Thursday Top 10: Christmas Traditions

It's been a long time since I've done one of Beth's Thursday Top 10 lists.  I just haven't had the time recently, but Beth love's me, so I'm forgiven.  Right, Beth?
Anywhooo....for this week's topic, Beth wants to hear our top 10 Christmas traditions.  Oh my!  I'm having some mixed emotions about Christmas this year.  Nothing major, just a little sad about the kids growing up, changes, and Christmas not being the big family deal it's always been.  The kids will be here on Christmas Eve and Megan will be here on Christmas morning, but it looks like it will just be us and my mom and her husband for dinner and the rest of the day.
Now, about those (in no particular order) traditions....
1.  Putting the tree up, if not the day after Thanksgiving, then at least during that long weekend.  I do it mostly myself these days, but I did wrangle Megan and Cody into helping a bit this year and we had fun.
2.  Christmas Movies!  I am a Christmas movie addict. And I like 'em really cheesy and goofy.  My absolute favorite, that I can quote nearly line for line, is A Christmas Story.  I will watch it several times and the whole family watches it together once after dinner on Christmas Day.  Poo....that's another tradition down the drain. :(
3.  Making chocolate candies.  I learned how from a family I babysat for when I was a kid and my aunt got into it later and I did some with her.  She gave me all her molds so I can make candy for pretty much any holiday.  The kids never were real into this one...too much patience required for them.
4.  Goofy Christmas hats and headbands.  I started wearing a Santa hat on the school bus when I first started driving.  Since then it's kind of become my "thing."  I have a whole collection of Christmas ones and quite a few for other holidays, too.  I was thinking this morning as I put on the first one, a headband sporting candy cane horns, that maybe I should take pictures every day post them?
5.  Baking Christmas cookies.  This is one thing I can at least get Megan in on and my mom is usually in on it, too.  There are some kinds we make that require two bakers.
6.  Driving around after church on Christmas Eve to look at the lights.  We won't be doing that one this year, either, since it's our year to have Matt's family on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day....and we won't be going to church since Ashlei's a Jehovah's Witness.  She said Matt and Sora could go with us, but I don't want to separate the family on Christmas Eve, so we will stay home together.
7.  Last-minute shopping and wrapping marathon.  It's what happens in a family of procrastinators, but it usually ends up being fun.
8.  The Artis Family Christmas, not to be confused with an old-fashioned Griswold Family Christmas (ie. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation).  This is when Tim's whole family gets together....somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 of us.  It rotates through the family year to year so we all get a turn at hosting it.  Matt hasn't been able to come the last couple of years because it's ALWAYS on Saturday and he has to work Saturdays in December.  This year, Tim is saying he may have to work, too.  I am not thrilled.
9.  Even though the kids are grown and stopped believing in Santa a long time ago....the gifts still do not go under the tree until after they've gone to bed.  It's what my dad did.  Of course he also didn't put the tree up until after I went to bed on Christmas Eve until I was 8 or 9.  I think "Santa" was nuts, but I did love waking up on Christmas morning and being able to tell by the smell of pine that Santa had come.
10.  Christmas Eve church services.  So beautiful and my very favorite of the year.