2Peas Tuesday Challenge

Challenge for today is: With the holidays around the corner. When does your family put up your tree and other decorations? Is there a tradition?

I was just talking to Mark about this LOL

Traditions...love them. I don't know what the holidays would be without them. The Christmas traditions start with Miracle on 34th Street (the original B&W) for me and Planes, Trains and Automobiles for Mark after dinner on Thanksgiving.

Growing up, Christmas decorations went up the Friday after Thanksgiving. The outside lights went up that day no matter what the weather was dishing out. I can remember some hairy moments with Dad perched on the very top step of the ladder, reaching past what would be considered safe just to get the lights up. I've kinda forced that onto Mark...poor guy...and he spends a good part of December perfecting the outdoor display LOL

Christmas cards (the years I do them) are done and ready to mail the Monday after Thanksgiving. This year I'm really on top of that as I got the Canadian ones mailed today...wahoo!

I usually have the house decorated by the Monday following Thanksgiving...everything but the tree. I play Christmas music a little bit more each day building up to Christmas day.

I start the Christmas cookie baking as soon after Thanksgiving as I can without stressing myself out. I always make a double batch of each type of cookie and freeze half...otherwise the cookies would be all gone well before Christmas LOL I love baking and enjoy having the boys help me.

The Christmas tree goes up the first Saturday of December. I'm not sure if that's a carry over from my childhood or if it's something that Mark and I fell into once we were married. In years past, we had a great deal of fun going out to the tree farm and hunting down the perfect tree. This year I'm not sure what we'll do. I'd love to get a real tree, there's just something about the smell and the feeling of Christmas that gives the house. I guess it'll depend on the cost of a real tree verses an artificial tree. It's my job to put the lights on...not sure how I was roped into that one. We decorate the tree as a family even if it means waiting till the next day.

I've never been a "Black Friday" shopper. We did it once but never again...it's just not worth the sanity. So except for a few things here and there that I pick up in November most of the Christmas shopping is done in December...Mark has a "tradition" if you will of going out on the 23 or 24 of December to do his shopping and he loves it because he seems to find all the deals.

Somewhere in the weeks leading up to Christmas we get the boys over to see Santa and get a picture. I love the Advent season at church and Christmas Eve service.

We open all our gifts on Christmas Day. The boys must wait till everyone is up before going downstairs to see what Santa left. We open presents one at a time...usually youngest to oldest. (And I will convert the Meyer side one day LOL)

But my favorite tradition is reading to the boys. On Christmas Eve just before bed we read "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". I can remember my Dad reading this to us every Christmas Eve...usually we tried to get him to read it in his Donald Duck voice. On Christmas morning, before a single gift is opened, we read the Christmas story...sometimes straight from the Bible others from a book, for a more "story" version.