Of Things Christmas

I hope you are all having a lovely December. This is my last blog post of the year, as 1) Christmas is coming, and I don't have time to blog (and you should really be doing other things besides checking my blog when there are Christmas things to do!) and 2) I need to spend some time working on things for the launch of Yorien's Hand! So, I will see you all back here in January!If you are helping with the launch, I will get you the information you need (guest post, answers to interview questions, release-week info package, etc) no later than Friday, January 8th. If you would like to help with the launch, I still have a few slots open, you can sign up HERE.Until then, I leave you with this fun post about All Things Christmas that Deborah tagged me with!Ooh, I forgot to post the rules yesterday: 

Rules

-Post the picture on your blog (The funny thing about this is this tag is old and the original pic got lost somewhere along the way, so we’re all having to ignore this rule now - I'm using Christine's picture from her blog, because I like it)

-Answer the questions

-Tag up to 12 bloggers - except I didn't, because I'm doing the free-for-all if you want this tag, go ahead and take it thing..

-Make up 10 questions for the other bloggers (There are also 20 questions now. This thing has changed and expanded quite a lot - and nobody is making up their own questions)

What is your favourite Christmas treat?

Peanut butter blossom cookies. And Sour Cream Coffee Cake - which my mom always makes for breakfast Christmas morning. Yummm. Are there any special traditions that your family has to celebrate Christmas?We have lots of fun traditions. The kids and I do a Jesse Tree every year (it's felt and homemade) and we read The Jesse Tree by Geraldine McCaughrean as we do an ornament each day.We also got a Lego Star Wars advent calendar this year, because we're such enormous nerds.Last year, I packed up all the Christmas-y children's books with the rest of the decorations so that this year I pulled them out, wrapped them up, and put them under the tree. Each night before bed, one of the kids gets to pick out a book and open it and then Derek reads it as the bedtime story for the evening. That has been a huge hit!We watch all sorts of Christmas movies in the weeks leading up to Christmas. How do you normally celebrate Christmas?We often have multiple Christmases, just because our extended families are so spread out. But at home, we celebrate by sleeping in a little, opening presents after breakfast (we make the kids take turns, even), and then opening stockings - which is more of a free-for-all opening time. Do you enjoy getting presents for your friends and family? Do you buy your gifts or go the homemade route?I love giving presents to my friends and family. Finding something special that I just know the recipient is going to love or enjoy or is going to make them laugh because of an inside joke is super fun! I usually buy presents, as the quilts take FOREVER, and the only other thing I make by hand is books... and the timing doesn't always work out so well to give those as "surprise Christmas" gifts. Is it cold where you live? Have you ever had a white Christmas?For the past 9 years, the answer to that was "no" and "no." But, I grew up near Chicago, where we would often have some sort of white Christmas. I remember many years as a kid of opening presents and then going out sledding or ice skating for the rest of the afternoon. This year, being in Wisconsin, I was hoping we'd have snow by now... but we don't. Thank you, El Nino. What’s on your Christmas list this year?Um... books? I don't really have a Christmas list of things. I'd love to take my girls skiing for the first time this year, though. That would be awesome! What’s your favourite Christmas song?Oh... I don't know. I love them all. Maybe "If it Could Happen Then" by Collin Raye. I love "I Wonder as I Wander" by just about anyone. I kind of have a soft spot for any Country Christmas songs. And I love all the traditional Christmas hymns. I also love any Manheim Steamroller Christmas music, instrumental Christmas music... AH! I cannot choose. I love them all! I even love the ridiculous songs that everyone hates (although I kind of despise "Santa Baby") but I have a soft spot for "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer"... I know, I know... What is your favourite Christmas memory?Probably any year we went skiing with my cousins up at Chestnut Mountain Lodge. Those were super fun times.What does your Christmas Tree look like?Here, I'll just show you:It's fake (sigh), and the kids helped decorate it, and we have a 15-month old, so all the ornaments have to be hung on the top half of the tree, and... yes... half a strand of lights appears to have gone out there on the bottom of the tree... so... you know... but really, that's what my tree would probably look like even if I didn't have children... so... it's all good.What are you reading in December? (Anything festive?)Right now I'm reading The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson. Then.... I'm going to have a difficult choice ahead of me. I got 10 books for my birthday, bought three more during the Black Friday Sale, and then was unexpectedly gifted three more books after that... so.... I'm having a bit of a hard time deciding which one I want to start next. It will probably depend on my mood... and what I have room for as I'm packing for our trip to visit my family! Are you an organized little elf or are you still shopping/preparing on Christmas Eve?I'm pretty organized. I have a few gifts I haven't gotten yet, but I'm mostly done shopping. How early do you start to get into the Christmas spirit?Around the first of November. It doesn't "feel" like Christmas to me until November hits. Do you make any Christmas crafts? Decorations? Send physical Christmas cards?Just the Jesse Tree. Here, I have a picture! We're a little behind on our readings this year... so there are lots more ornaments not pictured here. Probably my favorite Christmas craft ever... partially because I think it turned out pretty awesome!And, yes, sometimes I'm with it enough to send physical Christmas cards. What’s the menu for Christmas Day?!Sour Cream Coffee Cake, ham, sweet potatoes, orange creme jello salad, rolls, and cookies What makes it FEEL like Christmas for you? (Weather, specific tradition, food, smell, person, etc.?)Snow! My kids getting excited about advent. When I start hearing Christmas songs on the radio. When people start putting up decorations and lights outside. Do you have relatives coming? Excited? Nervous?We're going to visit relatives. And I'm SUPER EXCITED!!!! What famous Christmas character do you most identify with? (Scrooge, Elf, Tiny Tim, the Grinch, Santa, etc.)Cindy Lou Who from the newer Grinch movie with Jim Carrey. If you were to start a new Christmas tradition, what would it be?Well, we started the book-unwrapping thing this year, that was fun. I also like the idea of everyone giving each other books on Christmas Eve and spending the afternoon quietly reading while wrapped up in blankets, enjoying hot cocoa, and maybe a fire in the fireplace.... but that is not going to happen in my house until my kids are a bit older. What Christmas movies do you like to watch this time of year or what’s your favorite?All of them.Okay, my favorites:How the Grinch Stole Christmas (cartoon and live action versions), Miracle on 34th Street (newer version), The Night They Saved Christmas, Die Hard (yeah, I went there), Prancer, A Christmas Carol, Jingle All the Way, Ernest Saves Christmas, The Santa Clause, The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, The Christmas Cottage, The Polar Express, It's Christmas, Charlie Brown, Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation (a more recent addition, but a new favorite), and of course, It's a Wonderful Life! What’s your favorite Christmasy book or book with a favorite Christmasy part?He Whistles for the Cricket is my all-time favorite book with a Christmasy part... oooh! maybe I'll read that next. I also love and own tons of children's books that are Christmas books. The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey and The Polar Express are probably my favorites of those, but... oh, don't make me choose!

TAGGING

And now..... I tag all of you! If you haven't been tagged for this Christmas tag before, consider yourself officially tagged! (Or just answer your favorite questions in the comments). (Here are the questions if you want to use the tag and don't want to have to delete all my answers)

• What is your favorite Christmas treat?
• Are there any special traditions that your family has to celebrate Christmas?
• How do you normally celebrate Christmas?
• Do you enjoy getting presents for your friends and family? Do you buy your gifts or go the homemade route?
• Is it cold where you live? Have you ever had a white Christmas?
• What’s on your Christmas list this year?
• What’s your favorite Christmas song?
• What is your favorite Christmas memory?
• What does your Christmas Tree look like?
• What are you reading in December? (Anything festive?)
• Are you an organized little elf or are you still shopping/preparing on Christmas Eve?
• How early do you start to get into the Christmas spirit?
• Do you make any Christmas crafts? Decorations? Send physical Christmas cards?
• What’s the menu for Christmas Day?!
• What makes it FEEL like Christmas for you? (Weather, specific tradition, food, smell, person, etc.?)
• Do you have relatives coming? Excited? Nervous?
• What famous Christmas character do you most identify with? (Scrooge, Elf, Tiny Tim, the Grinch, Santa, etc.)
• If you were to start a new Christmas tradition, what would it be?
• What Christmas movies do you like to watch this time of year or what’s your favorite?
• What’s your favorite Christmasy book or book with a favorite Christmasy part?

And Merry Christmas! See you all next year!