Christmas Memories to share

~~ Christmas Memories I continue from a comment I made on another blog,
The Fabulous Good Life from a facebook entry link, I found I was writing book on a comment form so I continue it here. ~~
Here is what I started:




You have fabulous memories! I do also! I grew up in the 50's- 60's and I had a real oven, I think before the easy bake came out. Whatever, I adore Holly Hobbie, I always have, but I think it was from the "Little House on the Prairie" TV show, much later in my life. I always loved being outside! I played with dolls, Plush critters, roller skates, my bicycle, and real metal Jacks! We played Canasta card game a lot on the front porch and walked the neighborhood with our radios listening to popular music stations. I got 45 rpm records a lot for holidays, new p.j.'s, books,and a scrapbook my daughter found and gave me the other day. It has greeting cards in it mostly. I shall take photos of them as I get time.

I am headed for a book here so I shall continue on my blog, "ByLightOfMoon". Thanks Maven for the memories, Smiles, Cyndi


And continued here:

I was very lucky that I lived in a neighborhood with alot of children or kids that lived in our subdivision. We moved there when I was in 3rd grade and I had friends in the neighborhood that I grew up with all my school years and more. Many Mothers were home all day and so we had a large gathering of kids looking for something to do daily.

At Christmastime, my parents went all out for the Season of Cheer! My Mother got busy with making a front door cover, she used oil cloth and made her design herself, it was different every year. Oh how I wish I had photos of those days. Year after year we had a tinsel tree that are so popular back again today. We had the color wheel to change the colors on it in the living room and it took up the whole living area. Mom was a funiture mover and changed the layout all through the year. My Dad never knew what it would look like when he came home. Anotheryear we had a tree that blew snow up a central pipe and then snow would fall on the tree and all over the living room. We had to refill it alot I suppose. We had many different trees.

I think my Dad and Mom were crazy about decorating for the holiday and they sent out hundreds of cards it seemed. The Christmas presents were hidden in a closet that we were not supposed to see, but the main presents must have been stored at my grandmothers' house as we always had to wait on Christmas Eve for her to get off work at 11:00PM so we could open presents. When waiting for her to get off we all loaded in the car and went looking at Christmas decorations throughout the city. We drove and rode in the back of our station wagon to see good what my Dad would point out to us, Oh, Did we see Santa over that hill? We had to make sure we drove by the house that had Santa's feet sticking out of the chimney as it did every year. We loved it and we would drive down to the City Square where the stores had window decorations that moved and we got more and more excited.

Finally we would head for home, thinking surely my Grandmother would be there. With joy her car was in the driveway when we got back home. We left the car as fast as we could crawl out to go see what Santa had left for us and it was a roomful of presents, more that could ever fit in the closet, but we never took that into consideration. Santa Claus had just come was all we cared about! For Joy!

One year I remember while I sat and waited in the car with my brothers while my Mother grocery shopped I would dream of a shaggy dog I could see in the window of the drug store right next to the grocery. It was up high toward the ceiling fixtures and they lined a row of stuffed animals. I like this one particular Shaggy Dog and I wanted it so bad. Really Bad! well, when Santa's gifts had all been looked at and admired I could not find my Shaggy dog and he was big, maybe two feet high, so hard to miss, but he was NOT there. I was dissapointed because Santa had missed a treasure I wanted but I did get many other presents so I was happy and thankful but just sad about it.

We always got our stockings full of fruit and a few tiny toys like Barbie shoes or a tic-tac-toe game, chocolate candy and my DAD made up letters Santa left us about how we should be better next year. My Dad asked me to go to the garage to get him something and I fell over the SHAGGY DOG, for Joy! He told me Santa must have dropped it from his sack of toys when he was leaving as he heard the car arrive in the driveway. I believed him, Oh Yes, I believed him! My Dad was a prankster and had fun times with everyone he knew.


I wish all my friends a Very Happy Holiday this year! I know we have drastically cut back on gift giving to each other but we have for years. We get our daughter and her husband something but we always tell them to expect nothing. The day is over that we shop for lots of presents. We used to fill the house with presents when it came time to open them.

I loved the years we could travel back to see my family in Missouri. I know the years have changed many things, our family is not as big as it used to be. My brothers have in-laws families to be with also and I don't expect my mother to do a big dinner like past days. Oh she cooked several meats, lots of veggies and special Christmas tradition meals. Several pastries and candies we could eat on for days.
We are all older and just cannot do it like it was. But I have many lovely memories of the big Christmas's we celebrated so the small and cozy are a relief to not be in the bustle of crowds and shopping then wrapping and cooking. My largest gifts are for our critters, Emma, Barkley, Blu and Blak, they all get new chew toys and treats.

We are to go to my Daughter's for breakfast Christmas Eve morning and then when done with many of their friends invited also, they will go to Tennessee for her husband's family to be together too.

We shall have a wonderful Christmas just to be with our Lord and Savior, to celebrate his birth and the reason for the season. Bless each of you and tell us your favorite Christmas memories and pass it on....



I love this photo that Mavin from The Fabulous Good Life shared so I will also pass that on. Peace and Love be with all of you!

Blessings, Cyndi