Christmas is my favorite time of year. There’s just something about it that I love — and it’s not the gifts (although, I do have my eyes on a lovely pair of earrings). I love decorating, and the music and all of the lights. And the cookies.
I simply LOVE decorating the tree — and the tradition of looking at each of the ornaments one by one and remembering who they were from … or when they were made. So many of our ornaments were hand painted by my mother and I love that. And I absolutely love the little ceramic hands and feet of both of my children that were done by a local artist (http://www.sonshineprintsbyamy.com/). Tyler’s feet were done when he was only three weeks old! My sweet six year old loved the ornaments this year, too. Is that one mine, mama? Who gave this one to me, mama? And she remembers the stories because most of them do have a story. We have this one big bird ornament that my mother made in the 70’s. And while it’s missing a few feathers and maybe an eye, it hangs proudly in the front and every time I see it, I remember the trees from when I was a kid. Our two year old basically put all the ornaments on the same branch — but he was excited about his new soccer ball ornament that his sister gave to him.
Did I mention that there are four trees in our house? My husband thinks it’s too many, but I’m all for a few more. The one in my office is four feet and has camera stuff all over it. Sabrina has a pink one in her room and the dining room has a gold one. Clearly, I can go on and on about Christmas trees. I actually got teary eyed as I saw a family driving home with a tree strapped to the top. I’m telling you, there’s just something about this time of year.
The music. I love the music … and thanks to Magic 95.5 and XM radio, I can listen to it nonstop until the new year. No more gangnam style or call me maybe … it’s been replaced with lovely Christmas music. And I prefer the classical more traditional music. Justin Bieber singing Jingle Bells? No thanks. Oh and Dolly Parton. I could do without her versions as well.
The lights. Seeing lights is part of our family advent calendar each and every year! We love looking at the Christmas lights — even driving through the neighborhoods of Avery Ranch is quite impressive. Although, not quite as impressive as:
1) Chinati Court in Cedar Park — they even have their own Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/chinati.court). You MUST go see those lights (even if you live in South Austin).
2) We also go to two houses that are just a few miles from there that has their lights set to music. They are awesome — although I don’t know if they are doing it again this year. Addresses: 2410 Sharon Drive in Cedar Park and 122 N. Saddle Ridge Drive in Cedar Park. Oh — and I found this for Ashlee … their light display is set to such a lovely Christmas song … Gangnam Style (http://austin.culturemap.com/newsdetail/11-27-12-10-03-austin-area-christmas-lights-dance-gangnam-style/) and you can follow his facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/ListenToOurLights. I don’t have an address, but a friend sent me directions who lives in his neighborhood but when I contacted the owner directly, he asked me NOT to publish the address. So, if you want directions, email me at [email protected]
3) Did you know that the Zilker Trail is back this year?? After a two-year absence, city officials announced that the light display will return, Dec 16th – 23rd, 2012 (http://www.austintrailoflights.org).
4) This one is brand new and I cannot wait to go (although there’s a per car fee) — it’s a drive-thru light display in Round Rock (http://impactnews.com/articles/rock-n-lights-drive-thru-holiday-celebration-coming-to-round-rock).
5) We’ve done the 37th street lights twice and neither time knocked my socks off. The pictures on the Internet must have been from years ago — because last year they were so lame, we left after a few minutes. I’m not even going to bother this year.
One of the best things we do with our kiddos is take them to the live nativity … not the one in Burnet simply because it’s a long drive and I’m not quite sure my two year old is ready for that type of activity. Although I do plan to take my six year old this year and if it’s fabulous, I’ll report back! The Live Nativity that we love is at Bethany United Methodist Church in Austin (http://www.bethany-umc.org/events/live-nativity). It’s a 20 minute program put on by their church members and it’s simply fabulous. They serve hot cocoa and we’ve been going for three years and it has ALWAYS kept the attention of my kiddos. It’s only three nights — so, mark it down — the 13th-15th of December. These pictures are from 2010 because apparently I didn’t take any last year!
Oh, and I love the cookies, and the mulled wine and the hot buttered rum and the cookies. Did I already mention cookies? Well, I love them. Our family has at least fifty other traditions but this post is getting long! I’ll save the rest for another time!
I’d love to hear of your favorite places to see lights!
