Totally stole this Christmas survey from Kate @ Mom’ Radius. Like a boss. Or something. It’s kind of crazy to comprehend the fact that Christmas is only four days away now. Here are my holiday thoughts in between gift wrapping and and candy eating.

Favorite Christmas song(s)?

I shared a bunch of favorites a couple weeks ago. But I guess if I had to pick, I’d say Mary Did You Know by Clay Aiken if I’m feeling sentimental and Baby It’s Cold Outside by She and Him if I’m feeling silly.

Favorite Christmas movie(s)?

I love watching Elf with the kids and You’ve Got Mail is another favorite though I know it’s not exactly a Christmas movie, it does take place around Christmas.

Best and/or most memorable Christmas gift you ever received?

I love the little gifts that the kids come home from school with each year. I have a little heart key chain with a fingerprint pressed into it that I still get sentimental about when I see it.

Real tree or artificial tree?

We got a real tree for the first time this year and I’ll admit, it’s really nice. I don’t love having to watch the water level like a hawk but it looks really nice and picking it out with Dan and the kids was a lot of fun. More importantly, Dan really dislikes the artificial trees we’ve owned over the years and the ones we seem to agree on are both few and far between and expensive.

What tops your tree? Star? Angel? Bow?

Usually an Angel and I have to keep photographic evidence of which kid put the Angel on the tree last year so that fights don’t ensue.

Do you send out Christmas cards? Do you go photo card or traditional?

Despite the fact that making the card and paying for the cards and addressing the cards and finding stamps for the cards and going to the post office to mail the cards collectively gives me a migraine yearly, I still seem to do it almost every year. Some years I save a couple hundred dollars and just use a box of cards from the store. Other years I get suckered into the insane cuteness of the photo card designs. Which they make seem affordable until they tell you what a minimum order is.

When did you stop believing in Santa?

I think I officially threw in the towel when I became a mother and could 100% for sure account for each gift’s origin under the tree.  But I won’t mind being wrong.

Do you have any special Christmastime traditions?

I think everything around Christmas is a special tradition but I’ll give a shout out to my recent trend of trying to expose the kids to different customs from different cultures like playing the dreidel game for Hanukkah or enjoying candle lit pastries for Saint Lucy day. This year I’m throwing some Icelandic culture into the mix by giving everyone in the family a new book to read on Christmas Eve.

Do you have a favorite type of decoration — snowmen, trees, Christmas village, etc.?

I definitely seem to gravitate towards Angel decorations. I think my grandmother started this trend when I was a little girl and I still love them.

Do you have any sentimental decorations or ornaments?

I have several ornaments that my grandmother gave me early in my marriage that I can vividly remember hanging on her tree when I was little. It gives me such a thrill to watch my kids admire them as they hang them on the tree now. I feel seven years old again every time I touch this one:

White lights or colored lights? Big old-fashioned lights or mini lights?

I tend to prefer mini white lights but I’ll get on board for whatever the kids want.

When do you start decorating for Christmas?

Sometime between the weekend after Thanksgiving and the first or second weekend of December usually.

Favorite Christmas treat?

Marzipan stollen or really anything with marzipan in it.

Do you like sugar cookies? Gingerbread cookies?

I like ALL cookies.

Do you have cocoa or hot chocolate? Do you like your warm chocolate-y beverage with marshmallows?

Aren’t they the same thing? I like “warm chocolate beverages” with marshmallows or without.

What do you eat at your Christmas feast?

Being 1500 miles from family during the holidays, it’s usually just the four of us for Christmas so there really isn’t a feast. We’re most likely to order Chinese food unless Dan has some extravagant meal he feels like cooking.

Do you open any presents on Christmas Eve or do you wait until Christmas morning?

Well my birthday is Christmas Eve so I usually open something that day. We also do new pajamas for the kids on Christmas Eve and I’m throwing in a new movie and game as well. And the Icelandic Holiday books. So clearly I like to spread the gift opening across the two days.

Favorite Christmas-y scent?

Gingerbread, cinnamon, vanilla – basically the scents of good things baking.

If you could ask Santa for any gift this year — and know that he’d bring it — what would it be?

I mean if he’ll really bring me anything, I wouldn’t turn down a Subaru with heated seats. And I was just lamenting to my kids this morning that I really wish my steering wheel were somehow heated as well. Is this a thing yet? I’ll also gladly accept a spot in my garage to park the car in the winter. Big dreams here.

Merry Christmas, everyone!