Things You Never Forget

There are certain times of the year that your mind becomes filled with special memories from years gone by. The Christmas season is most definitely one of those times for me. Every year, when we are getting out our tree and ornaments, all of those memories start coming back.

Growing up, one of my most favorite Christmas traditions in my house was one that my brother and I used to fight over all the time. It was one that had to be changed everyday. It didn't hang on the tree, nor did it have lights. What it did have, however, was a little gray mouse who knew exactly how many days were left until Christmas (so long as you moved him to the correct spot everyday).

I can remember waking up each morning in the month of December, and running downstairs to "move the mouse" before my brother was awake and had the chance to move it. Sometimes I got there first, and other times I didn't. We were probably supposed to take turns each day, but I was a kid, I didn't remember being told that then and I sure don't remember that now! Haha.

Now, all these years later, we use the Christmas Mouse Calendar with Aiden and Jenny. They love it too! This is the first year that Aiden has really cared about it, and he still doesn't understand it. He just likes moving the mouse because he sees Jenny do it. So, I make them take turns over who will get to move it everyday. For now, it seems to be working. Although, I know that one of these Christmas', they will fight over moving it the way my brother and I did.

Christmas Questions

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper. Although I'm not gonna lie, I am HORRIBLE at wrapping gifts. Jaime is my gift wrapper. I shop and pick out the presents, and he wraps them. It's a team effort! Haha. I also like the way wrapped presents look under the tree. Plus, the kids LOVE tearing all the paper off and making a huge mess with it....and I like to watch their faces light up more and more the closer they get to completely unwrapping each gift. 



2. Real tree or Artificial? I've always had an artificial tree. Even when I was still living with my parents we had an artificial one. In our home now, we have an artificial pre-lit tree. I do want to try a real one though, maybe next year!


3. When do you put up the tree? Usually after Thanksgiving. This year it was up before Thanksgiving because we all have such busy schedules right now.


4. When do you take the tree down? Usually after New Years. Depends on when I get tired of picking up ornaments off the floor that Aiden knocks down.


5. Do you like eggnog? Yes, but I can't drink a lot of it at once. That's probably a good thing though since it is so full of calories!



6. Favorite gift received as a child? Probably my first CD player. I can remember I also got money/gift cards that year, and I was upset on Christmas Day when I couldn't go out to buy more CD's for my new CD player since all the stores were closed.


7. Hardest person to buy for? My Dad



8. Easiest person to buy for? Aiden and Jenny. Last year Jenny was easier to buy for than Aiden, but this year it's the opposite. I already knew exactly what I wanted to get Aiden before I even went shopping. With Jenny, I had to ask her for a few ideas of what to tell Santa she wanted. Thankfully though, I am all done buying their gifts!



9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes.



10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Snail Mail.



11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Hmmm.... honestly I can't think of any. I know at some point I have received something that I really wasn't happy with, but it's supposed to be the thought that counts, right? Yeah right, tell that to my 5 year old. Haha!


12. Favorite Christmas Movie? This is another hard one...I have so many! Let's see, I like Polar Express, The Christmas Story, Frosty the Snowman, Home Alone 1 and 2, and so many others.


13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Up until this year I have always waited until about two weeks before Christmas. This year however, I started shopping in October. I tried to buy a little at a time, and it worked out well. I am over half way done with my shopping!!


14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No.



15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Chocolate covered peaunt butter balls.


16. Lights on the tree (colored or clear)? I like the classy look of the white lights, but we have colored ones. The kids prefer it, and it's more fun!


17. Favorite Christmas song? Silent Night or O Holy Night


18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home. We usually travel the weekend before Christmas to do our big family Christmas in Alabama. Luckily my parents live about 10 minutes away from me, so we don't really have to "travel" on Christmas.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph. Yep, I sure can!


20. Angel, star or ribbon on top of tree? We use a ribbon. I keep saying I'm going to get an Angel, but I still haven't done it.


21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? We open presents from family on Christmas Eve, and then Santa brings his presents Christmas morning.


22. Favorite children's Christmas song? "I Want a Hippopatumus for Christmas", "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus", "Jingle Bells", and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town".


23. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? I don't like Scrooges. If you don't like Christmas, fine - but don't ruin it for the people who do. I also don't like this whole thing about saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas". Um...hello?? Do you know WHY we celebrate CHRISTmas? Yep, that's right...it's the day of the birth of Christ. =)


24. Favorite ornament theme or color? We don't go with a theme. I just buy what I like and that's what we use. I also have a lot of ornaments that Jenny has made in school.


25. Turkey or ham on Christmas day? Ham.



26. What do you want for Christmas this year? Lets see... a new coffee pot, a nice set of king size bed sheets, and one of those heated mattress pads (king size). Honestly though, I don't care if I don't get a single thing. As much as I like receiving gifts, I'd prefer my kids get the things they ask for before I get what I ask for.


27. Does anyone in your family dress up as Santa? No.



28. Age you discovered who Santa was? I don't remember how old I was. I'm pretty sure I heard it from the kids at school though.


29. Eggnog, hot chocolate, or apple cider? Hot chocolate or apple cider. I like them both!


30. Traditional colors (red and green) or other colors? Love the reds, greens and golds!



31. Do you have any Christmas decorations on your roof? We live in an apartment so no.

32. How does Santa get into your house? Chimney or magic key? Since we live in an apartment and don't have a chimney, we tell the kids that he makes a chimney to come down - like in the movie "Santa Claus". You know, the one with Tim Allen in it.


33. Do you prefer gifts or gift cards? Gifts, although I like the gift cards that are usually in our family Christmas' Dirty Santa. =)


34. Favorite children's Christmas Cartoon? "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" (the cartoon - I don't like the movie).


YOUR TURN!!

Testing

Testing.....testing....123

Aiden's Birthday Party

*Sorry this post has taken me so long to put up. I have LOTS of pictures from his party and that makes it hard to sort through and choose which ones are blog-worthy. ;)

First things first, let me just go ahead and warn you that this post contains lots of pictures. Don't worry though, most of them are pictures of the cutest two year old you have ever seen! Grab a snack, and enjoy....

Aiden's official party was scheduled from 3pm-5pm. However, since we had family in town that had come to celebrate with us, his party ended up being an all day celebration. It started out Sunday morning, where we all got up early and went out to eat breakfast at Golden Corral. I have always heard really good things about their breakfast, but had never had it until last Sunday. Let's just say I was not impressed. Cracker Barrel is MUCH better!

Anyhow, after breakfast we all went back to my Mom's house and began to get ready for the official party. The kids played outside in the backyard, I started working on decorating and setting the table, and then my cousin and I went to the store to get the food and drinks. As you can tell I am a last minute kind of person. I even ended up having to go to the store twice because the first time I forgot to get drinks altogether. Ha!

We had pre-ordered a Moonwalk Rental for the party. It was brought around 11:30, and that was when the party really got going. All the kids had a blast, and even a lot of the adults got in and jumped!

Our family from out of town ended up having to leave a little early since they had such a long drive home, but we were so glad they got to come and we can't wait to see them again for our Christmas celebration! We let Aiden open their gifts a little early so that they could see him open them. He loved all of them, and uses (or wants to use) them all everyday.

The party continued with lots of jumping and fun. We had a pinata outside filled with candy and small toys. No one broke it, so we let Aiden pull the strings on it until the candy came out. I'm glad it wasn't broken because I can save it for him in his keepsake box. We went inside to let everyone sing "Happy Birthday" to Aiden and so that everyone could eat cake. The theme for Aiden's party was Cars. His cake was Cars, the decorations were Cars, and the pinata was Cars. Can you tell what his favorite movie is? =)

Aiden had a great day, and he enjoyed all of his gifts. I know he was so glad to be able to spend his birthday with awesome family and friends. Thanks to all of you who came to celebrate Aiden's 2nd birthday!! We had a lot of fun, he got a lot of great gifts, and we hope you all enjoyed yourselves too.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas....

It has actually been looking a lot like Christmas for nearly two weeks at our house. We will have had our Christmas decorations up for two weeks as of tomorrow. Obviously I was a little excited about Christmas! Or maybe it was just the only time where all four of us would be home together and have time to put up our tree. =)

This is our third Christmas using the tree we have now. Every year I tell myself I'm going to buy a new one, but I never do. Our tree isn't too bad, but I would prefer something bigger and with fuller branches. Our tree is constantly a work in progress. From the day it goes up, till the day it goes down, I will be adding new ornaments, moving ornaments around, messing with the branches, etc. For some reason I am a little OCD when it comes to the Christmas tree.

Our tree is a pre-lit 7ft (I think), that we bought at Big Lots for somewhere around $30. When we bought it, I was pregnant with Aiden. I remember we put it up on Friday, November 28th and Aiden was born the next day. If we can ever get our schedules to coincide, I'd like to make it a tradition that we put up our tree every year on the 28th. It doesn't look like that is going to happen anytime soon though.

As much as I'd like a bigger tree, I'm a little glad we don't have one. Since we moved into an apartment this year, space is limited. As you can see, our tree fits perfectly in this spot. If it were any bigger, I'd have to move more furniture around. I also don't feel like we have enough ornaments. I try to buy a few new ones every year. I'm sure if I keep buying a few a year, in a few years our tree will be full.

When Aiden was born, I started buying him a Hallmark Keepsake Ornament from their Child's Age Collection. Every year he gets a new ornament in the set. His set features a bear who grows older each year. It also has the date on the back of the ornament. The number stands for his first Christmas, second Christmas, and now his third Christmas.

This year I have also added a "village" to our Christmas decorations. When I first put them up, I was not very impressed. Jaime really likes them though, and I am starting to like them more too.

We also have our stockings hung, but I haven't taken a picture of those yet. I also haven't taken a good picture of our Nativity scene. The picture I have of it is very blurry. I will take those pictures soon and post them here as well. I also have one more decoration that I am going to post about sometime this week. It is something that I grew up with at my parents house and now we have it at our house. That's the only clue you get for now, you'll just have to come back and read about it later! =)

Thanksgiving 2010

Here are a few pictures from our Thanksgiving this year.

After our dinner, we went to see the Lighting of the Tree in Lawrenceville.

I'm considering this one for our Christmas card. Thoughts?

The clock on the Courthouse

I love, love, LOVE, this one!

The tree is lit. =)

Santa Claus came!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, we sure did!!

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