What’s your favorite thing about the holidays? Jesus is the reason for the season, for all seasons! I love Christmas. I like to decorate my whole house! I have a whole Christmas Cottage over at my webhome.

Do you send out Christmas cards and if so how many do you send? Yes I do. I think I sent out around 40. I ran out of stamps so I still may send out a few.

Be honest: holiday newsletters. Love ‘em or hate ‘em? I like getting them.

Be honest: photo cards. Love ‘em or hate ‘em? I enjoy them. I added photos to the cards I sent out to relatives. Some are not on social media.

How soon do you start shopping? Around October. I get Hallmark ornaments to pass out to my kids, grandkids and a couple of friends.

Real or fake tree? Lots of fake trees, in every room of the house! Different sizes.

When do you put up your tree? This year I started decorating before Thanksgiving except the kitchen. Good thing because I got sick and did not do anything for 2 weeks. (flu, not Covid)

When do you take down your tree? I start after the New Year. It takes several day. Just depends on how I feel. I do change the family room to winter for January.

Describe your typical tree (size, decorations, type)Our main tree is 9 feet tall. There is also a 7 foot slimline I decorate seasonally. It has Nativity ornaments and angels. A smaller tree has some of my favorite ornaments like baby's first Christmas and the very first ornaments we got from my parents when we were engaged. There is a 7 foot frosted slimline in the kitchen for the gingerbread. I have a 7 foot slimline in the girls guestroom that has Peanuts on it this year. I have 3 trees in the master bedroom. I will post more pictures in the next few days.

What do you top your tree with? Depends on the tree, but most have angels.

Do you put Christmas lights outside your house? Normally, but this is the first year we didn't. But we did put a Christmas tree our by the front door with lights. We also have one of those special lights that projects colored light on the house. Then we have a few inflatables. More pictures to come.

Is there a wreath hanging on your door? Yes

Do you hang up stockings? Yes, one for every member and the dogs!

Your favorite Christmas Movie(s) A Christmas Carol, White Christmas, It's a Wonderful Life.

Be honest: A Christmas movie you hate. My boys and husband love A Christmas Story. I don't hate it, but it is not one of my favorites.

Favorite Christmas Song(s)Oh Holy Night, Mary Did you Know, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas. Joy to the World, Silent Night.

Be honest: If I hear this/these Christmas songs again I will throw up. The only song I can think of is Grandma got runned over by a reindeer, but I have not heard it in a long time.  I listen to a few Christian Christmas music stations on Pandora. I love Christmas music, but especially the traditional ones I learn at church when I was growing up.

Give or Receive? Give!

Eggnog or Mulled Cider? Both!

Ham or Turkey? Love both! We have them for Thanksgiving. This year we will have Mexican food for Christmas dinner.  Stacy asked about Mexican Hot Chocolate. I will have the recipe for Tuesday 4 with a picture.

Saturday 9: Happy Holidays! (from the archives)

1. As you can see, Sam loved giving her annual wish list to Santa. Yet some children are reluctant to climb into Jolly Old St. Nick's lap. Did you enjoy the tradition or were you shy? Or did you by pass it altogether -- either because you wrote him a letter or because your family didn't celebrate Christmas? I do remember seeing someone dressed as Santa at a party when I was a child. I grew up in church so there was more emphasis on Jesus than Santa. We learned that it was Jesus birthday on Christmas. So Santa wanted to celebrate the birthday by passing out gifts. We did right a letter to Santa each year. I did this even as a teen. Our kids did the same. These are our kids. This was probably around 1992. The 2nd picture was taken about 10 years ago. The grands from my daughter. The 3rd picture is from this year, the younger grands took it at church.

2. Are you currently on the Naughty or Nice list? How did you get there? I am on the nice list.

3. Did you ship any gifts to friends and family this year? If so, which one traveled the farthest? I sent a card to my grand niece that lives in Michigan.

4. Did you buy yourself a gift this year? Yes I did. I got a Dex spinner. 

5. What's your favorite holiday-themed movie? Have you seen it yet this year? There are several Hubby and I watched A Christmas Carol, It's a Wonderful Life, White Christmas and Home Alone 2. We also saw Meet Me in St. Louis. I saw it on the big screen last year so I wanted him to see it this year. We watched National Lampoon's Christmas on Thanksgiving. We watched Elf the next day.

6. Thinking of movies, Christmas is lucrative for Hollywood. Have you ever gone to a movie theater on Christmas Day? No, but we have gone the day after.

7. Have you ever suffered an embarrassing moment at the company Christmas party? No

8. What's your favorite beverage in cold weather? Mexican Hot Chocolate.

9. Share a memory from last Christmas.  We normally bake cookies, but decided not to do it this year because I was sick. Hopefully we will do more next year!

 

 

 

I am thankful for feeling better each day! 

Thankful for the visit I had from my sister and brother in law yesterday. We were able to sit out on the patio and enjoy sunny, cool weather. 

Thankful that I was able to work on Christmas cards. Some of the older relatives are not on social media and they look forward to cards. I also include pictures.

Thankful that our Christmas plans are being made. I will be wearing a mask around my family this year. I will have a small table set up away from the main table. 

Thankful for my Bible reading, now in the book of Daniel.

Thankful that most of my shopping is done. Last minute gifts has been ordered.

Thankful having everything I need.

Thankful for all the wonderful Christmas music. 

Thankful for all my Christmas ornaments and memories that go with them.

Thankful for my dog Minnie who makes us laugh.

Thankful being able to keep in touch with my kids and grandkids through messaging.

Thankful for my church friends.

Thankful for my online friends.

Thankful for my hubby, a great cook that takes care of me and the house.

Thankful for my relationship with Jesus. He is the reason for all seasons.

It is 10:41 and there was no link for Tuesday 4. I hope Annie is not sick. But I was for 2 weeks and I hardly had energy to even blog. My mind has been on Toni. Toni  made her last entry on Dec. 12, 2019. We were also friends on Instagram. Toni loved her family, poetry, Peanuts and her graphics. She was a beautiful woman of God.

Toni and I met well over 15 years ago through a country graphic community where everyone had a website. We all visited each others web homes. There was a welcome page that the visitor could read the daily happenings. We had guest pages to leave messages an gifts. We all had fun decorating our webhome. We sent each other gifts and we would leave Christmas cards and siggies. We supported each other. Women were from all over the world. Everyone was encouraging and we shared tips and other things. We were a community. Then Blogger came out and it was free so some people moved to that. But people were blogging. Then Facebook came out and that virtually ended the Webhome. I am a dinosaur. I still have my site, Susan's Garden of Friendship At our old webhomes, we had whole sections dedicated to certain seasons like Christmas and Fall. Lots of us had recipes and traditions to share. I like to go back and look at the stories I shared. I can go back and visit Christmas from back in 2002.

One of the Christmas pages I did was on Nativities I collected. Both graphics and real. Toni send me hers to add to my page. Click on her ornament to go to my Nativity page. I sure miss her!