Christmas Plans?
 

What are your plans for Christmas? Driving, staying home, cooking?

I'm at my daughter's and my other daughter and her family are coming over Christmas Eve. Her husband demands having Christmas with his family every year, so we have to do our family Christmas on the 24th.

The kids ages are 4, 25 months, 21 months, and 13 months.

This year my son and his new wife are hosting Christmas day with just finger foods! Easy peasy just a couple simple dishes to pass. It will be different that is for sure. We will stop in at my Dads for a while before we go to give him his gifts.

I've been busy this morning baking two Pumpkin Rolls and made two Chocolate Silk Pies. Going to make some Pecan Sandies cookies soon. I have Christmas music playing in the background. It's not CHRISTmas until I have Johnny Mathis singing to me as I bake. lol

My adult children and their loved ones are coming over for CHRISTmas day dinner. We are doing seafood this year for a change. But I am baking a small ham for our dinner tonight!

One son is in Afghanistan, one son and daughter will be with their grandchildren and the rest of the sons will be at our house. Big dinner on Christmas day. Big collapse on Dec. 26. Rightly earned.

We are celebrating TODAY, my oldest son volunteers to work for others who have small children so that they can be home with them. We have had Christmas like this for years sometimes its even the day after !! I have our dinner prepared and cooking just waiting for them to get here this afternoon. I have no idea what we will do the actual day this year I suggested going to the movies but my husband gave a very strange look !!

All of our kids are grown, and they all do Christmas dinner with all their assorted inlaws so it is tradition in our house that everyone comes over Christmas morning for breakfast. We keep it pretty simple, they can come over as early as they want, breakfast is served at 10 am. Either before or after breakfast depending on when everyone gets here we open presents. The one rule we stick to is that everyone must leave by noon.....then DH and I have the rest of the day to ourselves. Its always good fun having all 12 grand kids plus all the adults here at once, but by noon I am ready for the peace and quiet!

I am at my DD for christmas and she had the meal all planed out. It wil be a wonderful day for all :)

My 3 children and their spouses/significant other and our 4 month old grandbaby will be at our house tomorrow (Christmas Eve day). My dad and step mom will join us. Then on Christmas Day we will go to a family dinner for my husband's extended family. Of course with all I have to do, as luck would have it, I woke up today with the absolute worst head cold imaginable. Wish me luck!

We went to BIL & SIL yesterday. Today Daughter and I baked our yearly cinnamon rolls,. Christmas Eve is our Christmas with the kids and Grands. One Grandson is in the Army in D.C. - Old Guard - He came for Thanksgiving, can't come for now. His wife and 2 girls are in Alaska with her parents. About 13 will be here. We are have ham and turkey sandwiches, chips, pickles and olives. Fixing a regular meal is too much in our small home.

I grew up celebrating with family on Christmas Eve--I have no idea why, that's just the way it always was. When I married, my in-laws always went back to their hometown, so husband and I joined my family on Christmas Eve. When DDs came along, I started cooking (Christmas Eve, of course) having my parents, brothers and their families, his aunt and uncle and friends whose families were out of town over. My brothers had to go to in-laws on Christmas Day. Besides, I wanted my kids to have Christmas morning at home so they could play with the toys Santa brought them. When they were a little older, their friends would stop by to play, talk, share. Our friends were also invited; the men watched football together. I always cooked enough to have plenty of left-overs for dinner that day.

My mother died in early Dec. in 1995 and I hadn't had time to get my act together, so one daughter had us all over. I was divorced by that time (although ex was there; we got along well), and I cried all the way home. My other daughter picked up my dad, as he was starting to have problems driving at night. I hated going home by myself to an empty house. Ever since that, I've had everyone here. This year, I suggested just having everyone over for pie and cookies. My daughters nixed that idea. They are cooking at home and bringing everything here. Woo hoo! I have the joy of having family here with no (or very little) work.

I hope you all have a joyous Christmas with your families. After all, family gatherings are one of the best parts of the Christmas season, no matter when it is held.

We have Fondue on Christmas Eve. It will be us (me, dh, ds and dd) and my Mum and his Mum.

Christmas Day I do a brunch. Guests cannot arrive before 10:00 am. I am adamant about that. One year the in-laws showed up at 8:30, I had not showered, got the food in the oven etc. I was very ticked off. These are the in-laws that expect to be waited on hand and foot.

My Mum is cooking a turkey. I would be very happy to just have nibbles the rest of the day and no big meal, as the brunch is a big meal. But Mum likes the big meal, I help out and will make the dessert too.

My ideal Christmas would be fondue Christmas Eve with people dropping in over the course of the evening, brunch Christmas Day, then a quiet day after brunch. Maybe a jig saw puzzle on the table or board games with the kids.

Actually my ideal Christmas would be staying in a hotel in the Canadian Rockies and having someone else doing all the work.

This year Christmas is just not finding me My mom and My mother In law both passed away. It sure will be different this year. Shopping is not done and I have a half a day left! Ug!!

Just got home from family Christmas gathering. Had a great time. Working Christmas Eve to support my nurses. Will spend christmas day at home, then business as usual...

Until this evening I was planning a Christmas Day noon dinner with my Mother and Aunt, just the 3 of us. But my stepmother just called to advise my step niece died last night, apparently in her sleep. She was only 35 years old and leaves a daughter, 8. We were not terribly close, but I want to make myself available to drive my stepmother to Richmond for the funeral or to be with her daughter, the mother, who is devastated. I don't know what the next 2-4 days will bring; it's a hard time of year to deal with this sort of thing for the family. So sad.

Jan in VA

Thoughts and prayers to you and your family at this difficult time! Holidays do make it more difficult my mom passed away on My step granddaughters birthday and the day before Easter. There will be other Christmases to celebrate her short life.

Everyone comes to our house for dinner and present opening. This includes 2 daughters and husbands, 7 grandkids, 2 significant others plus 1 great grandaughter. Other grandaughter and husband are in Va. One new baby due 12/26 and another due in Feb. Love it, but the quiet is wonderful when everyone goes home. Merry Christmas everyone.

mltquilt

Hosted our 28th annual Christmas party with our friends last night. Christmas Eve with my family, cousins and last remaining aunt just like I have done since birth, 54 years ago. Traditions are wonderful and my own daughters always make plans to attend too. Christmas breakfast casserole is ready to bake while we are opening gifts on Christmas morning and a tray of lasagna, meatballs, Italian sausage and spaghetti sauce are all ready for Christmas dinner on Christmas evening. We have to now work around my daughter's fiance's family, so I took the breakfast and evening meals. I love this time of year.

Well, I am so glad you asked. Since we are military it always changes a wee bit, When we are close to my Mom and Dad, they usually come down here to be with us, Since my DH is a chaplain and always has Christmas eve services. So I am fixing a soup to eat before church and some appetizers for after church. Then on Christmas day The Dh is smoking a turkey and we will have all the trimming, of course. Hope every one has a wonderful day. Beth

My divorce was final at the end of September. After 23 years of marriage, he decided he did not want to be a husband, father, etc. This is the first Christmas I have to "share" the kids. I hate, hate, hate this. Since they have to go to their dads at noon on Christmas Day, we have decided to have Christmas on Christmas Eve. We are cooking a ham, potatoes, carrots and pie. My children are 16, 13 and 11 so they know about Santa. We are opening gifts and going to stay up all night playing. I am excited about the evening.

We'll celebrate as a family the 26th at our house,with whole tribe...ages. 4 to 93 . Everyone pitches in for dinner. The kids go to the in- laws for the 24 and 25th. The kids have a jolly time: the old folks take out their hearing aids and put in their teeth.

I am forced to sit at my MIL's house. She has made it quite clear she doesn't like me so I make sure we don't stay too long on Christmas Eve. She also pretends that Santa has visited her house and signs all the gifts from Santa. Pretty presumptuous I think. I thought that privilege was reserved for parents. We leave, I change my mood and spend The rest of Christmas Eve and all Christmas Day in my PJs with my DH and 2 sons. On thursday through sunday, i will visit my family with my two sons. It is so quiet and boring at my MILs house with my SILs. It is riotous, loud, crazy fun when I visit my family. I have 2 sons and 7 nephews all 10 and under. My family is so much more animated and friendly.

Well, it's Christmas Eve. This morning I'll be making biscuits & gravy for breakfast. DH got home yesterday afternoon, GS is staying with us for the 2 week Christmas break, & we just acquired our GN to live with us a week ago. DD has to work today til 4 p.m., then going over to friends for an hour or so. After breakfast, I'll start assembling Christmas eve stuff. The cookies are baked, fudge made, pie for tomorrow. Christmas Eve is snacks & Christmas movies. We always watch "It's a Wonderful Life" as a family. Everyone spends the night tonight, so will have the house full. Tomorrow I'll make a french toast casserole for breakfast, then a ham for dinner with just mashed potatoes, relish tray, asparagus with hollandise sauce. We did the turkey thing for Thanksgiving, so no turkey for Christmas. We'll spend it as a family.

THANK YOU for his service to our country. God bless you and your family for his sacrifice.

We will see the family on New Years Eve day for our Christmas gathering. We head to church for Christmas Eve service. I will make a nice breakfast and dinner for Christmas. This year we are going to a movie too. We rarely go to the movies. OF course, some sewing will also happen.

I have been reminiscing about holidays past when my immediate family was together. I miss those days but the Adults" are all gone. I am now that "adult". My folks are gone. Good memories!

Peace to all!
Sandy

We spend Christmas Eve with just us - DH, DS, DD and I - will watch Christmas movies and specials, have special snacks all day and open our gifts this evening. It's such a special, beautiful day - my favorite of the year.

I wish you all a safe, joyous, Merry Christmas!
Cindy

My grandma passed away in 2006, and my grandpa in 2011 (at 99 years old). The extended family is still having trouble figuring out how to move on from the tradition of spending Christmas Eve at their house (started in the 1940s). My brother is hosting whoever wants to come for Christmas Eve for a Mexican food potluck. On Christmas Day I will be hosting and my mom will cook prime rib. We decided to do all our gift buying at thrift stores just for fun! We have such a good time opening them! Then DH and I will fly to Illinois that night to spend time with his family and our adorable granddaughter. We fly home on New Years' Eve. Then I'll have a few days off before school starts up again.

My brother and his wife & adult son were here and we opened gifts with them (just theirs) on Saturday night. Christmas Eve is spent eating breakfast for dinner, followed by church, then home for hot chocolate and opening the rest of the family gifts. Gifts from others will be opened tomorrow. Our "big" holiday meal (mostly Honey Baked) will be tomorrow at Mom's. Stretches it out and makes it do-able.

Iwill be alone again this year, Moved south 12 years ago so most are alone. Will get calls from children an some grands . Have got all my Christmas already. but that is ok. I said alone but not God is with me. Merry Christmas to all an a very Happy New Year.

We have my daughter and grandson until the 27th then we are travelling to NH to see my SIL and family I love being with them as well as the family is very close, so this year it's kind of nice to have the ability to be with both families. Some year's its only the one family we can manage to be with.

Have I got an idea for YOU! When my boys were small, I came across a magazine article about unique Christmas traditions. One person did a Jack Horner Pie. She saved back one present for each person including herself, wrapped them all in the same paper and stacked them in the center of the dining table with a ribbon running from each to the correct person's place setting. This served as her center piece throughout the holiday. Then on the 26th, these gifts were opened at one of the meals that day. This served as a wonderful answer to one of the boys on Christmas morning when they would invariably ask if Christmas was over. NO WAY, there was still the Jack Horner Pie to do! This would give you a nice enticement for your kids when they come back home and it lengthens the holiday. My mom loved to come to my house for Christmas because, as she put it, "Christmas goes on and on and on!"
These presents don't have to be big but they sometimes were. They might also be an accessory to something Santa brought. The ideas are endless. I also had a few generic presents stashed to add just in case some of my students happened by as they often did. Blew their minds that there was something for them in the pie!

Holli, The idea of a Jack Horner Pie is a great idea :thumbup: .

DH has to work tonite (12/25)so we had our Christmas Dinner on Christmas Eve. No plans for sure, might just work on finishing up my sewing room to be at least workable !LOL

Merry Christmas to all- Hope Santa was really good to you all ...

We changed our family Christmas to the weekend early because the kids spent the 24th and 25th running all over and couldn't have time at home with their own kids. Sounds great right? All that meant was that the in-laws now get both days and we are at home alone. I've tried unsuccessfully to get DH to make another tradition for us, but I guess he keeps hoping the kids will invite us etc. Hasn't happened in five years so I doubt it does.

This is my last xmas to work, I am retiring from public safety at the end of May. Looking forward to spending xmas with the grandson and family instead of working.

Spent the day at our son's house with DS, DDIL and DGS #1. DD , DSIL and DGS# 2 will be here on the 27th. DSIL's parents are divorced, so they have 2 places to go for his family get-togethers. Our dinner with all our kids and grandkids will be on the 29th.

What a fabulous idea!! I have sent it to my daughters and nieces for their new traditions ideas. Thank you!

Jan in VA

We just got back from Aurora CO late last night. My DS and his 2DD's live there. We left Friday late afternoon from Normal IL and drove straight through (with gas and potty breaks and dinner in Springfield IL). Christmas was great. The girls liked all the gifts we gave them.