No matter where we spend Christmas, I try to take my kid to at least 1 Christmas movie during the season. When he was small we would let him watch Snoopy shows (that's what he calls them) on TV.
I've collected Christmas books through the years so each year I wrap them up and starting Dec 1, he gets to pick one or two books to unwrap and we read them to him before bedtime. Its like our own personal advent calendar.
I pull out all our Christmas CDs and they are constantly playing until 12/26.
My husband and I take our son shopping separately on different days so he can get presents for the other parent. Our kid loves the 1:1 time w/us.
We always go ice skating.
We open 1 present on Christmas eve and then watch the Polar Express w/popcorn and hot chocolate. And then we open the rest on Christmas morning.
And for bfast we always have some sort of deer meat, b/c the freezer is overpacked w/processed deer from hunting season the month before.
Yikes! I forgot to mention church too. We always attend Christmas Eve and Christmas day services. One year they brought in fake snow and the kids got to play in it.
On the 22nd, We always go to zoo lights and then go for brunch at Salty's. I look forward to their crepes every year.
On Christmas Eve we have a holiday movie marathon and make pop corn balls and make cookies for santa.
And on Christmas Day we do presents and then a big dinner.
we open one present on christmas eve and it's always christmas jammies everyone can wear and wake up on christmas day in !
For Christmas Eve dinner we always order a heaping ton of Chinese take-out so nobody has to cook, then the kids open 1 present (mysteriously, this always turns out to be jammies).
-My mom gives our whole family Christmas pj's Christmas eve for everyone to wear that night.
-We drive around (in our Christmas pj's) Christmas Eve and go look at all the holiday lights. We bring egg nog and cookies for the ride.
-We make a Gingerbread house every year (it always comes out horrible, lol)
-Christmas morning we always opens just our stockings, eat breakfast, and then the presents under the tree..
We always put the tree up together. We always watch the Grinch or other holiday specials together. ON Christmas Eve we take a ride to see the Christmas lights and make sure to leave out the home made cookies for Santa that my son and I make every year. I also make a huge Christmas morning breakfast with gingerbread pancakes! Every year we plan to read Twas the Night Before Christmas when we get home from seeing the lights, but it is always too late and my son usually falls asleep in the car lol. Maybe some year we will get home early. We leave the book out anyway.
Oops I almost forgot, we watch 24 hours of A Christmas Story on TBS ( I think). Then I usually watch A Christmas Carol while wrapping gifts after the kids are asleep. It's a Wonderful Life and White Christmas get watched at some point too.
Starting on Black Friday, we put up the tree while watching National Lampoon's Christmas vacation. Of course, Christmas music sing alongs with the kids in the car (I had promised not to tell.) On Christmas Eve we watch how the Grinch Stole Christmas, open our one present (the aforementioned Christmas PJ's) and go to bed. Get up while it is still dark outside the next morning (all of our Christmas morning pics show wide eyed kids and sleepy parents) open presents and take pictures. Eat our traditional breakfast of Biscuits and Sausage gravy, homemade. Call the family (out of state) and bask in the glory for the rest of the day. My husband and I always buy our presents for each other at the after Christmas sales. We are cheap.
Christmas eve we go to church for a wonderful Advent service. When we get home we open our 1 present which is always the same (new Pajamas). We sleep in those PJ's that night so when picture taking time happens on Christmas Day we look photo ready.
On Christmas day we take turns reading the Christmas story from the Bible.
One of my most moronic Chirstmas traditions is to watch David Letterman on December 23rd. He has the same two guests every year and they tell the same story and sing the same song. The story that Jay Thomas tells about the Lone Ranger is AWESOME!! If you haven't seen it - see it. After the story they chuck footballs as a giant meatball atop of the huge Christmas tree.
My husbad and I watch it together every year - I'm always up late wrapping gifts while I watch!
I love everyone's traditions - and I am gonig out and buying everyone CHristmas Jammies TODAY!!
I always start decorating on Halloween!!! Start playing christmas music before that!!! I try to go to a Trans Siberian Orchestra concert too! Love them! Christmas eve is a day spent together-usually watching christmas movies and playing clue and spades. Around 5 if we are in our former hometown we go to my dad's church he pastors for a christmas eve service. Then it's home and we read the chrtistmas story out of Luke, The Polar Express, and finally end with dad reciting The night before christmas! Great question.
When I was a kid we used to go to a big party w/all the relatives, then
Midnight Mass.
Now with my hubby, kids & mom/dad/sis we:
have mom/dad/sis over on Christmas Eve (will stop this year as too hard
for my mom to get around)
watch a Christmas movie (like Polar Express) w/hot cocoa & popcorn
open 1 gift on Christmas Eve
Wake up early the next morning to open stockings & presents, have coffee, hot cocoa, cookies.
Head over to sister's for brunch (tamales, eggs, cookies, mimosas, coffee, gingerbread, cookies of all kinds).
Open presents and hang out.
One year hubby & went to a basketball game on Christmas Day. That was fun (too hard w/the lil' one now though).
My own traditions:
I go look at lights w/whomever will go w/me: hubby, my lil' one goes w/me
now & he loves it)
Meet a friend sometime in December for a chocolate martini adorned w/a
candy cane & appetizers for an ornament exchange. So fun!!!
I send out some cards, a few care packages.
One year my girlfriend & I went to visit the elderly at convelescent homes & to the hosptial to visit kids in the children's wards. I wish I could do that
again.
