Our Christmas Traditions...

Believe it or not, we are only 2 days away from Christmas! Is it just me or did Christmas creep up on us too quickly? I thought we wouldn't be finished with shopping until it was too late, but we finally finished getting gifts last night and we will finish getting the rest of what we need for Christmas dinner this weekend.

But as we get closer to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I am reminded of this year means to me, especially after a horrible 2012. I am thankful that Mom is still with us to spend Christmas with and that everyone else is healthy and happy. This Christmas season has been filled with old and new traditions.

Christmas Eve usually starts around 6pm, with everyone wanting to dive into the delicious snacks that we bought just for Christmas Eve. Mom usually tells us to wait, so we bring out the cards and poker chips to play. Twin, Dad, and I usually play about 10 hands (We really get into poker on Christmas Eve) while Mom prepares the snacks. Sometimes we have A Christmas Story playing in the background or Christmas music. It really depends on who has the remote.

Once we have finished deciding who the winner was after 10 rounds, Mom announces that the snacks are ready and we all sit in the living room, discussing the day or the week. This year we have a new tradition to add to that. Before we all go to bed, Mom reads a special book that she had gotten last year about a little girl discovering that there truly is a Santa and he leaves her a little bear so that she can have a friend forever. Once we are all full, done with poker, and ready to go to bed, we all head to bed while Twin and I leave the television on A Christmas Story all night long. I know it seems like a waste of energy, but we do it every year.

Usually we drive around looking at lights on Christmas Eve, but because it's going to be cold, we have decided to that on Sunday night this year instead.

On Christmas Morning, we all wake up and sleepily walk into the living room. After a few minutes of everyone dozing off, we all help make breakfast. After breakfast, we actually open up stockings first and dive into the chocolate. Then we decide who will play Santa and hand out gifts. Usually Mom gets the first gift. After all of the gifts are unwrapped and the wrapping paper picked up, we do our own thing until it's time to cook dinner and spending the rest of the day together!

I know it's nothing exciting, but I treasure every single tradition because it's involves the whole family. What are some of your favorite traditions?