could probably go on forever.

Holiday song that makes you crazy? Last Christmas, Do They know it's Christmas, most things by Karen Carpenter.

Favorite holiday movie? Elf, Muppet Christmas Carol, Snowglobe, White Christmas, The Grinch (both versions), Rudolph.

Favorite holiday meal? Cookies. That counts, right?

What are you most excited to give this year? O's big present from Santa. I'm also planning to make some art with all the grandkids footprints for my MIL.

Anything in particular you want this year? A FULL NIGHTS SLEEP!!!

Share a particularly memorable holiday memory with us. My mom and her sister alternated years for hosting family Christmas. We ALWAYS got nerf guns or something like that. So the 4 cousins would run around and shoot each other. One year when we all had significant others as adults we got guns again. It was all out war for a good hour and a half. It was great.

[Bluedaisy]

Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, some combination, or something else? Christmas

Do you send holiday cards? Yes, and I'm thrilled to send photos this year! I always thought it was kind of dorky to send pictures of DH and I so I can't wait to send pics of LO

Do you do a tree? If yes, real or fake? White lights or colored lights? When do you put it up?
Real, it depends, about two weeks before Christmas
If Santa comes to your house does he wrap his presents or no? Growing up Santa set them all up and left them unwrapped so we weren't allowed to go see them until the parents were up. Santa also wrapped EVERY stocking present. DHs house Santa didn't wrap stocking presents but did wrap the big presents so they were allowed to go get the stockings and open them while waiting for the grown ups to get up. We're really debating how to do this with out LO

Favorite holiday tradition from when you were a kid? Dad reading The Niht Before Christmas and mom reading the nativity on Christmas eve.

What holiday tradition to you want to start with your own family? Making one home made gift every year. Plus since DH and I were married December 3rd I've started buying an ornament for our tree each year.

Favorite holiday song/songs? Old Toy Trains

Holiday song that makes you crazy? anything covered by new bands makes me stabby

Favorite holiday movie? White Christmas and The Best Christmas Pageant

Favorite holiday meal? Definitely turkey

What are you most excited to give this year? Photo gifts from LO

Anything in particular you want this year? Not really

Share a particularly memorable holiday memory with us. As a kid there was always a staff party for the kids of the guys who worked with my dad. One of his coworkers always played Santa and he was amazing. We all believed in Santa way longer than most kids because he was so great. One year my best friend Trevor had gotten into trouble at school the day before the party (I can't remember what it was he was only in grade two so it was probably for sassing a teacher or something). Anyways when he sat on Santa's knee and Santa asked if he'd been good of course Trevor said yes. Santa responded "Hmmmm I seem to recall some naughtiness at school yesterday". Trevor trying to explain to Santa was talked about for years after and the kid was scared straight for a LONG time.

[periwinkledaydreams]

1. Christmas

2. Have never sent cards, don't really have anyone's addresses, kinda just begining to get my shit settled as an adult human, even though I'm 31 years old

3. Have also never done a tree, but this is only mine and SO's 2nd Christmas together, and last year we didn't have the space for one. We talked about getting a fake tree for this year but haven't gotten as far as deciding on white or color lights yet. Growing up we rotated every other year and inside/outside.

4. All our presents were always wrapped. We didn't really keep up the Santa thing for very long though, as far as I can remember my presents came from my parents. Like, they said Santa on the wrapping label just for fun but in my moms handwriting and we said "thank you" to our parents when we opened them.

5. Christmas caroling! We would go during the week before christmas around our neighborhood, one lady around the block ran it and handed out little candles for everyone to hold, then had cookies and cider and hot cocoa at her house after. We also had Christmas night with my dads side of the family where I have like 18 first cousins and we'd all go caroling round whosoevers neighborhood was hosting that year.

6. I'm just excited to see how things come together, naturally. I'm excited for LO to have Christmas morning with us and then go open presents with her brother and her cousins and grandparents. Who knows what the specifics will be.

7. Even though I'm not religious at all, for some reason I just love Mary Did you Know? and a sucker for a well done Silent Night

8. Any dumb department store jingle on repeat

9. Christmas morning brunch! Now that my siblings and I are all grown, but we all are dumb nostalgic about Christmas morning, we all do our own thing early morning but then meet up at our parents for stockings, brunch, and presents! We always get matching fleece pj pants and our stockings are still filled with candy

10 & 11. I have no idea about any gifts yet, giving or receiving. I only buy for my neices and nephews really.

12. A couple years ago a photo surfaced on facebook of all the cousins on my dad's side (like I said theres almost 20 of us) from the late 80s all squeezed on this horrible gaudy 80s couch. At Christmas we decided to reenact it. The best part of the reenactment photo is the two who were infants sitting in laps with bottles in the original are grown men sitting in the same laps drinking beers. Its pretty priceless!

[erbear]

we celebrate secular Christmas.

i love sending holiday cards! I'm hoping mine get done in time this year (we're doing photos December 6th).

fake tree with white lights. It goes up the weekend after Thanksgiving (and it was up the day after this year!).

Santa always wrapped my gifts and Santa just wrapped LO's (even though she has no idea).

Driving around to see Christmas lights, especially in downtown Pittsburgh.

I'd like to start traveling as a family for Christmas.

I love pretty much all Christmas songs, but I can listen to "All I Want For Christmas Is You" I repeat forever.

The only one I do not like is "Baby It's Cold Outside" because the girl is clearly all NO and the dude won't take no for an answer. No means no!

Elf, A Christmas Story, Home Alone 1 & 2, Charlie Brown Christmas

Cookies! Cookies have to count.

On another board, we're doing a kid secret Santa and I had so much fun picking out my gift. Also, I love spoiling H.

Sleep!

We went to Disney for our honeymoon over Christmas in 2013 (8 months after our wedding). Disney at Christmas was always a bucket list thing for me and I just had so much fun waking up there on Christmas morning. Santa Goofy was at our hotel for breakfast that morning!

[txngrl31]

Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, some combination, or something else?  Christmas

Do you send holiday cards? Yes! Before LO, just a card, no photo on the card. We recently had our photo taken, so I'm excited to get them back and design this year's Christmas card.

Do you do a tree? If yes, real or fake? White lights or colored lights? When do you put it up? Yes; real; white lights; the weekend after Thanksgiving

If Santa comes to your house does he wrap his presents or no? Im with you @jimbobcooter, Santa never wrapped his presents, so I'm sure I'll continue the tradition. There is something special about seeing your gift put together and laid out...like Santa and his elves did it just for you. The presents from my parents were always wrapped and under the tree though. Again, I'll continue that tradition too.

Favorite holiday tradition from when you were a kid? Baking Christmas cookies with my mom; drinking hot chocolate and watching Christmas movies; Christmas Eve candlelight service; playing with my cousins on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

What holiday tradition to you want to start with your own family? Christmas PJs and buying a special ornament for the tree every year

Favorite holiday song/songs? O Holy Night, Joy to the World, White Christmas, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, All I Want For Christmas Is You, Feliz Navidad ( two ends of the spectrum with this one)

Holiday song that makes you crazy? Any of the new stuff

Favorite holiday movie? Christmas Vacation, It's a Wonderful Life, Love Actually, The Holiday, Family Stone, Home Alone, Charlie Brown Christmas

Favorite holiday meal? Christmas Tamales, Christmas morning breakfast casserole with mimosas

What are you most excited to give this year? DD's gifts

Anything in particular you want this year? Work out clothes, perfume and two new necklaces ( a cross one and one with DD's initial or name)

Share a particularly memorable holiday memory with us. 
Being from Texas, it never snows; however, one Christmas Eve when I was in junior high, it snowed. I vividly remember how magical it felt. We listened to Christmas music while driving in the snow on our way to my aunt/ uncle's house.

[mrsmonogrammed]

wegrowsheep that story is the sweetest!! I love that you were terrified that he was proposing, lol!

[dmoney]

Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, some combination, or something else? Hannukah

Do you send holiday cards? Yes! We just took pictures two weekends ago and should have our holiday cards in soon!!

Do you do a tree? If yes, real or fake? White lights or colored lights? When do you put it up? No tree, but we do light our Menorah in the front window so that people can see it. We also put up some decorations on the strom door.

If Santa comes to your house does he wrap his presents or no? N/A

Favorite holiday tradition from when you were a kid? Playing dradel, My mom used to have a huge thing of pennies, we would sit on the kitchen floor and play for hours!

What holiday tradition to you want to start with your own family? Playing dradel, once DD is old enough I cant wait to teach her what everything means and how to play

Favorite holiday song/songs? Dont really have any

Holiday song that makes you crazy? Christmas music being on every station 24/7

Favorite holiday movie? How the Grinch stole Christmas!

Favorite holiday meal? Anything that has Latkes!!

What are you most excited to give this year? Every Christmas we volunteer at a homeless shelter serving dinner, Im excited to take DD with us!

Anything in particular you want this year? Just peace and safety for my family and friends in Israel

Share a particularly memorable holiday memory with us. Going to have to come back to this one, cant really think at the moment!

[Widget123]

Now that I'm back to a real computer...

Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, some combination, or something else?  Christmas

Do you send holiday cards?  Yes.  In the past few years custom cards with a pic of DD (this year DD + LO)

Do you do a tree? If yes, real or fake? White lights or colored lights? When do you put it up?  I've collected 4 fake trees of various sizes and lights over the years.  This year I put up the tallest one with white lights and the smallest one with colored lights.

If Santa comes to your house does he wrap his presents or no? Absolutely yes.  Wrapping presents is one of my favorite things.  I have a huge collection of wrapping paper, etc.

Favorite holiday tradition from when you were a kid?  Driving around the area to see the outdoor light decorations people put up on Christmas eve after church

What holiday tradition to you want to start with your own family?  Just as simple as being at home Christmas morning.  So much of all of our holidays are spent at someone else's house.

Favorite holiday song/songs?  All I Want for Christmas

Holiday song that makes you crazy?  None.  I love them all.

Favorite holiday movie?  The Family Stone.  I discover something new in the movie every time I watch it.

Favorite holiday meal? I don't really care as much, as long as I have some of Grandma's recipe sugar cookies.  Thanksgiving is the meal holiday for me.

What are you most excited to give this year?  I am going to buy my parents a new fake Christmas tree.  The have been putting up the same one for the last 30 years and have no idea this is coming.

Anything in particular you want this year? a custom lanyard for my badge at work and a fancy planner; that is about it

Share a particularly memorable holiday memory with us.  Shooting guns in my parents backyard?  That is the only one that is really memorable/different.

eta Bonus: DH and my first date was Christmas shopping and to see a Christmas movie. 

[ashbash]

wegrowsheep that DH story is so sweet!!

[paintdadanta]

We only celebrate Christmas at our house, but I procrastinate on the seasonal cards.

DH had never had a real tree before we met and now he loves them as much as I do (though he was quite against it at first). Since he already had a fake too, I put it in the dining room for the kids and real for us in the living room. Both with colored lights.

For Santa, I always wrap except for my stepson's as he spends Christmas morning with his mom and then gets one of the Santa sacks at our house that night with his stuff in it from Santa.

We don't have any set traditions other than Christmas always being under the kids own tree - no traveling. Plus eggnog, certain baked goods and fudge to make, and classic Christmas movies (Rudolph and the Santa Claus). Love the song Baby It's Cold Outside, Little Drummer Boy, and Mary Did You Know? among others. Hate the hippopotamus song.

I'm excited for DS' first Christmas though I know next year will be the first he actually understands.

[ravinraven216]

1. DH and I observe Yule/Winter Solstice and secular Christmas with the family. Yule is a bit like New Year's Eve (staying up late, reflecting on the past year, eating).

2. I sent cards one year and never again. Maybe we'll do a postcard type deal with pictures of LO.

3. I grew up with artificial trees, since the real tree my parents set up my first Christmas did not have the will to live (it also fell on me). DH and I have had a real tree the past 2 years. I think we'll get ours in mid-December and enjoy the last year of LO not being mobile.

DH and I don't agree on holiday decorations at all - it's just about the only point we argue over. I like white lights and matching ornaments. He likes color lights and more random and kitschy ornaments. We finally found LED lights that can toggle between white and color. It's like they were made for us.

4. Santa comes to grandparents' homes. I don't Santa. Our gifts are always wrapped. I didn't fully realize people did otherwise until today. Weird.

5. We always listened to Manheim Steamroller while decorating our tree. Same album every year. Even now I have to start with their rendition of "Deck The Halls".

6. We exchange gifts of clothing because in Norse culture people who didn't get new clothes before Christmas Eve were said to be eaten by the Yule Cat. LO is getting a Captain America shirt and new pajamas. The night of Winter Solstice will be for finger foods, crafts, games, gifts, and general family time.

7. I love Solstice Night by SJ Tucker and Sol Invictus by Thea Gilmore. Even though DH and I aren't practicing Catholics, I still have a spot in my heart for "God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen", "The Holly and the Ivy", and "Adeste Fideles" (O Come, All Ye Faithful). I like my carols old school, yo.

8. I hate "Baby, It's Cold Outside", "Jingle Bells", and "Do They Know It's Christmas".

9. Favorite holiday movies are Elf and Trading Places.

10. I love doing tiny Cornish game hens for dinner. It's like your own personal chicken!

11. I have no idea what to get anyone except LO and he's content to just tear paper off boxes and drool on everything, so his opinions count for little. DH keeps mentioning good gift ideas at times where I can't write them down and he doesn't use his Amazon wish list, the bastard.

12. I'm pretty certain I'm getting the Nightengale hoodie, based on the outfit from Skyrim and tickets to see the Legend of Zelda: Master Quest concert in April, so I'm pretty stoked.

13. When I was 7, I got a parakeet for Christmas. I had wanted a hamster, but mom was decidedly anti-rodent. I named him Joseph (Jo-Jo) after the foster father of Jesus. A few weeks later I found the box for his cage in the basement and figured out my parents (or specifically my neighbors who set our presents out under our tree while we went to Christmas Eve mass) were the ones who were Santa. I wasn't upset. I thought the whole set up very clever.