Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Happy Birthday Todd!

We just wanted to wish Todd a very happy 35th birthday!! And many more to come. We hope that you had a great time at your party on Saturday....I know everyone else did. And the birthday celebration continues today (and knowing how your birthdays are, there will probably be more after today).

Michael and I are so thankful to have you in our lives and know that you will be a great father to our new arrival in March as well. Thank you for everything that you do for us. We hope that you had a great day. We love you!!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Deck the Halls

Melissa at My little World: Choo-choos, cars, and lip gloss tagged me with a Deck the Halls meme. It made me realize that Christmas is right around the corner and we haven't done too much preparation yet!

Egg nog or hot chocolate? Hot chocolate with peppermint is my favorite!

Does Santa wrap presents or set them under the tree? Santa wraps all of his presents.

Colored lights on tree or white? Colored lights. We use white lights for decorating outside. We always had the light strands with the big bulbs growing up too.

When do you put your decorations up? Whenever we get them down off the shelf out of the garage. Usually the week after Thanksgiving.

What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? That's a hard one because the holidays are all about eating. I don't know that I have a favorite one......

Favorite holiday memory as a child: Opening presents on Christmas Eve, loading up into the car and heading to my grandparents' house to open presents until the early morning. Then we would go to my other grandmom's house and open presents there in the morning. Lunch was always at my great-aunt's house in Philly. I didn't know you could fit so many people in one place that wasn't a restaurant.

When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? What is the truth about Santa? :)

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We always opened our presents at home on Christmas Eve and then opened at my grandmom's on Christmas Day. We still open with my parents on Christmas Eve.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Lights on first, along with the tree topper, then decorate with ornaments and finally the Aunt Rose balls go on last. The finishing touch is the tree skirt, which I always have a hard time with.

Snow! Love it or dread it? Love it if I am inside and warm....not such a fan when I am outside and cold. We don't get too much here though.

Can you ice skate? Sure can! I used to have my birthday parties at an ice skating rink from the ages of 10-13. I got my own pair of ice skates when I was in high school and still have them.

Do you remember your favorite gift? I have always been blessed with many gifts so it would be hard to pick my favorite.

What's the most important thing about the holidays for you?Definitely spending time with my family.

What is your favorite holiday dessert? Chocolate crinkles cookie.

What is your favorite tradition? Making Christmas cookies each year the weekend before Christmas. I love baking and getting everything together and eating cookie dough too!

Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? I prefer giving because I get such joy when I have carefully selected a gift that really makes someone happy.

What is your favorite Christmas Song? This is an easy one. It's Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses. My sister and I used to love to listen to it every year as we wrapped presents.

Candy canes! Yuck or yum? Yum. Had my first one this year in a chocolate covered brownie.

Ever recycled a Christmas present? Never, but I may have wanted to.

Don't Be A Scrooge! Tag 7 friends to Deck the Halls...Susan, Steph, Amanda, Amy, Manda, Staci, and Jen.

Tree Farm

We headed out to Harmon's Tree Farm today. The weather was beautiful today and it hardly even felt like it was mid December. We were bundled up and managed to get some nice pictures on the train as well as in the fields where they grow the trees.

Michael really enjoyed the train ride through the fields once we got going. He was a bit scared at first but he usually is that way when he experiences something for the first time.

After we got off of the train, we headed back inside to see Santa. We had looked at Santa on our way in and tried to get Michael to sit on his lap but he wasn't interested. When Michael saw him for the second time, he actually sat on his lap and talked to him for a minute before getting a treat.

We drank some hot chocolate and ate some fudge before heading home for the afternoon. We didn't get our tree from there as the type that we like is not grown in South Carolina. Looking forward to making this an annual tradition!!