Christmas in Our Home

Each year, as long as we are home, the Christmas tree goes up on Thanksgiving Day. We enjoy decorating throughout the Thanksgiving weekend. Thanksgiving Day officially marks the beginning of our Christmas season. It is then that we begin playing our Christmas music.

Our holiday season is filled with baking cookies, brownies, and other sweet treats. We fill our time with fun holiday activities. Craft projects abound around our home. Each evening we read a Christmas book. We listen to fun old radio shows, like Cinnamon Bear. We love to drive around and look at the light displays.

On December 1st, we begin our countdown ornament tree. I picked up the calendar on sale after the holidays one year. I made a Christmas tree to go with it. I added cute buttons, so we could hang the ornaments from the tree. On Christmas Day, the star goes on the tree.

On Christmas Eve, we sit down to read the Christmas story from the Bible. We each get to open 1 gift on that evening. Munchkin is allowed to put her gifts for us in our stockings, then it’s off to bed. After she is asleep, we put all of the presents under the tree. (We’ve never “done” Santa at our house; it’s just fun to see her surprise in the morning.) D and I take turns putting things in the stockings prior to calling it an evening.

On Christmas morning, I get up first and hide the pickle ornament. I also get the monkey bread in the oven (a tradition from my childhood). When everyone is up, we open our stockings and then eat our yummy breakfast. After breakfast, we open presents. We usually put in a Christmas movie (Munchkin isn’t much into parades) and “play” with our new gifts. Lunch usually consists of steak for D and seafood for Munchkin and I. We have munchies in the evening (cheese & crackers, veggies & dip). Usually, we have a birthday cake of some sort for Jesus.

This year will be a bit different. We’ll be spending time away from home. Our family won’t be all together, but many of our traditions will be carried on.