pre-Christmas Monday

We usually use our Mondays to update you on our plans for the week. Well, since it's Christmas, we decided we'd each share something from our own holiday experience! We'd love to hear yours as well.

Patricia: Christmas for me has always been synonymous with books and reading. While Christmas morning is about Santa and presents and pimento spread on Ritz crackers...Christmas afternoon and evening are about curling up in comfy pajamas with cocoa and marshmallows and reading until the house is quiet and the only light in the room is from a roaring fire and a shimmering Christmas tree. Since I first read it when I was 11 or 12, I always read THE UNLIKELY ROMANCE OF KATE BJORKMAN and then quickly dive into whichever book Santa knew I so desperately wanted.

Danielle: I'm spending Christmas with my mom and sister in South Carolina. It's our first one in a new states. I'm excited to see them. Usually we spend all day enjoying our presents--but this year, since we're not really doing presents, it will be nice to spend the day reading, cooking, playing card games and probably watching cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies--as those are a family favorite.

Cindy: Christmas for me has morphed into something entirely different from what I knew when I was growing up. What used to consist of secret santas with distant cousins and meals of potato salad (yuck!) and homemade biscuits (yum!) now has a completely different look. Instead of driving across town to spend our day with family, we drive 7 hours with two small children to spend a day or two with our beautiful goddaughter and best friends before heading to spend Christmas day with the family. Then, a couple days later we go back home to give our children their own Christmas.

Christina: Christmas for me is lots of time with the family (mine and my husbands now too). And each family has different traditions that I just love. My hubby's family always watches It's a Wonderful Life every Christmas while making rice crispy houses (instead of gingerbread houses). With my family it's always lots of hanging out, eating, and there's this one random Santa puzzle that my aunt always make us put together too.
One tradition that I remember as a kid are the twelve days of Christmas. Growing up, (not every year but a few of them) my parents would give us all little treats like candies or something we needed for school, like pencils and such, for each of the twelve days of Christmas. I always loved it and can't wait to do something like that when I have kids of my own!

What ARE you doing over the holiday?