Tag Rules:
Link back to The Storybook Journal
Answer the questions; think Winter-y thoughts! Include pictures, if you like.
Tag at least 3 other bloggers, or more if you're feeling ambitious. :)
1. Name a few things you love about Winter and a few things you don't love so much about it.
I love snow and the absence of hot temperatures. I love Christmas and my daughter's birthday and my husband's birthday. I love a nice fire in the fireplace. I love hot chocolate (though, truth be told, I drink it all year 'round).
I don't love living in a place where we don't get much snow. I don't love icy roads.
2. When you were a child, did you "believe" in Santa Claus?
Why is "believe" in quotation marks? As a kid, I literally believed in Santa's existence. As an adult, I fiercely insist upon it.
3. Is there a book or movie that you really love to read in the Winter as opposed to other times of year?
I really only watch White Christmas (1954) in the winter.
4. Is there a particular Christmas movie that you watch EVERY year as a tradition?
Alas, no. I kind of cycle through a bunch of them, watching ones that I haven't seen for a while or am just in the mood for at the moment. Which ones? These ones!
5. Do you usually get a real tree or a fake tree for Christmas? Who's in charge of decorating it at your house?
We have had fake trees all of our married life. Now that our youngest is 6, though, and not liable to pull the tree over... and now that our current fake tree is getting really wobbly... we might just get a real tree next year. I love real trees.
As for who is in charge of decorating it? I am, naturally! I hand out the ornaments to the kids, and they hang them where they please. I do the lights and garland first, though. Otherwise, we descend into madness.
6. Does your family usually stay home or go visiting (relatives, friends, etc.) on Christmas Day?
Since moving here in 2011, we have been hosting Christmas Day festivities at our house after church. However! My brother and his family bought a house this year, and so they have the honor of hosting us this time instead.
7. What does your family usually do on New Years Eve? Any traditions? Do you ever stay up till midnight?
Well, Cowboy always has New Year's Day off, so we usually watch a movie. Sometimes we stay up until midnight, sometimes we don't. Now, back when we both worked third shift, we were ALWAYS up to ring in the New Year, which amused us greatly.
8. Do you get snow where you live? If so, have you ever built a snowman and named him Olaf?
We do get a bit of snow sometimes! In fact, all of the pictures in this post are from earlier this month. (Some are of snow in my back yard, and some are of Christmas decorations at Colonial Williamsburg.) I'm always excited if there's enough snow for us to build a good-sized snowman with the kids, but I don't think we've ever named him Olaf.
Last week, my son Sam made a tiny snow mouse face and put it on top of our wind chime. Because he's cute.
9. If it's snowing outside, would you prefer to go outside and build snowmen and enjoy it, or would you rather stay inside with a blanket and something hot to drink and maybe a movie or a book?
I love to play in the snow! But I also love to read books while it's snowing. Ideally, I would choose both. And I miss living in a snow-filled world where I didn't have to choose one or the other, but could do both.
10. When do you start looking forward to or getting excited about Spring?
Usually in February. I get creatively stagnant as winter progresses, and I start to long for the changes of spring that will reawaken my hibernating creativity.
I wasn't tagged with this, so I'm not going to tag anyone. If you feel like doing a Christmasy tag, go for it!
Can't help but make the point that a wintry tag does not make it Christmassy for everyone. ;D
ReplyDeleteTrue, in that winter and Christmas don't match up for half the world. But since this tag was called a winter tag and contains questions about Christmas, it seems pretty clearly dedicated to both? Is this an issue?
DeleteNo, it's okay. :) MOST bloggers are from the Northern Hemisphere, but not all, and sometimes I just find it the tiniest bit annoying when people forget that winter does not = Christmas for everyone.
DeleteGabby, I remember the first time I realized that Christmas and winter are not synonymous for everyone. I was probably 7 or 8, and my family watched a movie set in Australia that involved Christmas. No idea what it was called -- I was obsessed with Australia (still kinda am) and so we mostly watched it for my sake. And it was NOT WINTER, but it was Christmas. People in the movie complained about the ridiculousness of one character insisting they burn a Yule Log because it was like 98 degrees outside. And my whole world turned upside down for a bit.
DeleteAnyway, I did another Christmas tag on my book blog this morning that doesn't involve winter, really -- maybe you'd like that one better?
First off, big high five for #2. I'm never sure how to answer that question, but you mirrored my thoughts exactly!!
ReplyDeleteMy sisters will watch Christmas movies in August. But, I can ONLY watch them in Dec. and Jan.!!
MC, high five back atcha!
DeleteThere are some Christmas-time-set movies that I will watch any time, like While you Were Sleeping. And some I won't. Hee :-)
This was fun to read! And I love to pictures you shared. Your son's little snow mouse is so cute! :)
ReplyDeleteOops. I love *the* pictures you shared.
DeleteThanks, Elanor! Glad you liked the pics -- I had a lot of fun figuring out just which ones to share :-)
DeleteHow fun! I just finished filling out this tag myself. :)
ReplyDeleteAwww! Your son's snow mouse is adorable! :D
And your new header! (I just had to pop over and see it since you mentioned it on my blog. :)) It's lovely. Awesome how you didn't even have to change your background and it all fits together perfectly. Are those all your own pictures? They're beautiful. I love the red bow on the lamppost. :)
Miss March, I must run over to your sunshiny corner of the world and read your answers, then!
DeleteI'm glad you like the header :-) Those are all my pics, taken here around my home a little over a week ago. I did take them with the intent of using some for a blog header, and then just didn't get around to making it for days and days.
You can't tell in the picture, but at night, that lamp post has twinkly lights strung all around it and makes me all gladsome :-)
I love my red curtain background. It's only the second background I've ever had on this blog -- I had this lighthouse thing for the longest time (by which I mean like 7 years), and then I switched to this somewhere around 2009, and I have never felt like changing it, so I make my headers match it. (But over on my book blog, I change backgrounds a couple times a year. Because... I can.)
Santa is definitely real. You and I think alike on this one ;-)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jessica. My father-in-law has this whole theory about how America's cultural insistence upon Santa is what makes Americans so generous. I should get him to write the whole thing up as a guest post sometime, because it's so beautiful and convincing.
DeleteYou should!!! Because I really like that idea! And I think it's very true <3
DeleteI just asked him if he would, so we'll see.
DeleteFun tag! This one and the Avengers one are definitely on my list of tags to steal... though I'm not sure if I'll get to this one before Christmas rolls around... maybe I'll just grab the non-Christmas questions and make up a few more and do it in January.... :)
ReplyDeleteJenelle, have fun with this one if you have time for it! You could probably convert it into a truly winter-themed tag pretty easily.
DeleteAnd I'm glad you like the Avengers one! Cuz I made that one up myself :-D
Hamlette! I'm glad you went ahead and grabbed the tag.
ReplyDelete*fist pump* for your answer to #2. I always feel like I'm in the minority on this subject. But Santa is too near and dear to my heart to be ignored or denied.
Your pictures in this post are marvelous! Your decorating is awesome! And your header is just...perfect. :)
Um, I'm with you on the snow thing. Though my home state is known for it, this year has been horribly lacking in the snow department and I'm missing it! I'm really hoping for a white Christmas.
Merry Christmas, my friend!
Cordy! I'm so glad you feel the same way. Santa may be imaginary, but that doesn't mean he's unimportant.
DeleteUh, so... the pretty wreaths are not mine, just so we're clear. I took the pictures, but they're wreaths hanging on doors in Colonial Williamsburg. The pics in the header are at my house, though, and my kids decorated the gingerbread train. And Sam made the snow mouse. Oh, and the fire in the fireplace is here at our house. But not the pretty wreaths, alas.
Bummer on no snow for you to! They're calling for a light dusting on Christmas Eve, and I am beyond giddy at the thought.
Merry Christmas to you, lovely friend!