And that's the Christmas story Charlie Brown . . .

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Santa - wrapped or unwrapped?

Well, this will be our first Christmas with children who are old enough to really understand the holiday. I've been reading the Christmas story to Maddy and she seems to understand some of it. But, you can't ignore the Santa Claus part of Christmas.

Hubby and I had a discussion last week about how we would handle "Santa Claus". When I was a young girl, Santa brought the majority of the gifts. Sure, there were one or two wrapped presents from my parents, but Christmas morning usually consisted of unwrapped presents from Santa. I can remember the excitement of running down the stairs to find all of my presents under the tree - all laid out where I could see each and every one. So, last night, I asked my mother why she decided that Santa's gifts were unwrapped and why most of the gifts came from Santa and not from her. She said that Santa's gifts were those that usually required some assembly and were very big and bulky, thus making them hard to wrap. She told me that when I was a real young girl, like Maddy and Baby Lulu, that all presents were wrapped, 'cause you know, at the age of two, unwrapping the present is usually better than the present itself. She explained that as I got older, it just became easier (with 3 kids), not to wrap EVERYTHING.

So, what do you all think? Should Santa's gifts be wrapped or unwrapped? And should the majority of the gifts come from "Santa" or from Mommy and Daddy? Feel free to leave your suggestions in my comments - I'd love to hear how everyone else is doing it. And also, look over there in my sidebar and vote, please.

These are a few of my favorite things . . . to do during the Christmas Holidays!

"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things . . .'

1) Sipping egg nog and watching "Christmas Vacation".

"Don't throw me down Clark!"
"I won't Aunt Bethany!"

"Is the house on fire Clark?"
"No Aunt Bethany!"

"Oh Aunt Bethany, you really shouldn't have!"
"Oh dear, did I break wind?"
"Gees Bethany, did the room clear out? Heck no! She meant the presents!"

"Aunt Bethany will you say grace?"
(Aunt Bethany shakes her head no)
"GRACE - they want you to say Grace."
"Grace? She died 30 years ago."
"THE BB-LL-EEE-SSS-II-NN-GG!"

Boy, that Aunt Bethany is sure good for some laughs!

2) Decorating the Christmas Tree





3) Stringing the lights outside . . .

With my little helper . . .


who decided that chasing the neighbor's cat would be more interesting!

4) Wrapping presents . . .
Ooopps - no picture for that -- haven't actually started doing that. Ahem! Anywhoo . . .

5) Kissing under the mistletoe

Ok - let me clarify -- first of all, there will be no pictures (you're welcome!) Secondly, hubby, I'm only referring to kissing YOU under the mistletoe. I mean ladies, just look at him!




6) Sipping on a warm cup of cider cozied up by a fire (is "cozied" even a real word? Um, well spell check says no. Well I say it is now -- this is my blog and I can do that if I want!)



6) Listening to this . . .




"When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad!"

He knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake!

You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
He's making a list
And checking it twice;
Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice
Santa Claus is coming to town
He sees you when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good So be good for goodness sake!
O! You better watch out! You better not cry Better not pout I'm telling you why

Santa Claus is coming to town!

Politically incorrect!

An Advent Carnival

My sister-in-law is hosting an Advent Carnival over here. She asked her reader's to participate by sharing inspiration, information, activity ideas, craft ideas, music and more. The main focus is "Anglican Advent Traditions", however, all are welcome to join in. If you didn't get a submission in prior to her post, feel free to leave your tradition in the comments.

Being a traditional gal and now, having a little family of my own, I'd love to start some family traditions also. So, I'm excited to hear about every one's ideas.

Head on over and see what traditions our fellow bloggers observe this time of the year.

I've been elfed . . .

This is hilarious --- ever wanted to see me, my husband and my girls dancing to Christmas . . . no - well go here anyway!