I Got Tagged

I love being tagged! I had today's blog all ready to go in my head, then I read this on Tracy's blog, so now I can do this tonight and save the other for tomorrow.

Christmas Randomness and Traditions

Edition #1 (in no particular order)

Rules for Gifts- I like to ask other people about their gift giving traditions. It's so neat to hear how different families have different "rules" for gifts at Christmas. Growing up, Santa's gifts were never wrapped. He left his gift in the middle of the room. The wrapped gifts were from our mom and dad. We have continued this tradition with our girls. Although I think this is the first year Lauryn will really flip out when she sees that unwrapped gift in front of the tree.

One of my favorite childhood pictures is the one when I'm about 7 years old and we had just opened the door to our den to find the gifts Santa had left. I had doll bunk beds and a coveted Cabbage Patch Kid sitting on the top bunk. I literally thought I would burst with excitement. The look on my face captured that feeling perfectly!

As a kid, we were allowed to open one gift on Christmas Eve. I had my choice picked out for weeks because my mom had all the gifts wrapped and placed under the tree no later than December 1st (probably not that early, but it sure felt like it!). I would stare at the "chosen one" every day wondering what could be inside.

Christmas Eve-

Before opening our one gift, we would go out to eat. In later years, Whataburger ended up being our Christmas Eve restaurant of choice. One year we got a late start and it was the only thing open past 7:00. It was so funny (and strangely, so yummy) we decided to make it a tradition. Then we would drive around the city looking at lights. After about 4 minutes of that, my sister and I would start begging to go home because we were ready to open our one gift!

Wrapping Presents-

If you have a weak heart, you probably don't want to read any further.

I do NOT like wrapping presents. There. I said it.

For me, it is just the biggest chore. Maybe because I save it all to do at one time. I don't know where this comes from. As kids we used to "play" Christmas. In the middle of the summer, my sister and I would pretend it was Christmas and run around to find things to wrap (probably with newspaper) and then we'd have a mini gift exchange.

Except, for some reason, it wasn't quite as exciting to receive Tropical Barbie the second time around.

Decorating the Tree-

I LOVED this as a kid. We would spend hours going through all the ornaments, playing with them, rearranging them, etc. I love that we're starting this again with our girls. Lauryn and Allison had a great time with the ornaments this year. I started this tradition with Lauryn as early as I could.

Lauryn at 20 months old marveling at the ornaments for the very first time!

Looking at Lights:

We have a wonderful tradition of going to Santaland each year when we visit B's family. I can't wait to see both girls' faces this year as we drive through the park. Every year it's as if it's the first time we've seen it. We forget how many lights there are and how amazing the entire production is. It's definitely one of the highlights of the Christmas season for our family.

Advent Calendar:

I'm getting a wooden advent calendar for Christmas this year, but in the past few years we have had one of the paper ones with the chocolate behind each door. Lauryn loves to open a "door" each night with her Daddy and they share the candy. This year it's especially great because she asks about 387 times a day if tomorrow is Christmas. The calendar at least gives her some sort of visual. She really is going crazy with the waiting this year!

So now, if you have a blog, post your Christmas traditions! And if you don't have a blog, feel free to post a comment about some of your fun traditions!