Christmas Questionnaire

I got this from fellow blogger Megan and thought I would give it a shot, it's a little long but it's fun to read. Please fill free to do this yourself, it's fun!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? When I was little presents from my parents were wrapped and presents from Santa were just under the tree. Cooper's Santa will wrap presents.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No

5. When do you put your decorations up? It was always the weekend after Thanksgiving, however starting two years ago I was due with Cooper on Nov 11 so we put out decorations and tree up that weekend so we wouldn't have to worry about it once Cooper arrived. Since then we have put them out the weekend before Thanksgiving. I like it, it gives us the weekend after to relax and enjoy the long weekend. We don't have Thanksgiving at our house so no one else see it but us and I don't feel like we are overlapping the two holidays.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Hmmm.. I usually make sausage & cheese balls, which I LOVE! Steve's cousin also makes homemade chicken & noodles, which are awesome!

7. Favorite Holiday memories as a child? Probably my family, (aunts, uncles, and cousins) all coming over Christmas Eve. The house was full of people and food.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I don't remember, I think I just knew one day.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? As a child we opened gifts from my parents on Christmas Eve and from Santa on Christmas Day. Now, we exchange with Steve's cousins on Christmas Eve but with each other and his parents on Christmas Day. We get together with my parents whenever schedule allows since we really don't have any traditions or set plans. I would like to do something with Cooper on Christmas Eve each year, probably pj's.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Lights and ornaments, nothing special, although we do have A LOT of Disney ornaments, we've bought some each trip we have went on since we got married.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Depends, I'm kind of all or nothing. If it's going to snow I want a full blown blizzard, shut the city down for a few days. Of course I don't work outside the home so I don't' have to drive in it.

12. Can you ice skate? NO!!!!

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? As a child no, as an adult, yes! Christmas 2006- it was about 6 weeks before we were going on a trip to Disney World. One thing Disney does that I've always wanted to take part in was pin trading. Almost all cast members (employees) wear lanyards with various Disney pins attached. If you have a pin and want to trade, all you do is walk up to the cast member and tell them which pin you would like and they have to give it to you. That is unless their lanyard is green, then they only exchange with kids. Anyway... the pins are pretty expensive, anywhere between $6-$10 for one. I had bought a few in our two previous trips but they were ones I picked out and wasn't willing to depart with them. Come to find out, people sell these on eBay, usually in lots of 10 or 20, you can get 10 for about the price you would pay for 2. So, Steve bought me 10, they were random ones I would never buy but I got to trade them. That same year we also bought each other the same calendar- The Office. See pics below.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Well, obviously it's the birth of Jesus, but it's also about family & traditions. The traditions my family had growing up kind of fell apart by the time I entered high school, so I will do everything in my power to not let that happen to Cooper and we will have traditions.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Buckeyes and Chex Mix Puppy Chow- I know I can have these anytime of the year but I usually only get them during Christmas.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Now it's Christmas Eve night, we go to church and head back to Steve's brother's house. We eat dinner, his cousin reads the Christmas Story and we exchange gifts. Steve & his cousin also try to out do one another on who can wrap or "hide" their present the best. They have done scavenger hunts before, hid clues inside balloons, you name it, it's been done. My favorite of all time- his cousin filled a jar, probably about a gallon size, or M&M's. There were 11 random M&M's that had a piece of paper taped on it with a letter. Those letters spelled out a clue- my favorite part was eating the candy of course and we got to keep all the candy :)

17. What tops your tree? Star

18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving? Giving! I love finding that perfect gift for someone I know they will love. Or the story that goes along with it, I already have two stories for Steve for when he opens his gifts.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? O Holy Night

20. Candy Canes: They're okay!

21 Favorite Christmas Show? National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

22. Saddest Christmas Song? I don't know if I have one, maybe now as a mother it would be Mary Did You Know, sometimes I think we focus so much on what Jesus did and the miracles He performed, we miss out on the human aspect and the feelings his family had for him.