Christmas Bucket List 2016

Happy Monday, everybody!

We had the best Thanksgiving weekend, and I will be sharing it with you tomorrow.  There are lots of pictures to sort through, so I couldn’t get my act together to have the post up today.

As most of you know, I have been in the Christmas spirit since November first, so I’m thrilled that it is finally acceptable to share it all with you now that Thanksgiving has come and gone.

We do many of the same Christmasy things each year, so our bucket list this year will look similar to last year’s, but I also like to throw in a few new things each year as well.

O N E – Deck the Halls

We go all out for Christmas at our house, y’all!  We put up four Christmas trees, and almost every room in the house has some kind of twinkle lights or Christmas trinket… no room left behind!  I have been working hard these last couple of weeks to get it all up, and don’t forget, I will be co-hosting a Holiday Home Tour link-up with several lovely ladies on December 6th… we hope you’ll join us!  In the meantime, if you want to get your holiday decoration fix or if you just need a little bit of inspiration, you can see last year’s home tour here.

T W O – Shop for Two Children from the Giving Tree at Church

Each year our church puts up a Christmas tree with the names of hundreds of children on it.  We always select a couple, typically a boy and a girl, and we shop for them so they can have something to open on Christmas morning.  It warms my heart to do this every year, and now that our kids are getting older we want to teach them about kindness and caring for others as well.

T H R E E – Brian & Lindsay’s Day O Fun

B and I both like to take a day off of work and spend it together while the kids are at school.  We typically do it around this time of year and we use it to knock out a good chunk of our Christmas shopping.  We drop the kids off, shop ‘til we drop, and then grab lunch and sometimes see a movie.  It’s one of my favorite days of the year!

F O U R – Christmas Tree Lighting at One of Our Local Shopping Malls

We have been to this twice in the past, but last year they didn’t have it.  However, this year they brought it back, so we were sure to attend!  They have a parade and live music and it all leads up to the lighting of the complex. 

F I V E – Christmas Tree Lighting for Brian’s Company

We attended this for the first time last year and we had a blast!  They had cookies and hot chocolate, horse and buggy rides, and fireworks, all leading up to the lighting of the massive Christmas tree on the campus.  They also ask that everyone bring a wrapped gift for a child in need, so we are going to let the kids pick something out and wrap it for this event as well.  This was the tree last year... it's HUGE!

S I X – Christmas Tree Lighting Downtown

We have a heap of Christmas lightings in our town as you can see, and this one happens to be my favorite.  B and I have been attending this event long since before we had kids.  There’s a parade, carolers, snow makers blowing “snow” around, and many other things.  Our babies always enjoy this one, so we’ll for sure be attending it again this year!  Never gets old!  here we are at last year's... look how tiny Olivia was!

S E V E N – Breakfast with Santa

The start of a new tradition!  Our church hosts this event each year, but our schedule has never allowed us to go until this year.  We get to dress up, have breakfast with the big guy in the bright red suit, and meet him and take pictures.  Should be fun!

E I G H T – Watch Every Christmas Movie Known to Man

The most important one – Love Actually.  B and I have been watching this every single Christmas season since before we were married.  It’s officially my favorite movie of all time and it never fails to make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. 

Another one that we always watch?  Home Alone.  My family has been watching this every Christmas Eve as long as I can remember.  Fun fact, we actually pull out our original VHS tape and watch the scratchy old version on a VCR that we’ve watched since we were little.  My brothers and I can recite the entire thing pretty much from start to finish.  We heart Kevin McCallister!

Others on the list?  Home Alone 2, Miracle on 34th Street (the one from the 90’s), Serendipity, Charlie Brown, The Grinch, The Santa Clause, Polar Express, Elf, and the list goes on… 

This year I want to show the Jim Carrey version of The Grinch to Jacob because I don’t think he’s ever seen it.  And maybe we’ll even try to watch something that’s new to all of us this year!

N I N E – Elf on the Shelf AKA the Return of Cheek

Last year our beloved elf, Cheek, changed positions every single night and Jacob had a blast finding him every morning.  This year Olivia is old enough to understand what’s going on, so she’ll be joining in on the fun.  This year I’d like to have him do a couple of elaborate things instead of just moving around.  I wonder what kind of mischief he could get into…

T E N – Fantasy in Lights

Another tradition that my family and I have been doing since I was a little girl!  There is a place here in GA where you can ride a tram through hundreds of thousands of Christmas lights… it’s miles and miles of Christmas displays and it’s always so much fun.  Our babies love it just as much as I did when I was little, so this is one tradition that will always stick.  Here we are last year before boarding the tram... Olivia did not look happy to be there, but I promise she enjoyed it!

E L E V E N – Drive Around and Look at Lights

We pack up the babies, and drive through the very best neighborhoods in town while listening to Christmas carols.  One of my very favorite things to do!

T W E L V E – Visit With the Mall Santa and Ride the New Carousel

Even though we will be having breakfast with Santa at our church, we will probably still take the kids to the mall to see the original Santa that we’ve taken both of them to every year since they were born.  We can’t not do it!  Plus, our mall just opened a double-decker carousel that I’ve been dying to take the kids to!  I think that would be the perfect time to do it!  Now enjoy aaaallll the Santa pics of year's past... you'll see that I had to be in the picture last year just to get Olivia to sit with him.  Sigh...

T H I R T E E N – Drink Aaaallll the Peppermint Mochas and Eggnog Lattes

Well this speaks for itself.  October through December is pretty much the only time of year that I really drink coffee, so I treat myself as much as I can to hold me through the other nine months of the year!  ;o)

F O U R T E E N – New Ornaments for Each of the Kids

Each year we add new ornaments to the main tree in our living room – one for Jacob, and one for Olivia.  I typically try to find ornaments for the things that they were the most obsessed with throughout that year.  For example, last year, Jacob got a Spiderman ornament, and Olivia got an Anna (from Frozen) ornament because those were their two favorite things!  This year’s contenders – Flash or Star Wars for Jacob, and Elsa or Belle for Olivia.

F I F T E E N – Send Out Christmas Cards

We took the perfect fall photos last month, so we’ll be putting them to good use on a Christmas card as we do every year!  We typically send out between 70 and 90 cards, so it’s a big job, but it wouldn’t be Christmas without giving and receiving Christmas cards from our favorite people!

S I X T E E N – New Christmas PJs for the Kids

We do this every year as well, and this year we’ve already checked this one off the list!  As a matter of fact, they’ve been wearing them for a couple of weeks already.  Haha.

S E V E N T E E N – Christmas Concert Date Night

This year, B and I are going on a double date with my parents to the local theater to see a Christmas concert.  I am ecstatic!!  I love any excuse to get dressed up, and this time of year is my absolute favorite for date nights!

E I G H T E E N - Girls Annual Dirty Santa Scarf Exchange 

My girlfriends and I do a Dirty Santa style scarf exchange every year, and I'm hoping that we'll be able to do one this year as well.  We haven't set a date yet, but it's time to get the ball rolling!  Here we are last year... we had a smaller crowd than usual.

N I N E T E E N – Christmas Eve Childrens’ Mass

The reason for the season.  Celebrating sweet baby Jesus in all His glory.  The sweet little babies all dressed in their Christmas best, their eyes shining with excitement of things to come.  Angelic little voices of the childrens’ choir. 

It just doesn’t get any better than that.  Christmas Eve has always, and will always be my favorite day of the entire year, and now that we have kids of our own, it’s just that much sweeter.  Look at our sweet family last year before mass!

I know that these next few weeks will fly by, so I’m going to try to be as present as possible and soak it all up with my sweet little family.

What are some things on your list?

*Linking up with Momfessionals for Let's Talk.