I hope to make this a monthly  theme on NicoStuff. I received lots of questions, and I’ve decided to kick things off with a Christmas theme.

Barbara a.k.a. Nana asks “What was your favorite Christmas gift that you gave?”

This one is easy for me, and I give the same gift every year to the grandmas in our family.

I like to give photo albums. I take pictures throughout the year, and I fill an album full of photos of the kids. I take a little extra time to write on the back of each photo the date, and where we were when we got the photo taken. There are cute shots, candid shots, and shots from the everyday day to day. Both Grandma and Nana seem to like this present too. Working on the photo album year long helps me look forward to the holidays too.

Barbara a.k.a. Nana also asks “What was your favorite Christmas gift?”

Hmmm, right now my favorite gift would be cookbooks!

Well cookbooks, and books in general. I love to read, and even though I don’t have too much extra time to, I can pick up a cookbook and have fun flipping through the pages. I lucked out this Christmas, and my sweet family got me four cookbooks.

Susan of Reconstructing Pearl asked a great question (and a few more great questions ) too “When will you take your Christmas tree down?”

Susan, I try to set a goal of having the Christmas tree and all decorations put away by New Year’s Day. I don’t always achieve this one, but I think that New Year’s Day is a good day to get it all done.

Locally we have a lot of people who leave their decorations up well into March and April, and many homes have outdoor lighting that stays in place all year long, but they don’t turn them on at night. I try to keep the outdoor decorations simple, so that way there isn’t too much to put away at the end of the holiday season.

I might even be early this year with the outdoor decorations, we’ve got fairly warm weather this week, and I want to get it all done while the weather is cooperating.

I will miss the lights though… I love the way they softly illuminate the house at night. It is so very pretty.

Thanks for reading, and keep the questions coming.