Welcome to another edition of Fly On The Wall group blog postings hosted by Karen of Baking In A Tornado. Today, there are three of us bloggers inviting you into our homes to see what a fly might see (or overhear).

The fly is excited because Christmas is only a few days away! I've got all my decorating and baking done---the only thing left is to wrap the last of the gifts. Yesterday I came across this cute Christmas question-and-answer page and thought it might be fun to share with you. Feel free to copy the questions and share them with your own family! ***If you don't celebrate Christmas, you can adapt the list for Hanukkah or Kwanzaa as well!

CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS:

What is your favorite Christmas food? Cornflake potato casserole
What is your favorite Christmas Eve tradition? Dinner, cocktails, and gift exchange with our neighbors, THEN.... alone time with my husband in the front yard by our Christmas light display as we celebrate with champagne and Christmas music until midnight--cozy and romantic!
What is your go-to Christmas movie? Home Alone
What's your favorite ornament? And your oldest ornament? Too many favorites to name--my memorial ornaments, my sexy "merman" ornaments, and my Radkos. Oldest ornament is over 100 years old---it was on my grandmother's tree. There are also a few others from the late 1920s that were my mother's.
What is your favorite Christmas carol to sing? Silent Night, Jingle Bell Rock, and Lo How A Rose E'er Blooming

CHILDHOOD CHRISTMAS MEMORIES:

What was your favorite Christmas gift as a child? An Easy-Bake Oven
What is your most memorable Christmas family tradition? Frosting cookies with mom and my siblings at the kitchen table.
Do you remember a funny Christmas story from your childhood? Yes, when our family went with close friends to Tennessee to see snow and celebrate Christmas. There was a dead mouse in the oven!
What did you always ask Santa for when you were little? The latest Kiddle dolls. I collected them.
What was your favorite part about Christmas as a kid? The anticipation and the magic. My parents always made it a magical day.

CHRISTMAS PLANNING:

What is your favorite way to decorate your Christmas tree? With tons of ornaments and Christmas music playing while I do it. The spiked eggnog also helps! It takes me 5 hours because there are so many, many ornaments.....
Do you prefer a real or artificial Christmas tree? Nowadays I use a fake tree---so much easier and cheaper! Real ones are messy and fall over. But I get a real spruce tree wreath so the house still smells good!
What is your ideal Christmas day activity? Our tradition is an early breakfast with all the kids and grandkids, then we open gifts one at a time (which takes hours because there are 13 of us!). The mimosas are flowing along with the cookies, music, and loud laughter. We also pass out lotto tickets to see who the big winner is each year.
Do you like to bake Christmas cookies? If so, what's your favorite recipe? I bake hundreds of them! I also carry on my mom's tradition of making baskets and giving them to all my neighbors. Favorite cookies are the old recipes handed down---pecan puffs, Swedish butter cookies, and frosted spice cookies.
What is your favorite Christmas color scheme? Traditional red and green but really anything glittery!

GIFT GIVING:

What is the best Christmas gift you've ever given someone? Tickets to Disney World.
Do you prefer to give practical or thoughtful gifts? I only do practical ones if they ask for it. Otherwise, I try to get something personal and thoughtful that they would never buy themselves.
What is your favorite way to wrap presents? Again, the music and the spiked eggnog.....
What is the worst Christmas gift you've ever received? A big screen television---many years ago. My husband basically bought it for himself. I got back at him the following year by gifting him a fancy Renaisssance frock coat. He hated it but we still laugh about it.
Do you have a tradition with your gift-giving? My husband and I do funny name tags on each other's gifts---names that have special and private meanings just for us. The kids try to steal them and figure out what they mean.

FUNNIEST CHRISTMAS MEMORY?

Many years ago when I was baking cookies with my kids and their friends---we got into a massive powdered sugar fight (like a snowball fight) throughout the entire house while my husband was out shopping. We ended up coated in confectioner's sugar as well as all the furniture, the floors, and even the dog. needless to say, Hubs was not happy about the mess---our house looked like a snow globe exploded. It took MONTHS to get all of that sugar out...but I still laugh about it just thinking of that day.

FAVORITE HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES:

1. Parties! We go to several and I really enjoy catching up with our friends and neighbors. It's always fun to see Santa and eat so much food (guilt-free because holiday calories don't count) that I feel like I'm going to burst!

2. Christmas Caroling. Well, we don't actually do the singing--we attend a community gathering at a historical mansion where carolers walk around singing. There is plenty of food, wine, music, games, fake snow, and sometimes fireworks!

3. Old Town Untapped. This is a monthly greeting event in the historic district of my town. Live bands, food trucks, bars, vendors. The Christmas gathering is amazing and hundreds of people show up to celebrate the season together!

4. Driving or walking around town to see all the Christmas lights. There are also several parks we go to at night with a thermos of hot cocoa while viewing the holiday decorations.

5. Being With My Grown Kids and Grandkids: There is NOTHING better than family, and watching the awe and wonder on the faces of my grandchildren is the most beautiful gift I could ever receive.