Christmas Traditions

I was at a recent gathering where one discussion focused on Christmas traditions. I sat there wondering if we had any in our home. I realized this week that, yes, we have traditions.

We bake and ice cookies together as a family. With Evie joining in on the fun this year, we had an even bigger mess than last year. By the time Evie was done she was the only one who could eat her unsanitary cookies! :)

Television is another tradition....we watch several of the standard rerun cartoons of yesteryear. "White Christmas" is the one staple-movie that we squeeze in at least once during the season. It's quite possibly one of my 10 fave movies of all time; it's fun sharing it with Jared and hearing him ask if we can watch it together.

Our most twisted of traditions, however, happens each Christmas Eve. We load up in the van and head to the local mall around 4pm....yes, 4 pm, when all the crazies are out grabbing last minute gifts. Having our shopping done makes it SO much fun to watch others scurry about. There are also lots of 50% deals already in full swing so why wait until the 26th?

Opening a few gifts early is another at our home. Each year I ask if we can open a few presents on Christmas Eve. Scott usually relents, but it's not a guarantee. Thankfully he gave in last night and the kids each opened a few packages. I just love getting the fun started early.

Scott and I have an ongoing tradition of tormenting one another. Okay, so basically Scott torments me. I have to work extra hard each year to guess my gift:
Our first married Christmas together saw me rummaging through the trash (the bag really was on top of the pile) only to discover a Macy's bag. Imagine my dismay when I opened an umbrella...Who buys an umbrella at Macy's????
One year I ruined the surprise by getting the mail--a task I used to seldom undertake--my very cute Taz Devil bowling ball bag arrived in a box wrapped in WB tape. I instantly knew what was in the box.
Last year took the cake. I tracked the DHL tracking number to find out where the box originated. Upon discovering it came from Fry's, I got on Scott's desktop PC and visited Fry's site, where I tried to find out what pages he had viewed. He had, of course, deleted the history.
This year he had the box shipped to himself at work. I tried to generate an online account for his credit card to see where he'd been shopping. Unfortunately, I didn't have his expiration date or security code from the back of the card. :)

Merry Christmas!