. . . how we celebrate Christmas, but didn't care enough to ask.
(Completely and unceremoniously ripped-off of my lovely friend Missy's original post here.)
If you could imagine that the inner workings of my sweet little head were a snowglobe right now, and if you took that snowglobe and gave it to a two year old and let her run a-muck, you'd have a pretty accurate picture of the swirling nature of my thoughts right now.
So many things to talk about, so little time to put words to thoughts. So, I'm accepting Missy's invitation to share copious amounts of unsolicited information about how our family does Christmas.
1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
If you love me at all, you'll be kind of enough to step away from me with the egg nog. Gag. Please don't even come near me with your egg nog breath.
There are not many foods or beverages which I will turn down (and unfortunately, I have an entire wardrobe of size 8 clothes growing more unfashionable by the day in a cardboard box sarcophagus in storage that can testify to this charming character trait), but egg nog? Texturally abhorrent to me.
Hot chocolate? Sure! Let's make it Sweet Ground Chocolate from Williams Sonoma and I'm just holly jolly.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Santa stuffs stockings and leaves one unwrapped present 'neath the tree.
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
How about none? We are the anti-Griswolds.
4. Do you hang mistletoe?
The last time we did that, we ended up with this.
5. When do you put your decorations up?
Sometime after Thanksgiving but before Christmas Eve. They went up in early December this year.
6. What is your favorite holiday dish?
My mother-in-law makes a houska bread that thrills me to my very core. It appears at holidays only, and I savor every last crumb.
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?
Dad reading Luke chapter two to us each Christmas Eve. Then we all got to open one - only one! - gift before bed.
Also, one year we spent Christmas Eve at my grandparents. As I lay awake trying to will myself to sleep, I could just swear I heard the far away tingling of jingle bells. It was magic.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I honestly don't remember. That's how completely and totally not tragic it was to me. I do remember getting a sneaking suspicion when one year Santa forgot to remove the neon green Wal-Mart sticker from the bottle of Barbie bubble bath in my stocking . . .
(Raise your hand if you remember the neon green Wal-Mart stickers!)
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Apparently, this is how we are going to do our family Christmas: open all gifts from family and friends on Christmas Eve. Santa comes and on Christmas morn, we discover one small gift and stuffed stockings from He Who Is Jolly. This is how Kyle's family did gifts, and I'm pretty whatever about the opening of gifts thing, so we'll do it his way.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
Open the box. This pole goes here, this pole goes there. Fluff the (pre-lit) branches and turn the girls loose.
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
Kill me now. HATE IT. I hate cold. Hate, hate, hate. It must be frigidly cold for snow to appear, thus, I hate snow.
Snow - when falling - is beautiful. To that fact, I acquiesce. The aftermath amongst people who have never been taught how to drive on or in snow is just a big mess. And then it gets all slushy and dirty and I'm pretty sure it starves birds and freezes the paws off of cats. Horrible stuff.
I think I was created for the tropics, my friends.
12. Can you ice skate?
I'm guessing no.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
As a child: It was the early 80s and Santa brought me a Cabbage Patch Doll. The sole object of my obsession for weeks preceding. I'm pretty sure one of my parents had to punch, scratch, or eye-poke another parent at a Toys R Us somewhere in the Midwest to get it, but oh. I was so happy.
As an adult: One Christmas (pre-children era), Kyle surprised me with a pair of diamond stud earrings. My entire growing up years, my mother wore a pair of diamond studs, and I've always thought they were the quintessential grown-up thing to wear. The only times I've taken them out since then were to give birth to our daughters (stupid hospital surgery rules!). I love them, and I love him. (With or without the diamond studs.)
14. What's the most important thing about the holidays for you?
The celebration of Immanuel, God with Us.
15. What is your favorite holiday dessert?
Any. All.
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Not putting up outside Christmas lights. (<---- Missy's answer, and I can't top it)
17. What tops your tree?
*music swells* A STAR! A STAR! DANCING IN THE NIGHT . . .
18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving?
GIVING.
19. What is your favorite Christmas song?
Like Missy, every single Christmas carol makes me cry. All of them. How could they not?
Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus:
Come, thou long expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee.
Israel's strength and consolation,
hope of all the earth thou art;
dear desire of every nation,
joy of every longing heart.
Are you even kidding me? Joy of every longing heart . . . I can barely get the words out.
I've been known to greatly, greatly enjoy Amy Grant's "Tender Tennessee Christmas," and certainly I love her breathy rendition of "Breath of Heaven."
I'm not gonna lie, though. I can't resist "Baby It's Cold Outside," (even though I hate the cold. Go figure.) and I've been known to shriek with happiness a little bit when Pandora serves up Mariah's "All I Want for Christmas is You."
So much goodness in the Christmas songery.
20. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum?
Meh. Better than egg nog, that's for sure.
21 Favorite Christmas Show?
Show? Well, I wrote a paper on The Mythography of Charlie Brown's Christmas for my Greek Lit class when I was an undergrad, so yeah, I like that one.
Movies? I can recite Christmas Vacation word-for-hysterical-word. Elf tickles me.
I have to tell you all though - we watched a movie on Sunday morning in Sunday School that was amazing. I think everyone should see it. SERIOUSLY. Every.One.
It's called The Star of Bethlehem and it is AMAZING.
22. Saddest Christmas Song?
"The Christmas Shoes." I mean, honestly.
It is really, really bothering me that this ends at 22. Shouldn't we take it to 25? Wouldn't that feel more structurally complete? This bothers me. Not enough to think up three more questions, but still.
Do you like our butterfly ornament? The first year we put up a tree was when Dacey was almost three and obsessed with butterflies. Kyle went out one morning and bought all of our tree decorations, and he found a box of three butterfly ornaments. I smile when I look at those because it makes me think of a Daddy's love for his little girl. Does the fact that there were three ornaments in that box foreshadow anything about our family's future? Perhaps. Time will tell, I suppose.
How is your Christmas-ing going? Are you all egg-nogged out? Have you built a gingerbread house or decorated cookies or gone caroling or any other lovely thing you want to tell about?
