Christmas Memories

Over at Home Sanctuary-Company Girls
http://www.homesanctuary.typepad.com/rachelanne/
Rachel Anne has asked us to post about our Christmas activities or favorite Christmas memory. 

Normally for us, we do the same things every year.  Christmas tree & decorations are put up the day after Thanksgiving.  My husband & I always go shopping together, for everyone.  We go to our kids Christmas programs for their Religious Ed. classes.  And we wrap the gifts together.  My husband is very big about having gifts under the tree.  When he was little, he said there was always gifts under the tree, whether they were his & his sister, from their mom or whether they were going to be given to someone else.  He loved the shiney paper & pretty bows.  We also always go riding around to look at Christmas lights, with beautiful Christmas music playing.  Ususally one or all four of our kids will fall asleep.  Then my hubby & I can enjoy the beautiful & peaceful scenery together. 

Usually 2 weeks before Christmas, we have a get together with my mothers side of the family.  I just love that we continue to see each other (aunts, uncles, & cousins) every Christmas.  We have family that come in from OH., so this is usually the only time of the year we see them.  Thank goodness, there is Facebook now.  I see my out of town family all the time, thanks to Facebook :) 

When the big day, finally gets here, that is when all the fun begins.
On Christmas Eve, my hubby & I will usually do some last minute shopping, while our kids spend some time with their nanny & pawpaw.  Then later in the evening, we go to Christmas Eve Mass with my mother.  My kids have Christmas with their dad & his family after Mass and my hubby & I go home & get things ready for Santa to deliver.  My kids get home pretty late, so they go right to bed, with their new pj's.  We give all the kids new pj's every Christmas Eve.  This is a tradition that I took over from my mom.  She got me, my sister, & brother, new pj's every year.  She continued that tradition with my kids & nephew.  My hubby & I took it over about 5 yrs ago.

Christmas morning, we get the kids up pretty early to open gifts.  My hubby's dad & stepmom are always there to watch the kids open too.  I just love watching the excitment in their eyes.  I will never grow tired of seeing that. 
After gifts, my parents, sister & her family, come over to have Christmas brunch.  This is another tradition, that I took over for my mom.  Later we open gifts together.  
My kids leave with their dad again, to his fathers side of the family Christmas.  My hubby & I stay home with my family.  Later in the evening when my kids come back home, we go to my mother in laws for Christmas.

Having a blended family, it gets very tiresome for our kids, going from place to place.  However, we think we have found a happy medium for everyone, for now.  This year, the only thing I want to do differently is maybe trying to have Christmas with my hubby's mom, sister & her family, on Christmas Eve, before Mass.  The reason for this, is so his mother doesn't have to wait until 7:00 or 8:00 pm to spend Christmas with us.  We shall see.  She usually  gets offended, if you try to change things.  :)

Christmas is not over for us on Christmas day.  We have another get together with my father in laws side of the family, the Sat. after Christmas.  This is a second day of fun, food, & family togetherness.  Santa comes to visit all the kids this day, as well.  I love to see the wonder in all the kids eyes, especially the younger ones.  The older kids play along, just not to give any secrets away.  I am so glad we have "good sports" when it comes to Santa.  The adults play a game, for our gift exchange.  It is more like gift stealing then exchanging, but it is fun.  There is usually always one gift that everyone wants & we are always stealing from each other.  LOL.  Good times!!!

This year has been a little difficult for me.  My husband has been out of town working since the weekend before Thanksgiving.  We had to put the tree up & decorate it before he left.  The kids & I had to put up the rest of the decorations around the house.  It was not the same without him here, to help us.  It has also been so hard for me to be in the Christmas spirit, with him gone.  I am just use to him doing everything with me & kids.  He will be home tomorrow, so hopefully my spirits will be lifted up, if they haven't been buried to far yet.

Well, this is definely long winded.  But, it is hard to write something small when it comes to Christmas.  Christmas for us is a very special time & it hold many traditions.  I just hope my kids will continue our traditions, when they are grown & raising their own families. 
And most importantly, I hope my kids will always remember the real reason of Christmas.  For Our Lord, Jesus Christ.  I also pray they will always say Merry Christmas to everyone they see & NOT Happy Holiday or Seasons Greetings.

Merry CHRIST-mas & Happy New Year.

Lauri