[JennNtheBoys]

White lights or colored on the tree? When I was a kid it was always colored lights. When I first moved out and had my own tree I had a red/white & blue theme, so I bought R,W & B lights and sat down one very long day and switched lights to make my own sets (not fun & not recommended). Now my theme is peppermint and candy stripes so I stick with just white lights.....and a LOT of them!!

Presents wrapped and under the tree throughout the month or only on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day? There are usually a handful of gifts under the tree during the month. The kids do shopping for their family at school, and the ones the kids grandparents send down and maybe a few that I get wrapped early. I never put them all out.... just enough to keep the boys excited and dying with curiosity but not enough to take away from the shock and amazement of a full tree on Christmas morning.

Is there any rhyme or reason to your giving? Some people do something to wear, something to read, something they want, something they need, etc. Do you do anything like that? No real reasoning behind my giving, the kids have to get PJ's, other than that it's as much stuff as they've asked for that fits in the budget that I've made.

Do you do anything special as a count down or use an advent calendar? We have an advent Calendar, but not one that has anything special inside. The kids race in excitement to see who can move the counter piece first so that's enough for that. They each get one of those chocolate a day calendars too.

Do you have any charity minded traditions at Christmas time? In the past the boys have raised money in their 4H group to give to Christmas Daddies (a local telethon to raise money for needy families), and we've also given gifts to that as well. This year we are doing Operation Christmas Child and filling a couple shoe boxes to send out.