I got this fun little survey in the mail (email, that is) from my friend Kate. I thought it was a cute way to start the holiday season.
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Honestly? It's usually newspaper or an old walmart shopping bag. But this year we're stocked with wrapping paper because we bought it cheap last February.
2. Real tree or Artificial? Fake all the way. We used to have a cute little 5-foot tree but last February we hit Walmart during their 90% off Christmas clearance sale and got an 80-dollar tree for 8 bucks! (it's 7.5 feet and pre-lit).
3. When do you put up the tree? The day after Thanksgiving. I would do it sooner but I have a 'bah-humbuggy' husband.
4. When do you take the tree down? Never!! Actually, I'm pretty much sick of it by the time Christmas is over. I don't think it's ever made it all the way to New Year's.
5. Do you like eggnog? Jones likes it a whole lot more than I do. We like to dilute it with milk.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? The first Christmas present I can remember was when we got our very first VCR. We also got the movie
The Boy Who Could Fly. I loved that movie. Jonesy's favorite gift was Sir Rusty. He's our little suit of armor we have in our living room (come over and take a look if you haven't met him). Jones got him when he was about 17.
7. Hardest person to buy for? That is an unfair question. I find it hard to buy presents for everyone (mostly because I have no money).
8. Easiest person to buy for? Gareth. We bought him a sand bucket and shovel from the dollar store. (don't tell him! It's a surprise!)
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes. The angel's head keeps falling off though so we don't have it out...
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? We mail them (if you want one this year send me your address!!). We need to get started on that!
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Jones once got a Ken doll from his grandmother....he still hasn't recovered.
12. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I usually make my fabric purchases during the after Thanksgiving sale at JoAnn Fabrics. Then I wait until the week of Christmas to buy the rest (I'm lazy..and I hate spending money).
13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No, but I traded a present with my sister once. (Why would you need driving gloves when you don't own a car???)
14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Jonesy likes to have a relish tray to snack on for Christmas day. Other than that we don't have any traditional Christmasy food.
15. Lights on the tree? Our tree comes pre-lit with beautiful colorful lights. When our kids are older, we'll probably switch to clear lights (clear lights seem more mature).
16. Favorite Christmas song? Jonesy has a special rendition of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman" that is pretty entertaining. "The restroom door said gentlemen so I just walked inside / I took three steps and realized I'd been taken for a ride / I heard high voices, turned and found the place was occupied/ by two nuns, three old ladies and a nurse/ what could be worse?/ than a nun, three old ladies and a nurse." There's more maybe I'll make a video of him singing it if enough people request it.
17. Travel at Christmas or stay home? We would LOVE to travel.. but alas we live too far from anyone for it to be economically feasable.
18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Dasher, Dancer, Donner, Blitzen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudoulph (Ruth still hasn't noticed that I repeat Donner and Blitzen..I always forget Prancer and Vixen.)
19. Angel on the tree-top or a star? We have a star but it's not on top..it fell about halfway down and we are waiting for our neighbor to come over and fix it for us (she has the habit of straightening our star every time she comes over. Thanks Kristina!!)
20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? We open pj's on Christmas eve and wait for the rest for Christmas morning.
21. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Well I probably would have put the cold weather in this spot last year, but here in Lubbock it's actually deal-with-able. So now I have nothing that annoys me. Jonesy says the thing that annoys him the most is the fact that his wife is allowed to sing Christmas carols. (what'd I tell you about him being 'bah-humbuggy'?)
22. Favorite ornament theme or color? We always like to make special ornaments each year to put on our tree. Still thinking of ideas for this year if you have any suggestions!!
23. Favorite food for Christmas dinner? Spaghetti (in other words, we have yet to have a special Christmas dinner...once the presents are opened, Christmas is over!)
24. What do you want for Christmas this year? A salary increase!! A trip home to see family would be nice too. We'll probably wait until tax return season before we get anything special for ourselves.
Hope this was fun! I'd love to see everyone do this on their blog so I can read your answers too!
We had a wonderful Christmas. It was especially exciting because Ruth is finally old enough to anticipate it. She was so excited for all he festivities. Gareth loves his new cars and dump truck and Ruth loves her new 'mechanical puppy' and her books. 
These next three pictures are of a random photo shoot that Ruth and Gareth both insisted on having. They're too cute to resist!
Here's some pics from our outing to Santa Land here in Lubbock. It was just a bunch of little displays of lights and characters put up by local buisnesses. The kids look like they're bundled up because it's cold outside...but it really wasn't that cold (we'd just forgotten we live in Texas when we got them ready).
We had a puppy for a day. He jumped into our car one morning while we were putting the kids in. Luckily he had been installed with a little microchip that had his owners information on it. It was a great way to remind me that I'm not ready for the responsibility of owning a dog. He was VERY cute though!
