I love Christmas decorations. If I could do nothing else it would be to decorate for Christmas. I love trying to come up with different ideas for decorating from year to year.
It’s at this time of the year that I would love an all-white house so that I could experiment with different colors and different themes. Now, I do believe less is more, and can’t stand big artificial plastic guys. I like pretty, sparkly, shiny, decorations placed strategically around to accent those empty spaces. Continue reading
I always struggle with when to take down my Christmas decorations. I’m not the type of person that puts everything up the day after Thanksgiving.
Our holidays have always been steeped in tradition. First, Christmas stockings are always hung “by the chimney with care”. One year, when Matt was 5 years old, he called me up to his room. It was close to midnight on Christmas Eve and Matt was still awake.
One of my favorite holiday traditions was when I was probably about ten, which would make my younger sister, Judy, about five years old. 
Christmas was always so fun for me as a child, so when I began my family, I wanted to make sure they had as much fun with it as I did. For the first 2 ½ years, when Bradley was an only child and we lived in New Berlin, we would come and stay in Beaver Dam for the holidays. Christmas Eve was always spent with the in-laws and Christmas Day was with my family. 
Everyone seems to have a favorite Christmas movie that they love to watch over and over during the holiday season. I don’t. First of all, I hate to watch movies more than twice. If I were to sit through a movie that I have seen before I get really bored and just can’t continue watching it. There are a few exceptions like “Because I said so”, The Wedding Date” and a couple more. But they have also reached their expiration date to me at this time.
My all-time favorite Christmas movie would have to be White Christmas. By the time the season is done, I will have watched it at least a dozen times. The music and dancing make me smile every time.
Christmas is a time for wishes and dreams, fantasy and reality. 
As a child, our Christmas holiday was always made more special because Grandma Is would come and spend the night with us. It always felt like such a special treat to have Grandma sleepover. Each year, Lisa and I would take turns hosting Grandma in our room on our trundle bed. 
Christmas comes just once a year. Thank goodness. Don’t get me wrong. I love the reason for the season. I just get frustrated with the stress level that comes from the unrealistic expectations I place on myself.
