Deck the Halls Meme

Sweet Heidi tagged me for this fun meme.

However, I will be a bit of a Scrooge and not tag others, just encourage anyone to play who wants to! If you do please leave me a comment so I'll know to come see your answers.

Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Both – hot chocolate makes me feel young and reminds me of being a kid… egg nog with an adult beverage added reminds me of the adults in my past who worked so hard to make Christmases special for me.

Does Santa wrap presents or set them under the tree? No Santa anymore. We honor St. Nicholas on December 6th, however by reading this great book and putting candy in shoes.

Colored lights on tree or white? Colored!

When do you put your decorations up? After December 6th, depends on when the weekends fall. We keep our tree up through Epiphany (January 6th, the end of the 12 Days of Christmas).

What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? I love the molasses drop cookies we make every year that comes from a recipe from my Grandma, which aren't technically a dessert but I also don't think this answer fulfills the intention of the question. So... I love the homemade cranberry sauce we create each Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Favorite Holiday memory as a child: Cuddling with my mom as she read to me.

When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? One of my sisters asked me, “You know Santa is Mom and Dad right?” I think I was 7 years old. I hadn’t given it much thought and was a bit distraught to have found out.

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Sometimes. We do not open all gifts on Christmas Day, though. We open one gift a day on the 12 Days of Christmas.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree? With three children lending a hand after my hubby has put the lights on. It gets a bit frantic but we have fun.

Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love it! Love it! Love it!

Can you ice skate? Ha… ha… ha… I have never tried, so that would a big NO!

Do you remember your favorite gift? I don’t know if I have a favorite, but I remember the complete surprise of being given a certificate to get my ears pierced when I was 16, as my father repeatedly told me that only “whores” had their ears pierced. I guess my Mom convinced him otherwise. She got her ears pierced shortly after I did. :-) And then, my parents surprised us in Arizona one year with our first home computer with all the trimmings. They wanted to communicate with their grandchildren more often and had learned about using a computer and wanted us to join in their fun. That was in the mid 90’s.

What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Keeping my faith and awe of the birth of our Savior front and center. It can be a cynical time for those who don’t have that faith or are more enamored with the secular trappings of the time.

What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Pumpkin mousse.

What is your favorite tradition? Baking with everyone.

Which do you prefer, Giving or Receiving? Both.

What is your favorite Christmas Song? The Christmas Song as song by Nat King Cole, his sultry voice and the song illicit warm and wonderful memories of Christmases past and all my kids love this song, too, so I'm sure it will be part of future memories as well.

To me, a song is different than a hymn. So I am adding a two-fer question: What is your favorite Advent hymn? What is your favorite Christmas hymn?

My favorite Advent hymn would be O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (LSB 357), and my favorite Christmas hymn would be What Child is This? (LSB 370)

Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? Ok. I’m not too excited about them. I like the cherry flavored ones best. The peppermint ones are good for stirring in hot chocolate only.

Ever recycled a Christmas present? Nope.