Family Christmas 2018

We had an early celebration this year, and in lieu of gifts decided to take a family PJ trip on the Polar Express. Seeing the kids taking it all in definitely made it worth it.

Nana and the Grands minus two.

We nabbed this one in among the presents.

"I wonderful" was her line of the weekend. 

She is. (And kind of a stinker, too.)

The littlest stuck pretty close to Momma L.

Papa, Nana and the grands.

The Ts.

And the Bs.

Uncle CB bought some souvenirs, and the conductor hat looked pretty great on everyone.

Giving out the First Gift of Christmas. 

We all came home with a silver bell.

The kids joining the fun.

Games, singing and dancing, hot chocolate, and Santa!

This morning, we ended our celebration with brunch.
The “make donuts to order” station was a hit with the kids. K & L preferred the bottomless mimosas.

We had a great time.
Nana even managed to get a few pictures of the kids sitting on my mom’s childhood chair.

We will see both families again when Christmas is closer,
but this was our only time with everybody together. 

The grands are changing so fast.
This picture of the biggest and the littlest really emphasizes how fast it all goes.

Finally, the littlest won’t remember a darn thing about our weekend,
 but she still seemed to be enjoying herself.

That smile says it all. 

Merry Christmas!

Easter Weekend 2014

My "school" life has dominated my "blog" life: grading, filing, planning, and the end of school events have left me little time for anything but school.  Thankfully, I'm off today. So...a photo catch up of my Easter weekend.

On Thursday night, I went to Big City to see Little E, L, and CB.  E was sitting on Daddy's lap when I got there. He looked at me suspiciously for about ten seconds, then started grinning and reached for me. Yep, he knows how to win Nana's heart!

The next morning, I got to meet Miss Connie, Little E's day care provider. It was nice to put a face with a name. Then, I was a guest teacher in L's Kindergarten room.  I read a book called The Sunflower House and then we made sunflowers. As part of their science and writing, they labelled the parts of the plant. It is always fun to see L in action. (Her students have so much fun. Every morning begins with a dance party to the song "Happy." I think I want to be in Kindergarten, too.) Her kids are adorable and so sweet.

After lunch with L, I headed back home. It was too short of a visit, but hopefully the Mr. and I will head back for a long weekend in a couple of weeks.  Since L had the in-laws in for Easter, I had to snag a few pictures off of Facebook and text messages from her weekend.

It looked like Little E had a great 1st Easter.

Back in Tiny Town, we went to an Easter Egg hunt with the Bug-- and most of the town. Sunday, we went to church and had dinner with Buggie, K, and CT, then dessert with Little Big Bro and family.

It was a great weekend: beautiful weather and time to enjoy both girls and their families.

And today, I am cleaning closets, putting winter clothes away, and....wait for it....

grading papers! (Of course, I am.)

Meantime, I will be thinking of these two little people.

They are too much fun.

(I figure we have about two more years where the Bug thinks Nana and Papa are lots of fun. Then she'll be too cool for grandparents. Thankfully, we'll have a couple more years where Little E thinks we're terrific.)

We have four and a half weeks of school left, and then I am planning on spending my summer reading, playing with little people, and relaxing. And boy, I am ready!

Tuesday- Easter Break Is Over

I had such a great break that it is easy to anticipate the summer ahead.

There were pedicures, frosting cookies, dyeing eggs, the fire ring and s'mores, church, and Easter dinner.

 The Lady Bug's First Easter

After church, the Bug had "lunch" in her Great Grandma E's high chair.  

Just the latest in a long line of children to make use of the chair.

The Mr. and I even took a trip out to the farm on Sunday evening.  We got to visit Dad, Grandma B, Little Big Brother, Outlaw A, and the Donald.  (Outlaw A would be the LBB's wife.  The in-laws all call themselves outlaws. The Donald, well, it isn't Trump, just a family favorite!) We even drove home through the Mr.'s hometown.  

I spent yesterday reading, sewing (patching), doing laundry, and cleaning up the after-Easter mess.  I got a few things accomplished, but mainly... I was a bum.  (Also, I was reeling in a bit of shock.  Another former student was killed in a car accident on Easter Sunday. All I could think about was his poor family.)

Oh, and I might have started a reading blog.  I wanted an easy way to track what I'm reading and share the books that have shaped me through the years.  If you're a book lover, feel free to jump over to the Reading Rec Room.

Today, I am back at school:  refreshed and ready to go. (Though going through a bit of Buggy withdrawal!)

Hope my students are ready for the final six week's push!  

Rabbit Cookies

Once upon a time, my mom had a sugar cookie recipe that got a workout every Easter.  We had an aluminum rabbit cookie cutter, and we would bake somewhere between four and six dozen rabbit sugar cookies every Easter.  Then the fun began.

Mom would make a big batch of icing and divide it into four bowls: one for each of us four kids.  We all got to pick the color for our bowl of frosting.  Usually, we had pastel pink, yellow, lavender, mint green, orange or light blue cookies. 

Letting us pick the color of frosting worked great, until about the time the big brothers were in high school.  I remember a year of army green, rust, light brown, and gray rabbits.  (I blame the brothers for talking little sis and me into it.)  It was a lovely Easter theme we had going that year.  Mom just laughed; they tasted the same anyway!

Mom has been gone for over 20 years, but we have continued the rabbit cookie tradition on Easy Street.  (I think she bought me my rabbit cookie cutter. It is just like her's.) We always have four colors of frosting, even though I only have two kids.  Don't ask.  I don't know why either, except that was the way Mom always did it.

Well, at least most years we have Mom's rabbit cookies.  That sugar cookie recipe is huge and when I am short on time and/or patience, I buy the rolls of sugar cookies and we have "egg" cookies that we frost instead.  The family doesn't exactly buy that one, so the "egg" cookies don't happen often. 

Wondering how big the recipe is?  It calls for 6-8 cups of flour!  Yeah.  You really have to be in the mood to bake cookies! 

This year, the Mr. mixed up the batch last Saturday morning, and K and I rolled them out and baked them that afternoon.  K got the genius idea to put colored sprinkles on half of them, so we wouldn't have so much frosting to do. We froze all of them and will frost the ones that need it on Saturday afternoon when L arrives.

That plan of using sprinkles worked really well, until K took a few cookies with sprinkles home to CT.  He informed her that he liked the cookies with icing a lot better.  So much for genius!  I'm guessing next year we will be back to frosting them all again.

It just proves that Mom knew what she was doing...and her grandson-in-law would agree.

And so, Rabbit cookies are alive and well on Easy Street, and we're sticking with pastel frosting!

Tomorrow:  Mom's Easter Egg Salad.

Unexpected Surprise

I have Good Friday off, and I thought we had an inservice day on Monday; however, as I was making the April Calendar, I discovered that we have Monday off, too.  Woo Hoo!! 

Yep.  I'm looking at a four day weekend. 

What am I looking forward to?

*L coming home for Easter.

*A trip to Barnes and Noble to find a cover for the Nook.  (Me, without some sort of protection for my technology, is a disaster waiting to happen.)

*Decorating rabbit cookies.  It is an old tradition, but more about that tomorrow.

*Dyeing eggs with the Little Lady Bug.  (I think she will mainly be watching.)

*Easter Egg salad.  More about that tomorrow, too.

*"The Ten Commandments."  I love that movie.  Seems like I've been watching it every year at Easter.  It's become a tradition, too.

*Church on Sunday. 

*Maybe a drive out to the Farm on Sunday evening.  I like spring at the farm.

I can't remember the last time kids at Tiny Town High had a four day weekend for Easter.  In fact, there have been some years where we haven't even had Good Friday off, so this is a treat. 

I feel like the Easter Bunny has already delivered!

On This 4th

I wish I was doing something incredibly fun, but the real reason I haven't been blogging... our internet is on for about 20 minutes a day.  Our home phone isn't working either. *sigh*

On the up side, I am getting a lot of reading done.

We are celebrating the 4th by taking Baxter to a grooming appointment this morning and attending a Tiny Town "family" celebration potluck tonight. 

Happy Birthday to the 4th of July "twins" of the family.  I have adorable cards that haven't been mailed.  *sigh*  Yes, your aunt is losing it.  West Point Nephew and his Soon-To-Be-A-Nurse Little Sis are both celebrating today.  What are the chances that they would both be born on the 4th of July two years apart?

 I'll post before the internet goes off again.  (I think the phone company/internet provider is going to owe me money by the end of this month.  And if it doesn't get fixed permanently and correctly soon, I'm going to feel free to name the inept company.)

Whew!!

The last few days have been a bit hectic on Easy Street.  Fun, but hectic.

K and CT invited us to Father's Day grilling on Saturday night.  CT's folks were here for the weekend, so the Mr., L, and I joined them for CT's cooking on the grill.  It was delicious: steak and corn on the cob.

The Mr. had to work on Sunday which was kind of a bummer.  LBB (Little Big Brother) and his wife hosted a Father's Day dinner.  L and I joined them, their three kids, and Dad and B for a wonderful meal.  Niece LC's homemade hummus was delicious!  Now, I feel the need to give it a try.

Before we went to dinner, L and I ran by the farm and were shocked to see all the damage Dad had from straight line winds.  The trees really took a hit. There is a lot of clean up to do.  Thankfully, the twenty-something nephews are visiting and are doing a lot of the work.  They are good buddies who don't get to see each other often these days, so they are bonding over chainsaws, hauling limbs, and repairing fences.  Bless their hearts!

For the next two days I am attending a State Conference on the Common Core Standards.  Over the weekend, I had to fill out a survey of what I teach.  It took two hours on computer.  I am almost dreading the conference now.  All I can see is how much curriculum overhaul we are going to have to do in the next few years.  It makes me tired thinking about it. *sigh*

On top of that, I am trying to figure out a fall production for Tiny Town High.  It seems like every spare minute is spent researching, reading, and trying to determine what direction to head.  The scary thing?  I still don't have a clue.  I imagine the boy principal and I need to sit down for a good long visit soon.

L is at conferences at her new school this week which should give her a chance to get a lot of questions answered.  K is working on her little lady bug's nursery.  (Red, pink, and brown for K--little birds, owls, and other animals for CT.)  I'm helping L with packing for her move and K with nursery/baby things. They have to do a lot on their own, but I pitch in here and there.

There is so much going on that I don't know what to write about first, so I don't.  Forgive my absence.  I'm a bit overwhelmed--and I've found that it helps if I think before I blog.  (I know.  Sometimes it is hard to believe that any thinking is going on here!)  

Tomorrow is the first day of summer.  And I was just thinking how fast the summer seems to be going.  Perhaps I ought to slow down and enjoy.  If I'm not careful, the summer is going to escape as quickly as the spring did. 

Savor the summer.  Savor the summer.  Savor the summer. And that's an order!

More Memorial Weekend

There were lots of dogs and people present at our annual weekend of cousins camping.  Ruby and Toby were two who stood still long enough for a photo op.  I didn't take many pictures this year, but I'll share a few of the ones I did take.

I have 38 first cousins. (!!)   Obviously, they don't all make it for the weekend of fun.  Those who do-- have lots of time for catching up.

And coffee...

The little kids spend a lot of time at the creek.  This year they caught a bunch of tadpoles and found quite a few shells.  When I took this picture, they had a frog in that pail.  They were floating a banana peel for a lily pad for the little frog, who I hope escaped before the end of camping. (Such creative little problem solvers.)

I always find time to make it to the little country cemetery where Mom is buried.  It is just a few miles away from the farm.  Nothing much changes there, but it is a peaceful place where one set of my great grandparents are buried, too. 

And this is seven of the nine who started the whole brood that gathers this one weekend each year. They put up with our nonsense, and sometimes they even enjoy us.  (Or at least we like to think that they do!)

We always enjoy them.  Let's see, we have the family historian, the ice cream maker, the one who grabs the Pam instead of the Off, the one who has had her grave decorated more than once (she's still alive), the uncle who takes care of the port-a-pot for me (boy, do I owe him!), and one who provided the grill.  We still need them:  they take care of us, document our history, and provide us with laughs and great memories. 

We're lucky if we have family who loves us-- even luckier if we love our family, too!

About to be normal again...

*By Sunday evening the Mr. felt a bit better.   He cooked supper last night.  (See, I told you my cooking would speed his recovery.)  He isn't 100%, but he is getting there.

*He has an appointment with his surgeon on Wednesday, and then hopes to get cleared to go back to work. I'm hoping he gets cleared, too.  Not that he gets crabby or anything when he is home...!

*In the meantime, he had me out working.  I planted the tomato plants for him last night.  CT gave me three of his, (he grew 200!) and they are in the ground now.  The pepper plants need to go in tonight.  (I don't want to get into this vegetable gardening too much.  I have to leave something for the Mr. to call his own!)

*I loved my Mother's day gifts:  nothing to dust.  My family has figured out that my favorite gifts don't involve more "stuff."  The best gifts are about spending time with them.
        K and CT gave me a ticket to a Royal Display several hours from here.  (I have been wanting to see it before it leaves the city.)  K promised to go with me to the exhibit sometime in the next few weeks.
        L brought me an I-tunes card (new running music) and the video "Tangled."  We spent Sunday afternoon watching the movie.  We had seen it together at Christmas, along with LBB's family, at a local theater. That night, the West Point nephew pointed out that he was sure there were some great lines and songs we were missing.  There were a lot of little kids rattling popcorn bags, whispering, and giggling.  It was so nice to spend the afternoon enjoying it with L. And this time we could actually hear it!

*The school year is winding down.  We have 12 school days left after today.  I know this because the sophomores have posted a countdown on my board.  Every day it screams at me reminds me to tie up the loose ends.  Unfortunately, I have quite a few of those!

The trick is to end the school year without losing my mind...or my sense of humor.  Feel free to wish me luck with that!

Mother's Day 2011

This will be the first Mother's Day that both of our mother's are gone.  My mom died in 1990, and the Mr.'s mom died in January.  For the last 20 years, we have taken a brunch down to Mom E., planted flowers for her, and sometimes taken her for a drive.

It would be strange being at home this year, but the Mr. just getting out of the hospital makes it seem normal.  I think chicken salad sandwiches and fruit salad are on the menu.  Since the Mr. does the cooking about 320 days a year, I think I can handle one Sunday dinner.  You might notice how ambitious that menu is;  my guess is that he will recover a lot quicker if he has to keep eating my cooking.

We will probably see both girls this afternoon.  We haven't made any definite plans.  They knew Dad wasn't going to be up to much, and they both have had rather full weekends, too.

This will be a relaxing Mother's Day.  I could use that after the last couple of weeks.  I plan to enjoy a beautiful day!  (I might even sneak a walk or a bike ride in there!)

Happy Mother's Day to all of you Moms out there!

Easter Sunday

I'm a day behind, but these are the 10 things I am thankful for this week:

*Blooming trees

*The Mr. wasn't having a heart attack, just a gall bladder attack that imitated one.  (ER crews move really fast if they think it is the former.)

*Good substitute teachers.  Mine was wonderful for two days in a row!

*Frosted sugar cookies.  When I was a kid, they were always "rabbit" cookies.  This year we were lucky to have "round" cookies (dough purchased prepackaged in the refrigerator section) iced in pastel frosting.

*Little kids dressed in new Easter clothes.  Adorable!

*Next Easter, I will have a grandchild for "Bunny" book readings and Easter egg hunts.  Easter really needs little kids to enjoy Easter baskets.

*A continuing education class with L.  I learned several new ways to use "clicker" technology.  I can't wait to try it out.

*Having the Mr. back home.  Baxter missed him something terrible.

*A former student's family giving me an award for helping keep his memory alive through their scholarship fund.  It was so touching. 

*The way our Tiny Town High is rallying around one of my sophomore boys beginning some pretty serious rounds of chemotherapy.  If love can get him through this, he will be good to go.

Easter Blessings from Easy Street where there are still more blessings and less trouble than we probably deserve.

Bumping Along On Easy Street

What a week!  I still have no time to post, but I'll add a couple of photos.

The Mr. spent part of this week in the hospital. Twelve hours were in ICU.  (He was finally feeling well enough to sit up and read the paper in this picture.  I didn't take pictures when he was feeling so bad that he didn't even want the TV on.)   K and the baby bump came to visit him.

Today, L and I are taking a class.  We enrolled and paid, before all the craziness of the past week began.  Who takes a class on the Saturday before Easter?  What WERE we thinking??

Palm Sunday

Palm fronds and Hosannas.  A ride into town on a donkey. 

This was so confusing to me as a child.  How could they be celebrating his entrance into town one week and hanging him on the cross the next?

As an adult, I understand.  You can be "on top of the mountain" at one moment and down in the depths the next.  People can turn on you.  Any Middle Schooler in the land can identify.

I always preferred Palm Sunday to Easter.  Some psychologist could have a good time analyzing that.  Palm Sunday was happy.  Easter was betrayal and death.  (Granted there was a resurrection there, but there was a lot of ugly first.)  Easter did involve new dresses and rabbit cookies, but that didn't make up for the nails or the crown of thorns.

The best part of Palm Sunday for me is the music:  "The Holy City"  If LBB (Little Big Brother) is singing that today and didn't call- he is so in trouble!

Jerusalem! Jerusalem!
Hark! How the angels sing,
Hosanna in the highest!
Hosanna to your King!

The Wearing of the Green

Happy St. Patrick's day from "Everything Irish" Tiny Town.  We're in Shamrock heaven here. 

I'm dragging out an Irish T-shirt today.  I have a green and white "Cat In the Hat" hat around here somewhere, not to mention a green cowboy hat.  I'll probably take a pass on those today. 

Strangely enough, our St. Pat's Day Parade (a rather relaxed, thrown-haphazardly-together affair) is tomorrow.  I'm not sure why they decided not to have it today.  But then, U town has it's St. Patrick's celebration on Saturday every year.  They have an organized parade, a two mile fun run, and a 10K. 

I will be running the two mile run on Saturday.  It should be a bit easier than last year.  For one, I won't overdress.  (I pretty much overheated last year!) I've also been running two to three miles at a time for quite awhile, where last year I had barely hit the two mile mark the week of the race.

This is a fun little race through the "pub" district in U town and around the city park.  Runners usually gather at the pubs after the race.  And that's part of the reason this is such a fun little race!

Green is a color that has come to represent taking care of our environment; it's everything new, fresh, young, and outdoorsy.  I like that.  I love green and I'm a fan of St. Patrick's Day, too.

And so, an Irish blessing for you today:

May you have warm words on a cold evening,
A full moon on a dark night
And a smooth road all the way to your door.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Fat Tuesday

Shrove Tuesday.  Mardi Gras. 

Testing begins today.  We hope that there will be reason to celebrate when we are done tomorrow.  Trust me when I tell you that we will skip the beads. 

I'm giving up caffeine.  That doesn't make me feel like celebrating much.  I really like coffee and Diet Pepsi.  I'm tapering off.  I know my blood pressure will thank me, but that still doesn't make me feel like celebrating.

This morning I ran two miles.  The weather wasn't the awful stuff predicted.  I'm running two miles today and Thursday, and then I'm planning a three mile run over the weekend. If running two miles starts feeling a little easier, now that would be reason to celebrate!

Pancakes on Easy Street tonight.  So...it is going to be a fat Tuesday.  Maybe a fat Wednesday, too.  There's a reason people fast on Ash Wednesday.

Happy Heart Day

 Valentine's Day.  February 14th.  I'm not a huge fan of this holiday. 

Too many young girls pin all their hopes on this date.  They hope to have flowers sent to school.  Older girls worry about having a date or someone to share the evening with.  And more girls are disappointed than thrilled. 

To be be honest, it is just another day.  We send cards when we're in grade school.  We eat those little conversation hearts.  Reservations at restaurants are hard to come by.  Chocolate has been on the shelves since Christmas.  Florists are inundated; red roses are usually the flower of choice.  Everyone jumps through the same old hoops, and all in the name of romance.

It all seems a bit premeditated and/or forced.  I'd rather the Mr. bring me chocolate or flowers for no particular reason, but just because he happened to be in line somewhere and thought of it.  On the other hand, he cooks for me all the time which should be gift enough.

My gift to him is letting him watch old westerns and his sport of choice.  (OK.  I might whine a bit about that.)  Actually, I'm taking in a college basketball game on Saturday.  He wants to go.  I'm going because he wants to go.

I wouldn't say no to a surprise Valentine ski trip or an Ipad or a color nook or a camera upgrade or...   Well, I bet you get the drift.  Of course, he shouldn't feel bound by Valentine's Day.  He can surprise me with those any ol' time he wants! (He might want to wait until his checkbook can swing it!)

Actually, I'm celebrating Heart Day by making healthy hearts a priority.  Isn't that romantic?  The Mr. is off for his morning swim, while Baxter and I run and walk his morning path.  The nice weather has made running possible again.  I'm hoping it holds.  The sunshine is good for all of us!

Happy Healthy Heart Day to you!

One More Sleep

There's only one more sleep 'til Christmas. 

I was remembering how excited the girls used to be on Christmas Eve.  They would always have to sleep together that night, which meant no one got much sleep.

To be honest, I don't remember a lot about the gifts that Santa left. 

There was the year of the d@#! Barbie Dream House.  (I'm sorry.  I think that is the only way the Mr. ever referred to it.)  We finally got the thing assembled at about 4:00 in the morning, only to have K and L wake us at 5:00. 

There was the year that K got a karaoke machine, and L got an American Girl Doll.  And the year of the Nintendo, when we hustled them off to bed at about 9:00 and played Super Mario until 1:00 in the morning.  (Yeah, we were those parents.)

These days it is less about the gifts and more about the family traditions:  rum slush, breakfast on china, poinsettias (champagne and cranberry juice), card games, Christmas Eve service at church, and movies.  Some years we've foregone gifts and taken a trip together.  Last year we got snowed out of a trip and still managed to have a great time. 

This year, the new son-in-law isn't fortunate enough to have the educator vacation, so there is no time for a trip.  We have drawn names, so there was a bit of shopping to do and we have a few things under the tree.  Our celebration is still about the traditions.  K is even insisting that she and CT spend the night.  (They live about 10 blocks away now.)  She wants to keep alive the tradition of waking up at our house on Christmas morning.  In a few years, there is a good chance that she will be making sure her own little one is at home on Christmas morning.  Until then, it is still fun to be together.

I miss the little girls at Christmas, but I like the big ones, too.  I especially like the fact that I can't remember the gifts, but I do remember the time we've spent together. And that's one lesson learned that I never want to forget.

Tonight?  The Mr., L, and I will attend the Christmas Eve candlelight service.  There will be communion and passing the light.  There will be candles forming a ring all the way around our beautiful new church. K and CT will be coming in later in the evening after spending a couple of days with his family.

Tomorrow?  An early morning run with K, breakfast casserole served on china, presents, and games. We'll light the Advent candles. We'll cook and eat and try to beat CT at cards. The dogs will need walked, and I'm pretty sure there will be naps in there somewhere. 

So from our house to yours:  May you have a very Merry Christmas, full of all of the things that you love!  

The Great Debate

I have always loved saying "Happy Holidays."  It has a nice alliteration.  It sounds so cheerful. It means Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and for my Jewish friends, Happy Hanukkah.   

And now there seems to be a campaign to make me feel guilty if I say Happy Holidays.  A guy tried to convince the Mr. that you could be arrested on the East Coast if you said "Merry Christmas."   (I've yet to see the police paperwork on that one.)  Facebook status updates, email forwards, and blogs seem to reprimand those who say Happy Holidays.

I go to a church that believes we are all God's people.  "Open Hearts.  Open Doors."   I celebrate the birth of Christ, and I say Happy Holidays.  One doesn't negate the other.  I'm still welcome at my church. "Happy Holidays" doesn't keep me from lighting the Christ Child's candle or ringing the sanctuary with light on Christmas Eve.  I'm pretty sure that God still considers me one of his own.

I don't want to feel guilty for saying Happy Holidays.  I haven't taken Christ out of Christmas. I just really want you to enjoy your holidays--however you celebrate them.  I want to wish you happiness and joy and love.

This season is a celebration of love.  I think we could use a little more love this year.  (Oh, and a light snow would be nice, too!)

So...Happy Holidays!

Family Christmas

All over town, extended families are gathering for Christmas celebrations.  Christmas falling on a weekend challenges out-of-town families to use this weekend for travel.  We're no different.  Today is family celebration #1. Out-of-state relatives are gathering at noon.  So that pushed me to get some baking done and a big pot of cheesy vegetable soup ready to travel. 

The good news:  no packages to wrap or gift shopping to do.  Just a gathering including three little great nephews, college kids who have survived finals, and the West Point nephew.  I'm taking Dad some hummus for his Christmas gift.  (Last of the big spenders, I know.) 

We'll miss the California kids, the cousins gathering in the big city, and snow.  Yeah, I guess you can't have everything. 

Christmas Memory

Celebrating Christmas has changed through the years.  It is interesting to remember Christmas celebrations past. 

About 18 years ago, Dad remarried right before Christmas.  That Christmas was the first to meet the step family.  There were a lot of little kids from our side.  Someone gave the two grandsons cap guns.  The little girls were chasing a new step uncle around the house chanting his name.  They left a trail of candy wrappers everywhere they went.  My little big brother was busy setting Christmas pudding on fire, much to the delight of K and L. I'm guessing some of the family were annoyed, but we all smiled and endured.  I don't remember anyone scolding or grousing.

Yeah.  It was one of THOSE Christmas celebrations.  The pictures of the stunned faces of the new step siblings are priceless.  They got the "real" version of the family craziness.  It's a wonder they continued to come for family celebrations.  (Little did we know that they would sometimes add to the chaos as much as the little ones.)

We still celebrate, but it is much quieter--and in some ways not near as much fun.  I miss the flaming desserts.  I miss the excitement of the little kids.  As teens and college students I doubt they feel like they can be themselves with the abandonment that they did when they were little.  We get the subdued version of them these days.  They've probably been scolded one too many times about excess noise, being on their best behavior, eating healthier, and remembering their table manners. 

A couple of years ago we had a wonderful snow.  We could be outside for the wild hilarity of sled rides behind the four wheeler.  The kids didn't have to be quiet and well mannered.  Even the older "kids" were screaming with laughter. There was noise and craziness.  And for a bit we recaptured that first Christmas when we were all together. 

I think that says something about the Christmas celebrations we remember the most vividly.  It isn't about the table manners, gifts, quiet conversation, or what we eat.  (Though that flaming pudding was pretty cool, even if it wasn't my favorite dessert.)

What do we remember about our family celebrations?  The sheer joy of being together. The laughter.  The silly, unexpected moments of energetic fun.