Xmas Traditions

speaking of "Xmas" are you offended that  i use X to abbreviate for Christ? one time in high school, i used that abbrev in a note i wrote to my friend or on locker decoration or something and she was offended and embarrassed. she said if i use X to abbrev it is like i am X-ing out Christ! ha. whatev. i think it's funny. but just to clarify...

I LOVE CHRIST!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :) :) :) :)

okay. now that that is taken care of, what christmas (or Xmas, for those of you short on time/bad at spelling/just like abbrevs) traditions do YOU have?

My family is not very ceremonial. Events are not turned into day or week long celebrations. there is not a whole lot of focus that goes into the "special day" until the morning of. however, christmas is different.

so i wanted to share some of my FAVORITE family traditions. and then maybe i can scan and upload some old school christmas pics to prove it next week. but just maybe.

• Painting Ornaments - back when my dad was in the real estate business, we would give each of his clients (or prospective clients) a christmas tin with chex-mix inside and a hand painted ornament on top. so for two weeks we'd have our table covered in trash bags, white ornaments (of a mouse in a wreath, or a bear in a stocking, or sleds, or an angel that said Merry Christmas), tons of paint in so many different colors, brushes, paper towels and water and we put it in front of the TV (so we could watch christmas movies while we paint!).  my mom, sister, and i loved it. me more than my mom or sister. we'd make my dad do at least one each year. some years he slyly got out of it. we still have some hanging on our tree. and after a while i loved it so much i upgraded to big pieces that formed a christmas town. i love love loved painting ornaments!
• Christmas Eve Show - we always go to a candle-lit Christmas Eve service at church. and when my sister and I were young, we would put on a Christmas Eve show at home for my parents. it usually consisted of singing (badly) christmas songs, choreographed (by me) dances, clarinet playing, cello playing, skits, etc... we don't do those anymore because we're older because i got pretty anal about practicing and making a program. she couldn't handle my intensity.
• Pajamas! - on Christmas Eve we always get to open one present! It is almost always pajamas to sleep in that night! the next day we open our presents in them!

i think we have a few more, but this is my absolute favorite:

• The 3 C's! - when my mom and dad first got married they were on a small budget and my mom wanted to do something that seemed luxurious and extravagant for christmas. so each year we have warm croissants, champagne, and chocolate truffles as we are opening presents! i loooooove this. carbs and chocolate...those are presents enough for me (okay i'm lying...don't listen to this mom.) yes, this means we are drinking champagne at like 8:00am but who cares! we also have coffee... i guess that's 4 C's. but i don't participate in coffee. 

What are some fun traditions you do? I want to establish one for just Trev and I before we start travelling to family's houses. any ideas?