Tagged......

Amanda tagged me on her blog......so here goes

Eggnog or hot chocolate?
Hot chocolate all the way--Stephens Candy Cane with a spoonful of vanilla ice cream...tasty.

Does Santa wrap presents or set them under the tree?
When I was a kid Santa wrapped most of our gifts. Now, because of LouLou's birthday (Dec 31st) Phil and I keep Christmas low key in the gift department. We don't want to combine gifts (cause that sucks). So Santa "runs out" of big gifts before he gets to our house and does stockings. Stocking gifts will be wrapped in Santa paper.

Colored lights on tree or white?
White on my "Judy Hanson" tree. When we get a family tree we'll get colored.

When do you put your decorations up?
The weekend after Thanksgiving.

What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
My mom's version of Stolen Bread...soooooooo good for breakfast (better than a cinnamon roll!)

Favorite holiday memory as a child:
Sneaking upstairs to peek in our stockings. That was the best. Especially the year my parents filled our stockings with packing peanuts to thwart us.

When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
WHAT?!?!? Santa isn't real??? LOL!! I think I just kinda figured it out. I don't have a memory of actually finding out so it probably wasn't too tramatic.

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Sometimes. We will be opening jammies as a tradition starting this year.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
HERE is how we did it this year. Hopefully we'll have a family tree next year as well.

Snow! Love it or dread it?
I love snow on the mountains and in the yards--I DREAD snow on the roads and I hate it on my driveway (since I am the driveway shoveler because Phil is typically at work when it snows)

Can you ice skate?
What was that sound?? That thud? Oh yeah--me falling on my arse on the ice.

Do you remember your favorite gift?
The one that sticks in my mind the most is a teddy bear I got one year. My mom bought the exact same bear for my niece and it was soooooo cute and I wanted one too (yeah--my niece isn't that much younger than I am) so Santa brought me one too. I still have it--LouLou sleeps with it in her bed now (along with her 100's of other stuffed animals--ok-maybe not HUNDRED'S but she does have a lot)

What's the most important thing about the holidays for you?
Being together as a family. Phil has issues with Christmas so I have toned things down a bit and we try *really* hard to focus on the true meaning of Christmas. And we try to balance that with making it magical for LouLou. So far Phil's been really good about not being Grinchy this year.

What is your favorite holiday dessert?
Hmmmm--don't have a favorite. Dessert is good. Period.

What is your favorite tradition?
Sneaking to look at stockings. Yes I know--repeat. But my siblings and I STILL do it to this day if we are at my parents for Christmas. I did it the Christmas before Phil and I got married. It's just fun.

Which do you prefer, giving or receiving?
Who is really going to answer recieving?? Come on! I do love receiving BUT giving--especially to Phil is the BEST. And when I can be extra sneaky and he doesn't know what he's getting it's even better! There is just something so incredibly fun in the process of figuring out WHAT to get him, how to hide it and waiting for his reaction.

What is your favorite Christmas Song?
Little Drummer Boy (love the Charlotte Church version)
I Want a Hippotomaus for Christmas (LouLou loves this one too!)

Candy canes! Yuck or yum?
Yum in hot chocolate or Peppermint Bark Popcorn but that's it.

Ever recycled a Christmas present?
Never.

Don't Be A Scrooge! Tag your friends to Deck the Halls...
I tag: Mel, Katy, Katy's Mom (even though she won't do it!) and DaNae