Because no Christmas is complete without a teased bang.

Christmas has always been a big holiday in the Lewis household.  Helen and dad get REALLY into the decorating.  As you all know Helen loves sewing, so she makes EVERYTHING.  Christmas pillows, curtains, blankets, tree skirts, chair covers, place mats, pajamas, dresses - you name it!  There is not an inch of our house that isn't decorated.  And then there is dad's enormous collection of Santa Clauses all over our house.  Growing up, helping them decorate was seriously THE WORST.  It seemed like it was never ending! One of the worst arguments Tara and I ever had was over helping dad carry in the decorations (next to the great hair straightener debacle of 2004).  You have to admit that carrying boxes from the storage shed, up the stairs, and into the house about 20 times in the cold is a miserable task for children!  Boarder line abusive! BUT if we didn't help, no presents from Santa!  Such a clever little idea the parents had thinking of that whole scheme.  Apparently kids are much worse these days since the threat of Santa not bringing presents isn't enough.  They need elves on shelves to watch their every move!

 I have to be honest; I was never really sold on the whole idea of Santa.  I could maybe believe that he delivered presents to kids around the world - or I could maybe believe that he had flying reindeer - or I could maybe believe he lived in the North Pole with a workshop full of elves - or I could maybe believe that he could go up and down chimneys - but all of those things combined just seemed fishy to me!  Also, at our house Santa didn't get milk and cookies, he got Diet Dr. Pepper and Peanut M&M's. Anyone who knows Helen knows that is a dead giveaway!  BUT I pretended like I believed because I thought I wouldn't get presents if I didn't! ;)

I have very few Christmas memories that don't involve my sister, Tara. She loved helping Helen and dad keep up the whole charade.  She helped me search through magazines for the perfect toy, and then wrote out a detailed list to Santa with everything we wanted.  On Christmas Eve, she would track where Santa was in the world on this crazy new thing called AOL!  She made sure to update our parents when he was getting close to the USA, so we could get to bed before he arrived!  She thought it would be a good idea to leave Santa a note with his Diet Dr.Pepper and M&Ms explaining that Helen promised he would like that better than the alternative.  She convinced us that he gets milk and cookies at every house and he would probably appreciate the change of pace.  We agreed.  Tara also always made sure to leave an apple for Rudolph.  Then we would lie in bed together in our new Christmas PJs, shushing each other and listening intently for any Santa-like noises until we drifted off. 

As we've gotten older, our family has really relaxed on our traditional Christmas activities.  We used to have a big party on Christmas Eve and make my Grammie's donut recipe while people filed in and out of our house late into the night.  Now, most of the "kids" are married, and some have their own kids, so it's hard to get together when everyone has so many other places to be.  Because of this, our family started opening gifts on Christmas Eve night.  It actually started because Helen is one of those people who absolutely cannot keep a secret.  If she buys a gift, she wants you to open it immediately.  So, that year she wanted us open our Christmas PJ's, and then one more, and then one more, until we just opened them all!  The beauty of it was that we got to sleep in on Christmas morning!  That worked out so nicely that we just decided to keep it up!

Some of my favorite family pictures are from Christmas time.  Mostly because Helen was so bad at styling our hair!  I know Tara would be annoyed at me posting these pictures, but as she always says, "It's better to ask for forgiveness than permission!" :D  And I think they're hilarious!

Proof that Helen was terrible at styling our hair.

We both think our hair is the worst, so you all can be the judges on that.

But let's take a closer look...WHAT WAS HELEN DOING WITH MY BANGS!?  At least Tara's are teased and feathered!  I have a double turd curl!  I will admit this is probably when I cut them myself, but come on! Why would you curl them and make them even shorter!?  Stupid sponge rollers.  Helen loved those things!

For making us go out in public with that hair, I feel it's only fair that I

share this picture of Helen!  OUH LA LA! ;) I love that woman!

 

I wish each of you a very Merry Christmas! I hope you have a wonderful time celebrating, eating, opening gifts, and just being with your family and friends!  I know it's easy to get stressed about gifts, money, cleaning, guests, travel, etc., etc., etc.  Try to remember what Christmas is all about, and enjoy it!  Give back, make cookies, sing carols, and celebrate!  #HappyBirthdayJesus