movies / tv specials

• It's a Wonderful Life
• A Christmas Carol (George C. Scott version)
• Miracle on 34th Street (the original)
• White Christmas
• Home Alone 1 & 2
• The Santa Clause
• The Polar Express
• Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas (animated)
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
• Frosty the Snowman
• Christmas Eve on Sesame Street
• Perfect Strangers Christmas episodes

food & drink

• breakfast: grapefruit with cherries, cinnamon rolls, breakfast casserole, hot chocolate
• Christmas Eve dinner: fish, naan bread, feta cheese, hummus, kalamata olives, sun dried tomatoes, khyar bi laban, figs, dates, grapes, pomegranate, baklava, eaten by candlelight
• Russian tea cakes
• homemade fudge
• gingerbread men & sugar cookies
• eggnog

activities

• decorating trees (plural)
• making Nutter Butter Santas together
• making candy cane reindeer together
• reading the Bible/Nativity play
• dinner at Grandma & Grandpa's (sometime in December)
• dinner at Grammy & Grampy's (Christmas day)
• gathering around the piano to sing carols
• 12 days of neighbourhood secret Santa (sneaking around a randomly chosen neighbour's house leaving anonymous gifts on their doorstep at 2 am)

christmas eve

• take turns wrapping "sibling gifts"
• compete for writing the zaniest tag on gift
• everyone scrambles for the best stocking
• watch The Polar Express
• stay up in one sibling's room and sing Christmas songs

christmas morning

• get up at 5 am, wait to be allowed downstairs
• stockings (always overflowing)
• breakfast
• tree presents: take turns passing them out
• play at least one new game