(ended) Countdown Contest: 2 Days Until Christmas

[SunshineGirl]

We're almost done giving away prizes. Make sure that you get your chance! Today is another easy one. How will you spend your Christmas morning? A nice family breakfast? A thrashing of present opening? Or maybe something more unique?

We'll randomly choose one post from before midnight Eastern to be the winner.

Standard Rules Apply:

http://sunshinerewardsforum.com/showthread.php?t=17569

[PSL1013]

I'm bringing breakfast over to my son and his fiance's house, which will consist of my Holiday egg casserole and mimosa's and then we will rip open the gifts!

[rumrunnergirl]

I carry on the tradition of my childhood -

Everyone gets dressed & eats a nice breakfast, then we sit in a circle and one person opens a present at a time. That way everyone gets to see all the presents and the person's face as they open a present. Dad is the designated garbage bag holder for wrapping paper and boxes, and Mom is the picture-taker.

[faithhope]

We unwrap family presents on Christmas Eve, and it is done in a slow, thoughtful, and thankful manner with lots of pictures.

On Christmas morning the kids are allowed to go crazy with the presents that santa brought them. The only stipulation is that the parents must be awake to take pictures and see the happy faces.
Then after the frenzy, we have a nice breakfast, and a fun day at home to play with all our new toys. It is a wear your jammies all day kind of day.

[JillyFish]

Well....we are usually up pretty late on Christmas Eve since we have everybody over at our house. So, believe it or not, we always have to wake our kids up on Christmas morning. DH and I usually wake up pretty early because we're excited and can't sleep! LOL! So we usually get up, shower, and sometimes even exchange gifts with each other before the kids get up. Once the kids get up, we open presents right away. We take turns so everyone can see what you got.

[shmily1]

I will get up about 5:30, put on the turkey, wake up the rest of the family, open presents, clean up the mess from that, then get everything ready to do lunch with family and friends. Finally around 3 PM, I'll sit down and crash!!!!

[jenvance]

I also carry the tradition of my childhood. The kids wake us up, we go upstairs. I put on the pillsbury cinnamon rolls. They open their stockings, we eat, then we open the presents, kind of one at a time. So that everyone can see what everyone gets. Then we go to my moms across the street, then we go to my grandmas and then we go to my mother in laws. Busy busy day for us.

[m 'n c]

I'll probably wake up really early like 7amish and then go peak at my stocking, I'll let Murphf out for a minute then run inside and finish wrapping gifts. By then it should be 8:30 so I'll go bring Murphf in to wake up my brother so he doesn't get mad at me and then we'll go attack our stockings together and watch the Disney parade until my parents wake up.

[jnorth1007]

This year has been a tough one for me. It has seemed very commercial and all about gifts for everyone in my family. I have decided to try to make it more traditional for me and the kids and Brandon.

I recieved an awesome pack of cinnamon spice from Tricia so I am going to be using that to make cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning with the girls. First we will get up and let the kids play with their Santa gifts since Santa doesn't wrap his gifts. Then we will make the rolls and have breakfast while we listen to Christmas music. Then we will open the gifts from mom and dad. Finally we will be submerged back in the chaos by dressing up and going to my parents home for dinner at 3pm where the gift giving turns in to a crazy chaos and no one knows who got what from whom.

I know this is long but I have to say that I was thinking last night about some of the purely New Orleans things we did as a kid for Christmas and I am promising now to do these with my kids next year. We are going to have a Revillion which is a big dinner that is held on Christmas Eve. It used to be held with just adults and they would eat until it was time for midnight services or time for Santa to come and put toys together. Much easier to do when you have help. Mine probably wont be so late because we don't live within a block of family like we always did as a child.

I also plan on taking my kids to St. Charles Ave. in New Orleans to see the historic homes decorated for the season. We are then going to take them for beignets and coffee in the city.

I also would love to take them to see the bon fires held on the levees in St. John Parish which are lit on Christmas Eve to light the way for Santa's sleigh.

There are so many things we used to do that we just dont do anymore. I am hoping that if I plan things I can bring some of those things back next year. Thanks for indulging me.

[lkturner]

Get up early. Open presents. Eat freshly baked [Trader Joe's] chocolate croissants and clementines. More presents....