Christmas Wishes 2011

From my home to yours, may your Christmas be filled with joy and peace, may you enjoy your time with those you love, and may you know how grateful I am to call you "friend".

Merry Christmas!!

Believe

Christmas 2010

Don't you just love when song lyrics keep playing in your head?  No, I'm not talking about the haunting feeling you get with "It's a Small World".  I'm talking about songs with a message that resonates within you.  


One of my favorite Christmas songs is a song that can be played 365 days a year.  Although it is the most popular song in the Polar Express soundtrack (sung by Josh Groban), it really isn't JUST about believing in Santa.  Here is the part of the song that stays with me, playing over and over in my head (and heart).  

Believe in what your heart is saying

Hear the melody that's playing

There's no time to waste

There's so much to celebrate

Believe in what you feel inside

And give your dreams the wings to fly

You have everything you need

If you just believe  



I hope your Christmas is joyful, restful, reflective, and filled with love. 

May it be the Christmas of your dreams.

Merry Christmas, my friends.

Christmas Traditions

When my brother was an infant, my aunt and mother started a tradition that lasted until my aunt passed away.  My Aunt Marge found the Christmas card that my mother had sent her the year before, and because she liked the picture of the cherub on the front she put a new date on it and sent it to my mother.  So it went, back and forth each year, with maybe one year when the card got "lost." 

In 1985, a similar tradition started with my siblings.  But it wasn't a card...OH NOOOO.  You'd have to understand how twisted the sense of humor is with some of my siblings to comprehend how this ever kept going.  You see, we gift a pig's head. 

2007

It started off as a doll, then it lost its body, then it lost one of the eyes.  It was just ugly.  In 2003, the nieces and nephews pleaded with us to end this bizarre tradition.  Nah...that's not gonna happen.  So I gave him a bath, fixed his eyes, gave him some hip sunglasses (aging, y'know), added a little color to his cheeks.  (Chicagoans, note the box...Marshall Field's!).

2008

When this tradition first began, the recipient of the pig's head one year was able to decide who got it the next year.  But now, we just have a white elephant gift exchange and that's one of the gifts.  So there's no telling who will end up with it each year.   

2009

(Clearly my daughter was not thrilled to be the recipient last year!)

This Sunday is the family Christmas with my siblings and their kids and grandkids.  Can't wait to see who gets to bring home the most prized Christmas gift ever!!

Do you have any bizarre traditions?  Share!!

The Joy of Gift Giving - Part II

While finishing last minute shopping on the day before Christmas Eve, I found a stocking that practically screamed, "TAKE ME HOME WITH YOU." Although I initially resisted, I finally talked myself into it (or rather the grandmother of 7 sales clerk convinced me). Yes, it was totally an impulse buy. But you see, my younger grandson has recently found the wonderful world of Star Wars. And as if looking to capture my heart (yeah, like he even needed to try), his favorite character is also mine...Yoda.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I couldn't have felt more joy in giving this gift. Watching the excitement in his face as he enjoyed it was just about the best gift I've ever received. And although I still have a couple more Christmas get togethers to attend over the next couple of days, it is difficult to imagine that I will experience anything more satisfying than watching the excitement on my grandson's face.

I hope your Christmas Day turned out exactly the way you wanted it to be. Mine was!

The Joy of Gift Giving

Here we are, the day before Christmas Eve (a.k.a., Christmas Eve Eve).  I've got the tunes on, enjoying the beautiful snow (isn't it always beautiful when you can stand at the window and enjoy it?!) and finishing the wrapping of the last of the Christmas gifts.  It has dawned on me that each year, I go thru the same thought process as I wrap gifts.

There's always that last minute "idea" that pops into my head..."Oh, I should have picked this up for..."  I think that's called doing your best work in the 11th hour.  I'm resisting that this year.  I'm not going out anymore.

So as I wrap each gift, I think about the recipient, what their reaction might be when they open it.  I inevitably question whether it was the smartest choice for a gift.  I hope and pray that they will be grateful for the thought behind the gift. 

You see, when I was newly married I had an experience that nearly crushed my soul when it came to gift giving.  Long story short, my husband was disappointed in the gift I'd gotten for him.  He had it in his head that I would get him...wait for it...the Atari PONG game.  This, after telling me NOT to get it.  It was just a matter of me not "reading" him correctly, I guess.  It happens with newlyweds.  As you can imagine, it caused a big fight.

 

On Christmas Day. 

That was a new experience for me...fighting on Christmas. 

You see, when I was around 8 years old, my sisters and I were given a couple of dollars to go to the local five and dime (the predecessor to the dollar store, for those of you who just said, "Huh??") and those couple of dollars had to stretch to cover six siblings and two parents.  Needless to say, my brothers and Dad got pocket combs.  And as much as they probably thought it was a lame gift, never once did I get the impression they were anything but grateful for the gift. 

Here's the point I'm working toward (I do digress, don't I?).  That saying "tis better to give than receive" really does carry some weight around the holidays.  Sure, it's fun to receive gifts.  But have you ever seen the look on a child's face when they've made something for you that they just KNOW you'll love??  Is that not just priceless??  They haven't yet felt the disappointment that comes when the receiver isn't really thrilled with what they got.  With some luck, they never will feel that disappointment. 

There truly is joy in giving gifts.  And sometimes, the reaction to the gift received could very well be the gift that the receiver gives the giver.  Keep that in mind when/if you receive a gift that isn't quite what you were expecting. 

I'm not sure I'll post anymore before Christmas (c'mon...let's look at my track record here!!!), so I want to wish each of my blog friends a joyous, love-filled Christmas.  Enjoy each gift that comes your way!  I know I've enjoyed the gift of your comments for the last six months.  It's the best gift I could have ever asked for!!

Merry, Merry Christmas!!!

Pa Rum Pum Pum Pum

I was able to spend some time with my daughter and grandson this weekend.  We were in the car, radio on, headed to the store and my daughter said to Cormick (who was a bit cranky that day), "Tell Grandma what your favorite Christmas song is."  ... Silence... Nada... Not a word. (okay...still cranky).  Waited.  I finally said, I bet I know.  Does it have to do with a man who has a hat?  (thinking his fave was "Frosty").  ... Silence... Nada... Not a word.  So she and I continued to talk. 
All of a sudden we hear from the back seat, "Loud.  Mom.  Louder."  They had been waiting all week to hear the song on the radio. "...I play my best for him, pa rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum..."  We sat listening to every word, singing to ourselves.  As we were eating dinner, I said to Cormick, "Do you know what my favorite part is?  Pa rum pum pum pum."  "I like that, too", he says with a huge smile.  Turns out he knows the story behind the song.  He knows why the "little boy drummer" plays the drum and who he plays the drum for.  Another "ahhhhhhh - life is good" moment. 

(little drummer boy pic grabbed from gumnutcottage.blogspot.com)

Christmas, er, Winter Cards

Many people know that one of my hobbies is cardmaking.  It's sort of an offshoot from scrapbooking.  What it does is offer you a quick fix when you need to create and don't have a lot of time.  Well, every year I have good intentions to make my Christmas cards.  The theme is always snow, snowflakes, snowmen...you get it.  I've included a couple pics of previous years' cards.  (Boy, I've grown in my cardmaking skills!!!) 

I very much enjoy making the cards, but I know I should start much earlier in the year to get the cards completed.  But I don't.  As a result, most years my good intentions of getting these cards in the mail get, er, let's just say sidetracked.  The Christmas cards end up getting mailed the week between Christmas and New Year's.  So, I can't really call them Christmas cards, can I??  Among my fellow scrappers, it's now become standard practice to call the cards I send out at this time of year "Winter Cards".  I mean, it's not like they have a Christmas tree or Santa Claus on the card.  They have some form of snow on them.  And when you think about it, isn't it kinda nice to receive a card with a peaceful theme AFTER all the hustle and bustle of the holidays??  See??  I could very well be on to something here.

Well the good news is, I spent some time with some good friends in the Scrapbook Cellar yesterday and TA-DA!!!!!  I got some cards done.  This time, no two are alike.  Except for the greeting.  The greeting never changes.  I think it's one of the most beautiful messages we could hear, not just at Christmas/Winter time. 

Care deeply,

Give freely,

Think kindly,

Act gently,

And be at peace with the world.

This is the spirit of Christmas.

So, now all I need to do is get them addressed and into the mail. Hmmmmmm, I wonder if I can do that before Christmas!!!