Three more days until Christmas, and I kinda hate to get my hopes up but there’s been a snowflake icon on December 25 on my weather app for about a week now. A white Christmas would be so perfect, especially since my dad will be here from Texas. (Although he got about three inches at his house recently which had not happened since 1985.)

Cooper got home yesterday after taking his last final exam – Macroeconomics, and Kory arrives tomorrow. I don’t know how they did it, but Kory, my dad, my sister, Melinda, and her husband, Brent all fly in to Boston tomorrow night at 11:30pm and all from different cities and on different airlines. Robert and Cooper will be the ones to make the midnight trek to pick them up though, because I can’t stay up until 2 or 3am and be up early to make breakfast and also lunch for after church. (Robert isn’t preaching during the morning service – only the evening candlelight service.)This season is such a frenzy of tasks and activities, but I still love it. Yesterday was spent at Costco, Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Target, Michael’s, and Big Y (our local grocery store). It took all day to shop and put away groceries and wrap a few last gifts. The day before, I spent about an hour figuring out what we would eat while everyone is here, writing out the menus, and making coordinating shopping lists. I even found a place to order tamales from, because Christmas Eve is not complete for a gathering of native Texans without tamales thanks to our Mexican friends there. Thank you, Veracruzana ~ and right in downtown Amherst!

Speaking of tamales, I asked my kids what some of their favorite Christmas traditions, gifts, foods are, and thought I would share what they said and add in a few of the things they didn’t mention, but that we do regularly.

1. Christmas Foods:

They all said “Mexican Food on Christmas Eve.” Truly, it’s a Texas thing (and obviously a Mexico thing, as well as many other Spanish speaking cultures), and we just can’t do Christmas Eve without it. I think I should qualify this, though, by saying it’s really “Tex-Mex” food. There’s nothing very authentic about it, made clear by the fact that it’s the only time of the year I ever buy Velveeta cheese at a very painful $9.99 per block here in New England, but queso calls on Christmas Eve, and no price it too high. We’ll have a Mexican chicken soup with all the toppings, too.

The other thing they look forward to is coffee cake and egg casserole on Christmas morning, and for years we’ve had beef stew and cornbread for Christmas Day lunch, but this year I’m changing it up a bit: ham, homemade GF macaroni and cheese, broccoli salad, asparagus, and a tossed salad. Pecan pie, chocolate pie, and LOTS of Christmas cookies are on the dessert menu.

Favorite Cookies: Annie Hall’s Butter Cookies (via Susan Branch), Chocolate Crinkles, and Peanut Butter Blossoms with a Kiss

Oh! And I totally forgot about THIS COOKIE. I haven’t made it in a few years, but it probably should go at the top of the list.

2. Christmas Gifts (and stockings):

Our tradition has been (in recent years) to make everyone wait until 7am and until Mom and Dad have a cup of hot tea in their hands. This year we’ll probably be waiting on them until 8 or 9am. Late enough for teens and twenty-somethings to sleep in a bit, but not as late as they normally would, because there are presents to open.

Stockings are first – candy, socks, undies, new toothbrushes, body wash, candy canes, and other small gifts.

Presents come next. I grew up with everyone opening their gifts all at the same time in a mad frenzy. It was all over in about ten minutes. We decided on a different tradition for our kiddos. Robert passes out a few gifts to everyone, and then we open gifts slowly and one at a time. This way, everyone sees every gift opened and gets to savor the moments a bit more.

Favorite gifts from their growing up years?

Wooden Doll House

Legos – EVERY Christmas until about five years ago was spent building Lego sets. I miss it!

Sword

Pop gun rifle

iPod

They always opened a small gift of a coupon, trinket, hot chocolate, or candy every day of December in their Advent bags and received a book and a game on Christmas morning as well.

My favorite gift is almost always the notes of encouragement that Robert gives me to open on each of the 12 Days of Christmas. They last almost until my birthday, and have been a great blessing to me.

3. Christmas Activities:

Years ago, some friends gave us the idea of doing an “Advent Activity” every Sunday afternoon or evening. It could be as simple as having friends over for coffee and dessert or going to a Vespers service at one of the local colleges. We’ve tried to keep that up.  This year we went to the Smith College Vespers service (where several young women we know were readers, choir members, and bell ringers), and to the Amherst College Christian A Capella concert on two different Sunday evenings.

We almost always drive to see a light display, usually this one in a large nearby park.

And we love attending our own church’s Christmas Eve Candlelight Service.

Oh, and as superficial and commercial (literally) as it sounds, we typically go shopping at the “fancy” mall in West Hartford the day after Christmas, because everyone has gift cards to spend and exchanges to make.

4. A Christmas Tea Party:

I’ve written about this many times over the years, because I just love it. I used to have a “grown-up” Christmas Tea Party for my own friends and for the purpose of inviting new friends, but when Kayla turned five (I think) we started having a tea party for her friends. At that very first tea party, I envisioned doing it every year until the girls were all grown up, and that (miraculously!) is exactly what happened. In fact, the one you see pictured here (and all throughout this post) was very likely the last one, since Kayla and most of her friends are graduating this year.

We always do basically the same thing: make graham cracker gingerbread houses, eat a tea-party style lunch, play some games, and make a craft of some sort that the girls can give their moms for Christmas. Though I forgot to do it this year, we almost always read a Christmas storybook, or have a short Bible devotion. I’m pretty sad about forgetting that component on this final year. The girls almost always wear pjs to the tea party, too.

I just love these girls, and will miss them making gingerbread houses around my kitchen table every year. Sigh…

5. Christmas Music, Movies & Rest:

I listened to a totally ridiculous podcast (it’s a couple of my favorite bloggers) while on the treadmill at Planet Fitness this morning, but it helped me expand my Christmas music playlist just in time for the holiday weekend. I’ll always love The Carpenter’s Christmas albums, and I really don’t know if anyone will ever outdo Amy Grant’s Christmas music, but today I listened to Chris Tomlin’s Christmas Songs of Worship and Glory in the Highest (because of the podcast) and developed a new love for the hymn “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus.” So good.

Our favorite Christmas movies are pretty typical: It’s a Wonderful Life, Charlie Brown Christmas (watched that on TV last night), Elf, and White Christmas.

Kayla and I had some girls from church over the other night to watch The Spruces and The Pines – adding to our repertoire of ridiculous Christmas romance movies. It wasn’t terrible. Back To Christmas isn’t too bad either, which Robert and I watched the other night while Kayla was babysitting, because she’s seen it so many times. And can I just take a moment to thank God for a husband who doesn’t mind sitting through predictable holiday chick flicks? It’s rare, I know, and I probably owe him about a thousand action movies in return.

And it may sound silly to even mention rest as part of our Christmas tradition, but it has become my favorite day of the year because of the rest it allows. I’ll be cooking a lot this year, because of having extended family here (and I don’t mind at all), but most years, it’s the day we eat simple traditional foods and sit on the couch all day in our pjs.There will likely be an afternoon nap induced by reading a new book, a slow cup of coffee after lunch, and possibly a stroll along the bike trail or through the downtown neighborhoods. The whole world seems to shut down that day. The stores are closed, the traffic is gone, and the expectations are few. It’s just a little easier to slow down and take a deep breath. I realize it’s partly because we don’t travel or have extended family nearby, and so I treasure the chance to be still.

The days following Christmas a a bit slower as well. This year I’m even looking forward to a string of days at home by myself (an ongoing fantasy of mine) before heading to Texas for the end of our church’s mission trip to Houston and seeing some family there for a few days.

Oh, I think I have always just loved everything Christmas. I even came across a few photos from Christmases in the 1970’s today, and thought I would include them for your enjoyment. I’m sure you have some that look very similar. Barbies and roller skates had to have been my all time favorite gifts growing up. And this photo was taken at my grandparents’ house – a place, which if you read my previous post, you know I absolutely loved to be. (I’m on the left and my sister Melissa is on the right)

I’m off on a date downtown with Robert tonight – to a local historic inn with a gift certificate given to us last year, and I can’t wait. It will be our last time to be alone together until near the end of January due to family visits, fundraising trips, and travel to Texas and Oklahoma. Tomorrow will be cleaning and cooking and preparing rooms and beds for everyone, and then it will be Christmas Eve.

I hope you and yours have a wonderful weekend of celebrating and enjoying all of your favorite Christmas traditions! (And here’s hoping and praying that snowflake icon stays put on December 25th!)