traditions...

Although there's a few scenes and a little language I'd prefer to edit out, 

National Lampoon's Christmas vacation is among my all time favorite Christmas movies!

Tonight, the kids and I ordered a pizza, put on our warm jammies and cozied up on the couch to watch it...again.

{$2.99 on On Demand, folks}

This is one of my favorite scenes...

before the season is over, we'll have watched

The Nativity Story

Elf

A Christmas Story

It's a Wonderful Life

The Grinch

The Santa Clause movies

Charlie Brown

Rudolph

A Christmas Carol

Polar Express

Frosty

It's tradition...you HAVE to do it!

It's also tradition that we take a "personal day", just the four of us.  We shop, we eat, we laugh, and we buy our annual Christmas ornament.  The ornament always has to represent something big that happened in our family throughout the year.  I was thinking about a house this year, since we made a big move...but now I'm leaning more towards finding a raccoon..or maybe a family of them.  Totally tacky, but it does represent something big!   {Btw, the count is still at 2 for 4...the remaining two SEEM to have disappeared...but the verdict is still out}

I'm not sure I'll ever get used to continuing on with the traditions even though we're not all here.  It's just not the same with Alex at school while we carry on.  I'm counting the days until we're all under the same roof again!  

I ♥ MY FAMILY

"The universal joy of Christmas is certainly wonderful. We ring the bells when princes are born, or toll a mournful dirge when great men pass away. Nations have their red-letter days, their carnivals and festivals, but once in the year and only once, the whole world stands still to celebrate the advent of a life. Only Jesus of Nazareth claims this world-wide, undying remembrance. You cannot cut Christmas out of the Calendar, nor out of the heart of the world." 

Anonymous