A Christmas Post (w/ a tag!)

So although I don't do the Liebster Award thing or haven't done a lot of tagging games, Jenn over at Ripples and Waves tagged me in a Christmas traditions post and I couldn't resist. It's my favorite time of the year so why not participate and keep this chain going!  

Here it goes!

1.) What makes Christmas such a special holiday for you and your family?
Oh lawdhavemercy. Can I just answer with 'everything'? Family, food, giving, the spirit, pumpkin spice latte's, snow, tons of days off work, etc etc etc. I absolutely love the magic of this time of year and countdown the months every year. Definitely something that has always made it special is the Christmas Eve service at my church. Derek and I have attended for 17+ years (even though we didn't meet until 10 years ago) with our families and I've only missed one Christmas Eve service. I was 38 weeks pregnant and couldn't fly back to KC that year! 

2.) Were you told the truth about Santa Claus by your parents or did you find out another way? And...do you plan on lying to your kids (if you have them or plan on having them)?
What? Santa isn't real? I've always loved the Polar Express and how it really relates to adults too basically saying you don't have to believe in Santa specifically, but just his spirit and what he stands for. I think I found out at school and I plan on raising my children how I was raised. Even when we 'knew', we still had presents from Santa and believed in his spirit. 

3.) Real tree or fake tree?
We always grew up with a real tree. Derek and I had fake until this year and I plan to always have real until we're too old to deal with them! 

4.) Do you open presents on Christmas morning, Christmas Eve, or both?
We would always beg to open something on Christmas Eve as children and I like the idea of opening one gift that evening. But Christmas morning, it was always stockings first then presents. 

5.) What is your favorite Christmas movie to watch and Favorite Christmas song to sing or listen to?
The movie is a tie between Love Actually and Elf. As for song, I have a tie there also. Faith Hill's "Where Are You Christmas" and Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas". But trust me, I love them all. I've been known to even listen to Christmas music in the summer! 

And here's the 5 bloggers I'm going to tag:

Michelle at Step By Step. Oooh Baby (only cause she's a real life bestie and she has to play!)

Rachel over at Wade's World

Desiree at The Macke Monologues

Lauren at Are We There Yet

Marcie over at The Morris Family Blog

And you know I can't write a post without including a picture....