All you ever wanted to know about how we celebrate Christmas

If you've never had a chance to read the blog "It's Almost Naptime" I highly suggest you grab yourself a pot of coffee and head on over. Missy writes the most hilarious and inspiring and deep and silly posts and somehow makes it all work. She is an extremely gifted writer and I love how she shares the stories of her family. She originally posted the following in 2009 and just re-ran it last week. She gave permission on her blog to copy and answer accordingly, so I took her up on the offer. So, to kick off the beginning of the Christmas season, I present (get it?!!?) the answers to all the burning questions you may (or more likely may not!) have to how the Chocolate House celebrates the holidays.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
I love them equally, but will typically only drink eggnog once or twice during the season, 'cause ya know, calories and fat and cholesterol.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Santa does both, depending on the gift sizes/shapes. Santa just stocked up on wrapping paper at 3 AM on Black Friday. Santa also is a little crazy in that he tries to sign his name differently on the name tags so the kiddos don't catch on.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? white.
We are Christmas light crazy at this house so we do both.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
No, and I'm not sure I'd recognize mistletoe if I saw it.

5. When do you put your decorations up?
Usually Thanksgiving weekend.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish?
Brace yourselves....here goes, and in no particular order:
Christmas Cookies
Stuffing
Monkey Bread
Egg Casserole dish on Christmas morning
Anything on the dessert table at my sister-in-law's Christmas Day
Oreo Snowballs
Artichoke Dip w/ club crackers
Puppy Chow (the powdered sugar-coated chocolate Chex Mix)
Really, after looking at this list, why not just throw back another glass or two of eggnog??

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?
My mom would spend HOURS getting the Christmas lights just right. Heaven help the bulb that went out an hour after she strung it on the tree. I remember the first Christmas my husband and I were married he just took about 2 strands of lights and casually wrapped them around the outer edges of the tree. (On Christmas Eve, I might add!) I had to pick my jaw off the floor as I never realized that some people put their lights on in 10 minutes.

My other memory involves my mom as well. Once the tree/light/bulb-out fervor had died down, she would help my brother and I decorate each of our rooms with garland (I'm really dating myself here) and lights and we used them for nightlights for the month of December. She put as much love and care into our individual room decorating as she did that tree.....and we love her for it:)

Not to leave out dear old Dad, he hauled all the boxes and bins down from the attic and quietly let us do our crazy decorating thing. Later in the evening he would sometimes "recliner" supervise the rearranging of a branch that was a little ornament heavy.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I didn't believe in Santa. Or the Easter Bunny or Tooth Fairy. It's okay....the therapy sessions have gone really well so far.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
The good part about not believing in the jolly fat man is that we got to open ALL our presents on Christmas Eve!!

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
I take an ornament, a put a little hook on it, I hang it on the tree. (This was Missy's original answer, but I loved it and had to keep it as mine too!)

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
Bring it.

12. Can you ice skate?
Really, you're going to ask the girl who trips while running and somewhat seriously injures herself?

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
From the ages of about 8-10, anything Strawberry Shortcake. My kids still use my S.S. sleeping bag and my oldest can now wear my circa 1983 flannel S.S. nightgown featuring Strawberry herself, and her BFF's Lemon Meringue and Blueberry Muffin.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
The gently falling snow, the wonder of the kids faces on Christmas morning, the ornaments that each have their own special memory in my mind, the lights you see as you're driving around the neighborhood and the fact that the Christmas story is as wonderful in my 37th year as it was in my first.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
See #6...with the exception of fruitcake, I have yet to meet one I didn't at least tolerate.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
I have alot, but one is watching "Home Alone" with my husband and kids on the first night that we put up our Christmas trees.

17. What tops your tree?
We have several trees, but on the 2 biggest ones are an angel and a star, respectively. Edgy, I know.

18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving?
All of it.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
"Mary, Did You Know" sung by Kenny Rogers and Wynonna Judd. I get chills when I hear Whitney Houston sing "Do You Hear What I Hear?" And "Last Christmas" by Wham! Wham! and only Wham!...not a Taylor Swift or Ashley Tisdale knock-off, thank you.

20. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum?
Yum! But as I was discussing with my daughters the other night, I prefer the mini ones as they tend to be a little bit sweeter, in my opinion.

21 Favorite Christmas Show?
Again, so many. I'm a sucker for pretty much any Hallmark movie and Fa-la-la-la-Lifetime makes my heart skip a happy beat. Looking at the week ahead, I'm excited about the Flintstones Christmas and all the Santa Clause movies with Tim Allen. I also love, love, love Family Man. And I love a holiday commercial, even if it is for something nutty like the Snuggie. Put a red bow across the screen and it's somehow okay to sell a backwards robe for 24.99 plus shipping and handling.

22. Saddest Christmas Song?
"Mary Did You Know."

So a ho, ho, ho and a fa la la la la to you and yours....let the season of merriment begin!