By: eshoe

eshoe — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 10:51:07 +0000

Since my hubby and I can’t have kids (thanks ed), we prepare dozens of sugar cookies and invite the neighborhood kids over to decorate them – they LOVE it! We have so many decorative things to go on top – dragées of every color, sprinkles and colors of icing galore. Then we send them home with the cookies – treats for Mom and Dad, too.
It’s once of my favorite memories of Christmas since I have been married.

By: Lizzie

Lizzie — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 08:03:47 +0000

I dont have any real holiday traditions but this post reminded me of something i did the other day. My four year old cousin and I made Christmas gingerbread shapes the other day (trees and stars etc) and decorated them wth red and green icing and seeing his face light up when we were making them just made me smile. i also just want to say how i love reading your posts, I am from Australia so sometimes i dont quite get the “Arerican-isms” but i think you are a very smart and courageous woman for allowing others to read your thoughts, thankyou.

By: Mrs. B.

Mrs. B. — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 20:10:11 +0000

We have a lot of Christmas traditions, as well.
The day after Thanksgiving, we (begin to) decorate for Christmas. The kids and I work frantically to get as much done as possible so that when my husband comes home for dinner, we have a beautiful meal on our Christmas china – with, at the very least, the family room decorated. We always have leftover cherry jello salad from our Thanksgiving meal and it always makes the plates look really festive. We used to have ham, until we learned that Jes is allergic to pork. Now we’ll have turkey or beef tenderloin. We always have crescent rolls, too. Something that is rare for us. My husband has a wheat allergy. We don’t have wheat bread around alot.
We always bake Christmas cookies and ice them. We start off trying to make them as beautiful as we can and get sloppier and sloppier and sillier and sillier as the dozens move through. Lots of laughs.
We always go see one of three rotating Christmas shows….Nutcracker, The Symphony’s program, or A Christmas Carol….depending on the mood. Jes and I love live theatre.
We also shop for my hubby the weekend before Christmas and the kids and I make a big day out of it. It’s usually a big trip to the Nordstrom’s men’s department to stock hubby up because hubby hates to spend money on himself, but he loves nice clothes.
Christmas Eve, we go to my mom’s after a candlelight church service(Where my favorite song is always, “Mary Did You Know”….which always makes me cry)…and we always have the exact same menu at mom’s…chicken salad on crescents, shrimp, swedish meatballs, eggnog. Mom always makes the same Christmas cookies – mexican wedding cakes, pineapple tea squares, chocolate chip.
We open gifts with the extended family. We go home and I wrap all night, watching Christmas movies.
We wake up at the crack of dawn with the kids coming into our room. Nobody is allowed to go to the family room until I make hubby’s coffee and squeeze orange juice. Everyone goes nuts waiting.
The kids are allowed to look at their stockings while Dad has his coffee. That is a favorite part, though, because our stockings are big enough to put a small horse into – it’s a tradition my paternal grandmother began with stockings she made for us as kids.
Then we slowly open gifts in a circle, savoring each one.
Everyone takes a midmorning nap.
Christmas evening, we always have a nice meal and usually we have drop-ins most of the night.
I love Christmas. I love Jesus. I love my family – immediate and extended. You can’t beat any of it. Thanks, Jesus.

Comments on: Christmas without an eating disorder

By: eshoe

By: Lizzie

By: Mrs. B.