it's a Christmas Eve box....what a cool idea!

I bet Elf on the Shelf thought of it. he's a clever lil' bastard and another tradition I never got started...we did wrap up 25 christmas books and vhs ( yeah, that long ago) and the kids unwrapped one every night and we watched/read. but some of them they didn't like and sometimes we forgot to do it and sometimes we had to keep unwrapping to find something good....so, yeah. just yeah.

and one year Kate, KJ, & I read Dickens A Christmas Carol out loud every night at bedtime. we had a christmas advent box one time with candy, too...where you opened a door every night. and the mouse in the calender mom gave us. poor mouse would be stuck for days at a time and then jump a week ahead. I have good intentions. I really do. Honest. there was a Lego advent set, never did get around to building it. for years, the kids each got a Lego set for Christmas. one year Kevin even got the Lego grownup model car. I spent hours on the phone trying to order these back before we had a computer...would be on hold forever, then had to read out the credit card #...there was a castle set...soccer set...basketball set...now I collect the KC Chiefs Legos. I used to try to watch every Christmas movie every Christmas. my all time hands down favorite is National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. and yet, some years I totally forget to watch it. for reals. Katie's not in choir or band this year, so no Christmas concert for me. I mean, like, I could go. but that seems a bit much when the kid I want to spend time with is probably home by herself while I'm watching other peoples kids perform....no more volunteering in the craft room at elementary christmas party day. no more Christmas dresses for church programs. our new holiday thing is Christmas Tour at The Vaile Mansion. Have went the last 3 years. Kate has taken 2 different boyfriends. we used to do outside lights. we used to take drives to look at outside lights. I do like to browse the xmas displays in stores. the last couple years our tree has been red and gold. when I was in charge of tree, it was whimsical...old decorations, new decorations, favorite decorations....Kate does the tree now. in the past we had a tiny tree that I put on the trunk when Kate was little....it was a theme tree. one year KJ & I made Scooby Doo "stained glass" plastic ornaments and we had a Scooby Doo Tree. one year it was a Holly Dolly Christmas and I bought a bajillion little ceramic dolls at Dollar General for $1 each. and threw in some little stuffed dollies, too. then put it outside on front porch with the broken Disney ornaments from The Year We Had A Real Tree And It Fell Over In The Night Scaring The Shit Out Of Us And Breaking A Bunch Of Ornaments. we've had lights with a button we could push to change light pattern. plain lights. big bulb lights from my Grandma Grace. clear lights. colored lights. once upon a time we had Christmas Brunch...the barn crews split up the holidays, I would take afternoon shift and be home in the morning with the kids. Koren & I ordered breakfast kits from a catalog a couple of years...then we just made it ourselves. biscuits and gravy...pancakes...waffles...bacon...Kevin would watch the parade with the kids while I was making brunch and cleaning up. I've done different gift wrap for each kid. I love pretty bows! I also like to make homemade name tags for gifts. anymore, I usually just throw them in a gift bag and then reuse it. there was the Santa Snack. When I was a kid, it was always fudge and coffee. and Santa always left a thank you note, thanking us for the snack and for being such good girls all year. our snacks over the years have varied, mostly gingerbread boys. and a coke or pepsi. we used to make gingerbread kids. tons and tons of them. I so love gingerbread! we'd roll them out, using new and old cookie cutters...some the gingerbread always stuck in, no matter how much flour you used. some of those cookie cutters were from my childhood! my mom made fudge for Christmas...peanut butter and chocolate. and butterscoth cresent rolls. grandma grace made apple dumplings and hot rolls and chocolate pie and pumpkin pie. and mom decorated the house head to toe. don't remember outside lights, but every room in the house had decorations. we had a Rudolph and Frosty and other characters that looked like they were made with colored chocolate chips. and tissue paper things with the waffly legs and arms.

our stockings have changed over the years. some years I remember to fill stockings. some years I don't. I love buying shit tons of xmas candy for stockings. Kate put 'coal' in Kevin's stocking one year...I don't think anyone ever took it out!

and the inside cat and dogs get christmas toys and treats. outside pets get tons of holiday leftovers.