I always remember the baked goodies my mom and grandma would make at that time of the year.
Now i try to make those dishes and cakes for my family. We also go around Christmas Eve night looking at the decorated houses in our neighborhood.

Every year we would go downtown to look at the displays in the store windows. I remember every year one store would have a train set in one of their windows and they would have these hands on the windows and if you put your hand on the window hand the trains would move. All the kids would crowd around to put their hands on so they could move the train. I still remember those times fondly.

Well, in my family growing up we would always go see lights on Christmas eve, but dh's family has Christmas on Christmas eve (they open all their gifts and we eat). Sometimes dh tries to take me if we have time.

So now we have 3 celebrations, one Christmas eve, and 2 Christmas day (one with my family, another with his). Then my birthday is the day after lol. That week is verrrry busy lol.

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AKA: Airbornearmywife

We always drive around Christmas eve to look at lights. We take hot cocoa in to-go cups and listen to Christmas music while we're out.
Then my side comes to our house for snack foods and to exchange presents.
After the kids are in bed, DH & I wrap the rest of the gifts while we drink a glass of wine. Nice and quiet evening alone(well sort of..lol)

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Amy mommy to Ash,Zach&Alexis


MyCoupons Is #1 for Holiday Shopping

On Christmas eve we let the kids open 2 gifts,one fun one and a pair of new pj's. We watch one Christmas movie together as a family. After the boys go to bed DH and I watch another movie,share a bottle of champagne and set out the santa gifts.

Until you mention PJS..... thats another of our traditions,kids always get new pjs to open christmas eve.

On Christmas Eve..I host the big Italian Fish dinner at my house (12 kinds of fish-1 for each apostle)..
then I give the girls their yearly gift of pj's and slippers..we go to midnight mass together, then when we get home, I sit by myself in front of the tree, have a drink and reflect on the year that has passed..then I'm up early to make Green eggs and Ham for these same grown up daughters who've insisted on it every year since they were little...we eat cookies, have some wine, spend the morning playing games or watching Christmas movies, then we have dinner with my sis and her hub "the Captain", followed by the obligatory trip to "Ma's house"..sit around being bored and get into arguments with most of the uppity-seriously annoying relatives who instead of getting jewelry for Christmas probably should have gotten a big ol' boxes of Paxil because they are crazy as hell. UGH. I pray to get snowed in...

We do the PJ thing too, all the kids getting matching jammies to wear on Christmas eve. On Christmas eve the kids camp out in our room for the night, then when we wake in the morning, DH and I torture the kids by laying in bed talking and not letting the kids downstairs. About 9 or so we all head down, but the kids can't go to the tree, we all go to the kitchen and start preparing our "famous" big Christmas breakfast. During this time, Dh usually hands out the stockings and the kids get to go through them. Then we all eat and then clean up the dishes. By this time it is usually around 11. We finally head to the familyroom and the kids get to see what Santa has left, but sometimes we hide the Santa present for last and really tease the kids. In our house Santa leaves the one main expensive present that they really want and mommy and daddy give the rest. We then let the kids go around one at a time and open their gifts. The kids have really come to look forward to the way we do it, because it makes the fun last longer and they love the big not so ordinary breakfast.

This year I am also making matching felt slippers for each child to wear Christmas morning(from the Martha Stewart Holiday magazine).

Since it's just the DH and I (and the cat) we open our presents in bed (started this when we first got married). We then make dinner and depending on the weather go for a drive and look at the lights.

We open one gift on Christmas Eve, we open our presents one by one Chrismas morning, we sing Happy Birthday to Jesus, after dinner on Christmas- just when eveyone thinks all the gifts are over my Grandmom(now mother) gives everyone (one at a time) a "after dinner gift" usually a gag gift- so much fun!!!

We stopped going to MIL's on Christmas day years ago. We go over and exchange gifts with everyone there on Christmas eve, now. We go to my parents the Saturday before Christmas to do our exchange. Hubby and I usually exchange our gifts on Christmas eve after the kids are in bed. The kids have to wait to open ALL their gifts on Christmas morning. They also have to wait until Christmas night to open their stockings.

When I was younger, my dad used to take me to look at all the Christmas lights. I always liked doing that with him.

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Amy
Mom to Lauren, Eryn, Naysa
and announcing......
Gavin Michael Chase, 9 lbs 10 ozs
and 21 3/4 inches long on 10/13/09!

Cchampion1,
That's so Sweet you sing happy Birthday Jesus,because it his Birthday,
Dh And I just got marry 8 months ago,so this will be our first Christmas as Mrs.&Mrs. family members coming in for 10 days,This my family second years coming to be with us,Because we live so far away from our family.

Love reading all your traditions...made me realize how badly my kids need p.j.s!

My DH will set his big work boots in a footstep pattern, walking away from the fireplace, and sprinkle baby powder over them- when you lift the boots it leaves a bootprint with snow around it...Santa's bootprint! Our youngest is 7 and gets so excited about seeing where Santa walked, from the fireplace to the tree to the goodie plate etc...
Santa also always covers the unwrapped santa gift (big, main present) with a sheet. then as a kid you get to sit waiting for the family to gather trying to read the outline of the sheet!!
We bake a birthday cake for Jesus and leave a piece for Santa instead of cookies.
Everyone gets tolietries in their stockings, personal hyigene items...toothbrush, bodywash, bubblebath, lotions, mouthwash, bath poouf, powder etc it's nice to know that you will get all new stuff in yummy scents and flavors!
The following Saturday we travel about 4 hours to the dreaded in laws, :mad my MIL is not a warm fuzzy!
But I overlook my DH wierd releatives and he overlooks mine!

Every year we spend Christmas eve at my fathers house. We exchange gifts with my sisters and their kids. We eat dinner and hang out until about 9pm and then head home. On the way home we drive thru McCaddenville(sp) to see the lights. We normally get home about 10:30 and the kids put Santa's cookies and milk out. They are in bed about 11:15 and hubby and me sit around waiting until the wee hours in the morning. Our children are still young so they love getting up about 5 or 6. Christmas day once the kids get up we let them open their gifts and play with new things Santa and mommy and daddy got them. We then eat a Christmas dinner full of our family favorites.

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Give me the wisdom and grace to understand

Tracy S
Mommy to 5 little girls
Victoria
Alyssa
Samantha & Selena
Malaya
Tracy_s5girls@yahoo.com

We have Crhistmas Eve and Christmas Day with just the four of us (Hubby, 2 kids and myself). One Chrismtas Eve, we drive around looking at the of the decorated houses listening to Christmas music drinking hot cocoa after we've had dinner. Dinner on Christmas Eve is a treat for us...steak and lobster dinner. This started a few years ago because we could not afford lobster through the rest of the year and decided to treat ourselves. The kids get to open two gifts~one is pj's and another a small gift, sometimes a book or something quiet to enjoy in bed before sleeping. Christmas morning we open stockings and have breakfast (cinnamon rolls and fruit) and then open all of the gifts. We spend all of Christmas in our new pj's and snack through lunch and dinner so that no-one has to be in the kitchen fixing meals. This way we have made it all about us.

we spend xmas eve at my mothers house with family
we have chinese food for dinner and watch xmas movies
then open presents..
after all that
we have coffee and cake
its been that way since we were kids.. now we are late 20's and 30's
and still want it just the same.

We spend Christmas Eve at DH parents. We have a family tradition dinner of Chicken Paprikash and trimmings. We open/give our gifts to his family this night.

Christmas morning we spend with just the 4 of us. The boys (12 and 14) generally get up around 7:00, we have our traditional breakfast quiche, homemade cinnamon rolls and mimosas/OJ. Around noon my entire family comes over; we open our gifts and usually dinners on the table by 3:00.

While it's extremely crazy and action packed, I truly wouldn't have it any other way!