What Does Your Family Do Christmas Day?

Beautiful brunch with mamosas-fabulous appetizers and tons of exquisite wine-then amazing dinner-followed by decadent dessert-games all day long-one giant party-maybe some bridge playing-then it usually culminates in a fight.

We open gifts then my husband makes breakfast which in the past has just been pancakes and bacon. My parents and my husbands dad come over around 1 and we will have out a bunch of appetizer type foods and the kids open their presents from them. Then we will just hang out and let the kids play with their toys, probably have Christmas movies on all day and then we always get a honeybaked ham and have that for dinner with everyone.

We eat a big breakfast and open gifts with just us in the morning. Christmas night we have dinner at MIL's house usually potluck style. Christmas Eve we spend with FIL's side of the family and we potluck it also. Everyone takes turns hosting it with FIL but we don't...LOL We did it once and hubby said no more. We get together with my family usually the weekend before Christmas and potluck it.

Breakfast is fresh fruit and ham/cheese Quiche (SUPER easy recipe at http://familyeguide.com/2011/ham-cheese-quiche/).

Lunch/dinner is help-yourself snacking items: Spiral cut ham (not heated), dinner rolls, fresh fruit/veggie trays, relish tray w/olives & pickles, etc. We usually get a Hickory Farm box from one of my hubby's co workers, so we set out the cheese and sausages w/some crackers. People can make a plate and snack whenever they'd like.

We love charades, as it helps keep everyone active, and even the youngest players can play (have someone on the other team tell her what the words are; and make them easier for her).

Another great activity for grandparents/3yr old would be to make a batch of cookies for desert. The break and bake are fine if you don't want to get too elaborate - it's more about the activity than the cookie.

I make some sort of easy breakfast, which the kids hardly eat because they've emptied their stockings, then I make a BIG lasagna. We go out to a movie about noon, then come home, eat lasagna, and just laze around. Stress-free is the way for me!!! LOL

Have them cook their own stuff! :)

My MIL also does only organic, but she will be flexible at holiday meals so that she doesn't inconvenience the hosts too much (not that she DOESN'T make comments like, "Are these peas organic?" She just doesn't insist on only eating that way at others' homes.)

One Christmas we went to a Persian restaurant (the owners are Muslim, so they are open on Christmas and Easter). That was, by far, the least stressful holiday meal :)

Lazy day here. It would be fun to have lots of family we just don't. It's just DH, I and the kids all day. We snack, nap, watch tv and play with our new stuff.

Tell them to bring a dish that they can eat and you throw in a ham. Buy nicer paper plates and cans of soda. Throw a bowl of organic oranges on the table :)

It is funny you ask this because I feel we too can have a " OK " day and not feeling like we are doing a lot. But hey.... we moms have rushed, shopped, gone to the airport twice, been to the grocery store 5 times in two days, saw the christmas lights, cooked the bird, made the ham, wrapped the presants not once but twice, cleaned the house, prepared the tree, and have been exhausted up to this point. SO with that said have a lazy day, enjoy the birth of Christ and enjoy some down time and a movie, pop corn, light looking and make some christmas cookies and enjoy the day off ! Merry Christmas.

This will be our first Christmas "back home again in Indiana...." (sorry, couldn't resist).

We will go to my side's family 2 hours away tomorrow night and stay the night (kind of excited about that!) and spend the entire day helping my SIL prepare the meal and set-up for the family get together on Saturday evening. Then we'll leave there and travel home with hopefully two asleep ducklings in their PJ's. Christmas morning is always ours and have invited my MIL, FIL, and SIL on my husband's side to come down for an early afternoon (2:00) and my husband and I will prepare dinner for everyone. We're hoping to play some cards after gifts are exchanged.

I like the idea of having a planned activity, like a game. Especially if you have lathargic adults to entertain (Lol). Do they play cards? Would they play a board game??

We will gate the hallway so my almost 4.5 and almost 2.5 year olds do not see and start playing with their gifts until we have video taped them. My parents always taped our reactions to what Santa left every year so we've continued this tradition!!! We will then make coffee, orange and cream cheese breakfast rolls while the kids play with their Santa gifts. After that we'll sit down and open stockings - each person opening one thing at a time from their stocking while we wait and watch. Then we do gifts.

Hopefully my son will nap before we go to my parents house but I doubt it. We're in charge of devilled eggs and green bean casserole for lunch so the eggs will probably already be cooked and after we open gifts, hubby will make the devilled eggs while I make the green bean casserole and put everthing into the car (presents are already under my parnets tree!). We'll go to my parents house around 12 then probably have lunch then open gifts.

After gifts we'll watch tv, nap, play with the gifts for a few hours then head home!