Holiday Special Spectacular

Watching Christmas television is probably one of my favorite parts of the holiday seasons. I can't wait for my favorite Christmas programs to start. 25 Days of Christmas on ABC Family is definitely a guilty pleasure for me.  I love introducing Zaiah to all the classic Christmas shows.  Family Christmas movie time is definitely a favorite pastime for us.

Here is a lineup of some of our holiday favorites...


"I'm Mr White Christmas, Im Mr Snow. Im Mr Icicle, Im Mr 10 below..."  This is the ultimate! One of my absolute favorites of all time. I love all the songs and the really bad animation of all of these special Christmas classics.  Who doesnt love Snow and Heat Miser? ...and how catchy are those songs? Super fav!

My sister and I were unnaturally excited when this DVD came in the mail the other day. We LOVE the camels singing We Three Kings. As a matter of fact, it's the only version I usually sing of the song. The bells hitting themselves in the head with the one daffy one that can't get it right still cracks us up and of course, who doesn't love the California Raisins? Zee was in love with their rendition of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. I mean, it's The Temptations!

"You hope and I'll hurry. You pray and I'll plan. We'll do what's necessary 'cause, even a miracle needs a hand." Such a great song!!  This cartoon is a classic redone classically!  We do not go a Christmas season without watching this one.

This is not a well known movie but it is without doubt a classic. My sister and I watched this all the time as kids.  Good songs, good story. It is never played on tv, or at least we havent seen it, but we own it and break it out every year at this time. If you havent seen this one, definitely put it on your Christmas list ;)

Aww... :(  "Ears Nestor". This story always makes me sad but I love the way it tells the story of Christmas and the birth of Jesus.  It is one of the only Christmas classics that comes on each year for the kids and relates to the true meaning of Christmas without involving some sort of Santa story. Definitely a much watch each year.

First of all, I love A Christmas Carol. A must read!  I've seen so many versions of this story and I never get tired of it. This is one of my favorite versions. It tells the classic story while still appealing to people of all ages.  The Muppets have a way of making this story fun for kids and Michael Caine is one of my all time favorites. This movies gets a huge, YES PLEASE!

Everyone has their #1 Christmas movie that they HAVE TO watch every year, and this is mine. How thrilled am I that my daughter loves it just as much (if not more) than I do!  She makes me watch it all year long and since it's my quintessential holiday movie, I only let her watch Santa Clause 2 and 3 throughout the year. That way she gets her fill and I dont get tired of one of my favorite holiday pleasures.

There are also these two are Mummy and Daddy's favorites.  Miss Zee is too young to have discovered these but you can't miss these each year.

...and finally, there is no way on Earth that I could leave out The Grinch!! Absolute holiday classic. I think I know every single line. I love both versions!! The cartoon and the movie. Whichever. Perfectly happy either way. One of the best told stories and Dr. Seuss is the ultimate! I love this to no end. 

Here is a little printable I want to share with all of you with my absolute favorite line from the movie. It really captures the plot of the movie as well as the Christmas spirit and all it embodies.

Hope you enjoy :)

What are some of your family's favorite holiday specials?

Guest Posting at Blissful and Domestic!!

Hey everyone!! I hope you're enjoying the party so far!! Today I am heading over to Blissful and Domestic (see Danielle's beautiful tutu down below :)) and sharing my Cinnamon Stick Candles!!

Blissful and Domestic is having a lovely Homemade in December holiday party so make sure you head on over to check it out and spend some time checking out the wonderful blogs hosting this event!!  After that head back over here because up next, Karisa from Triple Tasking is sharing a wonderful tutorial for our 12 Days of Christmas Holiday Party!!!

Heart and Moon

There are so many wonderful traditions this time of year. Recently some very good friends of mine, Oscar and Karla, shared with me one of their holiday traditions that I just had to share with you guys (...and steal for myself ;))

In my family, we kind of have our own ornament tradition. Every year my mom buys each of us a new ornament to add to our tree. This is generally the same idea of their tradition but their idea is fine tuned a bit. Every year since they have been married, they go out in search for a heart ornament to add to their Chrismas tree to signify their love. There are many heart ornaments on their tree but this year's ornament seemed a little bit more special. This year they welcomed their first child, Isabella, into the home and in their search for a heart ornament, came across the perfect ornament to signify both their love and their new family.

This three teired heart from Papyrus is completely beautiful and so perfectly frames their new beginnings and this lovely tradition that I had absolutely no choice but to take on this tradition myself.

So starting this year Zee and I will be adding our first moon ornament to our tree. Every year from now on we will look for a new unique moon to become a part of our tradition. This year we have chosen this cutie pie Charming Tails moon and mouse ornament.  It is perfect for Zee's age and incorporates our special moon perfectly.

I am so happy about our new found tradition! As Zee gets older it will be fun to head out with her for Christmas and search out the perfect addition to our ornament collection.  Thank you to my dear friends for sharing this wonderful tradition with us! One day we will have a tree filled with moons to remember all the special Christmases we have spent together.

Santa Claus = A Mother's Love

My mother is a big kid at heart. She has always been the mom who participated in our imaginations.  She danced and sang with us to kiddie songs, she got more excited about watching cartoons than we did, and when we had imaginary friends, she always interacted with them.  I'll never forget how she stopped in front of a random school once and opened up the door to pick up my little sisters imaginary friends from school. She made sure that she always encouraged our creativity and embraced our innocence.

 The same was true for Christmas time.  She went the extra step to make sure we knew Santa was real. When we woke up, the cookies for Santa were eaten, the vegetables for the reindeer were nibbled, and there was a letter from Santa wishing us a Merry Christmas. Mummy and Daddy presents were wrapped under the tree and Santa presents were left unwrapped with fully stuffed stockings to make a real distinction. She took every extra step to make sure it all stayed real for us. 

This year my Zee is finally at an age where she can notice little details like this and I am surely going to be carrying on those traditions. I am now Mummy and I will be baking cookies for Santa to eat, leaving carrots and/or celery for the reindeer to munch, and wrapping the Mummy and Daddy presents so Santa can leave his unwrapped gifts straight from his pack!

I think my mother going the extra mile was a true show of her love. She loved us enough to protect our childish whims and feed our fantasies and that little bit of magic made all the difference in the way we see the world today.