Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

We four girls lived in a little blue house just off campus.  We enjoyed scheming together for surprise parties, dressing up for Murder Mysteries, swing dancing at the Cactus Moon and giggling about the most recent antics of our cats, Sugar and Spice.  Sweet, sweet friends.

One year around Christmas time, we decided to draw names and fill our stockings secret-Santa style.  It would be fun ... and cheap.  Seeing as we were all a little stretched thin in the currency department, this would allow us each to spoil on another without breaking the bank.  We each drew a name out of a bag and started shopping around for fun and silly stocking stuffers.

On one of the last nights before winter break, we piled into the rec room with our stockings over-flowing and celebrated Christmas together.

I had filled my roommate's stocking in the same fashion that Santa had always filled mine and I was excited to see her unwrap her goodies.  Today I don't really remember what was at the top of Debbie's stocking.  I imagine I gave her a pair of silly socks, maybe some fruity lip balm and perhaps a notepad and glittery pen.  I probably also included some candy and maybe a toothbrush or some good smelling lotion.  She ooh'ed and aah'ed as she unwrapped each little package.  Then she got really excited as she saw that there was one more something in the toe of her stocking.  It was kind of heavy and about the size of an orange.

"What could be in there?", she giggled, reaching her arm into the stocking.

A curious look came over her face as she withdrew her hand and her last present.

"It's an orange," she stated matter-of-factly, with a mixture of disappointment and puzzlement.

"Yep," I said, feeling just a little bit silly, "We always get an orange in our stocking.  You know, an orange."

Silence for just a second ... and then we all started laughing.

Apparently Santa only left fruit at the Nadel's house!

I still laugh about that ... the surprise and confusion about how that pesky piece of fruit made it's way into her stocking and my disbelief that my family was the only recipient of fruit with a few nuts tossed in for good measure!

Those three ladies are still such wonderful dear friends.  Even though we are scattered across the state and across the country, I know that if we were all plopped in the same room together, we would start up right were we left off.  With plenty of laughter as we reminisce about that little blue house and as we share about the craziness of life today.

That is one of those miracles of friendship, especially if you share the common bond of faith in Jesus - years can go by between visits and yet the closeness and harmony does not age or fade.

Which brings me to my song for today's Musical Count-Down to Christmas, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas".  There are about a hundred different renditions of this Holiday carol, but my personal favorite would have to be the lovely duet between John Denver and Rowlf the Dog.  Click here for a listen.


Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas


Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Let your heart be light
From now on our troubles will be out of sight

Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the Yuletide gay
From now on our troubles will be miles away

Here we are as in olden days
Happy golden days of Yore
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more

Through the years we all will be together
If the fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough
And have yourself a merry little Christmas now

Through the years we all will be together
If the fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough
And have yourself a merry little Christmas now


Music composed by Hugh Martin, lyrics by Ralph Blane

As I think back on that night of sitting and laughing about fruit, sharing the traditions of our families and celebrating Jesus' birth, the third verse stands out to me with startling clarity.  These friends (and the many other friends who have crossed my path) are dear to me and I know that as we each continue to live the lives that God has mapped out for us, we will continue to celebrate Jesus together, share our lives with one another when we have the chance... and laugh about the silliness of life, be it kids or fruit!
_____________________________

Prompt #4 ~ Share a story from your college years.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Yippee!  It's December 1st!

The tree is up thanks to my wonderful Christmas elves.  I commented to Brett after the dust settled, "Wow ... that was one of the least stressful tree decorating nights.  Ever."  He replied, "I think it was the sheer speed with which they decorated!"  True.  They were fast.  But there were cookies promised for when they finished, so they were motivated.

Today we are decking the halls with the rest of my favorite house decorations.  Soon our walls and bookshelves will be bedecked with wreathes, angels and winter scenes.  A Christmas transformation!  A throng of snowmen will also take charge of our mantle and any other surface they can commandeer, including the futon.  I love the coziness that comes along with twinkling lights, candles, pine cones and throw blankets.

I have refreshed my iPod stations and it's a treat to putter around the kitchen listening to new holiday songs mixed with  my old favorite carols.  Whether it's Bing Crosby, Sara Groves, Harry Connick Jr., or the Muppets, I'm in the Christmas spirit!  And Petey is warming up, too.

This December I am excited to share some of my favorite Christmas songs in a little
Musical Count-Down to Christmas!

I hope you enjoy a few fresh snapshots of songs you may not have heard before ... and a refreshed snapshot of some old favorites.

Here's today's song ... a perfect kick-off to this Holiday season!



Lyrics | Andy Williams - It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year lyrics

It's impossible for me to hear this song and not immediately think about all the fun-filled traditions of Christmas ...

Shopping for presents,
Watching Elf, Love Actually and Mixed Nuts,
Hot cocoa and cookies,
Baking tins filled to the brim with sugary goodness,
Writing our Christmas letter,
Making gifts for our family,
Driving around to look at Christmas lights,
Listening to kids sing "Away in the Manger" (stuck on repeat),
Sitting near the lit Christmas tree with a mug of tea and a good book,
Wrapping presents (ribbons, tissue, bows ... oh, my!),
Christmas hymns at church,
The Children's Nativity play,
The smell of our fir tree filling the house, and
Watching the wonder of Christmas reflected on the faces of my kids.

And this is my short list. :)

As we step across the threshold into December, it's hard not to get caught up in the rituals and habits of the Holiday ~ "kids jingle-belling", "marshmallows roasting", "caroling out in the snow" and, of course, "mistletoeing"!  But this year, my heart cautions me against focusing on the activities of this month at the risk of losing touch with the central Character of this holiest season.  I know you have heard before that potentially overused saying, "Jesus is the Reason for the Season."  Or how about, "Keep the Christ in Christmas"?  They may feel a tad bit over-used, but, regardless, they ring true.

My hope this month is to turn our hearts (and ears) back to the manger.  And discover once again that Jesus is worthy of worship this season ... and that there's a lot of terrific music out there to help us joyfully celebrate His birthday!

_____________________________

Prompt #3 ~ The first of December is upon us!  Describe an Advent Calendar or a special way you count down the days until Christmas.

Thankfulness {day four}

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you are in the midst of family, friends, food and fun!

We are currently packed to the gills in my sister's home ... fourteen people, four dogs and one bathroom.  It's how we enjoy our holidays!  Packed cheek to cheek to cheek to cheek to cheek around the table and on the couch and in our blow-up beds.  I wouldn't have it any other way!

Thinking back on past Thanksgivings, I was surprised at the many different ways we have spent this holiday.  We have celebrated under many different roofs, eating many variations of the traditional good eats and among a variety of family and friends.  Sometimes we share food responsibilities, sometimes we just show up with a can of whipped cream and some rolls.  Sometimes we spend our time cuddled on the couch watching football while other times we hover over the dining room table, tackling a 1,000 piece puzzle.  We've watched the wonder and delight of each of our kiddos eating their first turkey, first cranberry, first pumpkin pie.  We have laughed and reminisced with older family members who have since passed away.

So many memories packed into one single day.

But one of my absolute, hands-down favorite memories would have to be my mom's annual turkey dance.  Each year before stuffing the bird, my mom would slide her hand into the cavity and entertain us with a little turkey cha-cha!  At least until her arm gave out ... those 20 pound turkeys are not light on their feet!

Several years ago, we decided to for go the traditional turkey and instead served individual cornish game hens. This allowed us to each have our own delicious bird ... and a feathered friend chorus line:

Today I am thankful for laughter that cheers our faces, memories that warm our hearts and food that fills our bellies!

¹³ A happy heart makes the face cheerful! 

(Proverbs 15:13)

Hope you enjoy a little silliness today!  And maybe a little dancing. :)
_____________________________

Prompt #2 ~ What traditions do you carry on with your family each year?

Yep ... Pretty Thankful!

What a fun weekend ... a fun looooong weekend!  Kind of hard to come back down to the reality of Monday after a sweet family time like that!  But I guess we have to have something like "normal" in order to enjoy the "special" of the holidays.

We started our holiday weekend off with the Great Pre-Holiday Toy Purge of 2010 ... do we know how to have fun, or what?!  The kids were home from school on Wednesday and so, being such a great mom, I put them to work.  But just for the morning.  After making our way through the house, top to bottom and side to side, we pulled out three bags of trash and 4 boxes of toys to give away.  Boo-yeah!  I love that feeling of less:  less to pick up, less to search through for the toy you really want, less to keep contained.  I was really pleased with the kids and their willingness to let go of some of their things.  We wrapped up the morning with a trip to McD's.  No ... we didn't get any Happy Meal toys! :)  In reality, we are only making room for the gifts to come ... but for right now, we feel tidy.

Then it was Thanksgiving Day ... gobble, gobble!  We started the morning with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade ... which ended up being a lot of talk and a little itty-bit of parade.  Poor Ashley was still asking about 45 minutes into the broadcast, "When is it going to be the parade?"

"Sorry, Honey, this is it."  Lots of yakking, some reporter kept taking other people's coats (what was that all about?!?), a few glimpses of balloons and a photo shot or two of some famous person on a float.  Oh well ... I'll bide my time until the Rose Bowl Parade and enjoy it on HGTV ... no commercials and no silliness.  Just the parade!

Eventually we got dressed and headed to my brother's house.  His family hosted Thanksgiving in their new home ... new memories to make together!  The kids played.  Hard.  While we adults lounged, ate and Boggled.  Hard.

Somehow, we worked up an appetite and that was a good thing because we had a delicious spread to enjoy:  turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, cranberries, bread, wine, pie ... I'm stuffed just thinking about it again!  Thanks, Joshua & Jill, for hosting us in your lovely home!

Then it was the mad dash to Montrose that night.  The Goal:  get there before anyone fell asleep.  Mission Accomplished!  Maybe it was the contagious giggling from the backseat, maybe it was the pecan pie coursing through our veins, or maybe it was the Christmas music blaring from the iPod ... either way, we pulled to a stop just as Lydia's eyes began to droop.  Whew!

While in Montrose, we made our traditional trip to the tree farm to cut down our Christmas tree.  This is such a delightful tradition!  As you will see from the Smilebox ... we had a great time!  It was warm, the sun was shining and everyone had smiles on their faces.  A true Christmas miracle!

Customize your own free slideshow design

Now our tree is standing in our family room waiting patiently for us to decorate it.  Tonight, we will be having my other favorite tradition:  The Christmas Transformation!  Christmas music, boxes of ornaments (each with it's own sweet memory), bins of decorations to transform our house, angel and snowflake dishes to eat from, lights twinkling inside and out.

Ooohhh, yeah ... I'm getting in the Christmas mood! :)

I'm Spoiled!

I really enjoyed my birthday weekend:  sleeping in a bit, breakfast hot and ready when I get up, extra help around the house, time to just veg a bit, and a nap.  Oh ... wait ... hmmmmmm, that's actually what most of my weekends look like! :)  My splendid husband pampers me on a regular basis, which kind of means that every weekend is my birthday weekend! :)  I am the first to say that my husband is not your normal guy ... he is my super, way-above-average, marvelous guy and he's mine, all mine! :)

We did, however, do a few things a little differently on Saturday that made it even more special and that's what I thought I'd share today.  And I've included a few snapshots so that it's almost like you came along with us.  Shall we begin?  Here we go!

After enjoying a yummy breakfast of fresh coffee (properly sweetened and creamed) and right-out-of-the-oven coffee cake ... did I say Brett was great, or what?!  ... we bundled into the van.  We were headed downtown to the 32nd Annual Colorado West Marching Band Festival Parade.  And without even planning it ahead of time, we ran into my brother and nephew and nieces and another set of family friends, which made it even more fun!  The parade featured about six bands from the Western Slope ... and a few bands of alpacas.  We're not sure about that part! :)  The kids loved it, but we were disappointed the llamas weren't playing any instruments!  It was fun to watch the kids enjoying the live music as the bands marched by.  There were a variety of responses ... as you can see :)

It's entirely possible that Aaron might be a drummer someday ... and then we'll have to invest in some earplugs for Ashley. :)  Norah, on the other hand, was very impressed with the flag bearers.  The young ladies had very fancy, sequined and shiny costumes, much to her delight.  She might have been a tad bit disappointed that they only walked, however.  There were no cartwheels or back hand-springs ... or anyone doing the splits.  No problem - Norah had that part covered:

She is practicing all the time ... all the time! :)

All told, the parade was fun, and I think we should make it a tradition to attend every year.  What do you think, Lydia?

I think that's a "YES!"

As we herded the kids back to the vans, we passed the City Hall and this fun water sculpture.  A perfect picture backdrop.  Now to get all eight kids looking the same way at the same time with pleasant smiles.  That, as you can imagine is a tad bit harder than it sounds.  I think this was our 3rd or 4th shot ... at that point you say, "Great ... that will do!"

The Kellum/Nadel Posse 

Next it was time to head home, but not before we got a few of the kids crying! :)  We decided that Caleb could come over and play for a bit and have lunch with us.  This immediately got Ashley and Mallory plotting and Norah and Rebekah hoping ... but to no avail.  When we got back in the van, Aaron and Caleb were planning the next 2 hours while poor Mallory wailed, Norah sniffled and Ashley whimpered.  Good times ... good times!

At one o'clock, we settled into our beds for quiet times.  I truly, truly love the time between 1:00 - 3:00 at our house.  We each head to either our beds or a couch and enjoy a few hours of reading, resting and maybe a little snoozing.  I don't know what the rest of the fam did, but I woke up around 3 pm with my arm holding my place in my book.  Ahhhh.....

A little while later, we piled into the van again for another little adventure.  We headed over to the Grand Valley Kennel Club Dog Show over at the Mesa County Fairgrounds.  We didn't know what to expect exactly, but we were pleasantly surprised with both the show and the kids' interest ... but more on that tomorrow. :)  There's an entire post, "forming in my brain".  Any ideas about that quote?  Think Time Bandits. :)

We eventually headed back to the van following the dog show with the kids clamoring for our dinner plans.  Word had gotten out that we were going out ... and the kids began throwing out their own ideas for where we should go.  We have a tradition that the birthday person gets to pick the restaurant.  Of the many options, my favorites were "Sonic World" (Ashley) and "Anywhere I can have crab ... I love crab!" (Norah).  I think the kids were okay with the final destination ... but even if they weren't, they still ate their weight in french fries. :)  Red Robin, here we come!  Here are a few fun snapshots of our dinner together ... Lydia is trying out a new smile.  Enjoy! :)

Say, "cheese", Liddy!

Now that she is properly covered in cheese ... her smile is even a bit more cutsy, if that's possible!

Red Robin mac-n-cheese rocks!

A few suggestions for increased family fun as a result of our Red Robin experience:

• Take your kids to Dr. Dave before going.  If they are cavity-free ... they eat free!  Each of the kids (even Lydia for being so cute) got free kid's meal coupons to Red Robin at our last visit.  Boo-yeah!
• Red Robin offers free refills on Mac-N-Cheese or Spaghetti.  So if you have a hungry brood, this is the way to go!  Our waitress was fine with us splitting an extra dish with Aaron and Norah who had both had something different.  No one went away hungry.
• Even if you are an adult, they will sing to you if they know it is your birthday.  It's cute when they sing to your kids ... it's awkward when they sing to you.  Especially if your children are embarrassed and covering their faces and ears or distracting themselves by watching the football game.  I'll save you the uncomfortable video of me being serenaded .... alone ... smiling awkwardly :)
• Be aware of the lure of the balloons upon leaving the restaurant.  We have had a variety of experiences with RR's balloons.  Sometimes they bring joy, sometimes anguish.  Last night we went home with three balloons and lost one within the hour to the evil popcorn ceiling.  One balloon is still limping along while tied to Ashley's bed.  The third wound up with its ribbon wound up around the floor fan.  The balloon was still partially inflated, but the fan motor was shot.  So I guess that's:  Balloons - 1, Fans - 0.

Sunday morning (being the true start of my birthday) was also a treat.  It's not every morning that I get to snuggle in bed and read a bit before getting up.  This was my welcome as I arrived downstairs ... a little Lincoln Log Love from my kiddos:

Brett, being the wonderful guy that he is, went out early this morning to buy fresh donuts for breakfast.  We have a tradition of having donuts on anyone's birthday ... and I'm glad that counts for us adults, too.  To start off our breakfast, Brett made us yummy scrambled eggs with tomatoes from our garden on the side.  That is our way of justifying/healthyfying our delicious tradition.  :)  

Aaron enjoying his bismark .... mmmmmmm

After really enjoying our breakfast ... some more than others (we will name no names, little toddler covered in sugary sprinkles) ...

She's just a little excited!

We showered, and headed to church.  Upon arriving, I was greeted with, "Happy Birthday!" from a few people ... "Uh ... thanks." smile...  Turns out Brett had arranged to have the altar flowers dedicated to me today.  Did I say yet that he is wonderful?  So ... now I have a lovely bouquet of happy little daisies on my kitchen table - "They're so friendly. Don't you think daisies are the friendliest flower?" Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail.


Sunday afternoon consisted of writing (some of what you are reading right now...), watching some football games and eventually watching the kids run around like crazy people in the front yard.  Anytime I get to watch my kids really enjoying themselves together ... without me having to intercede too much ... is a a definite treat.


We wrapped up the day with our traditional shakes, popcorn and cheese for dinner.  And then the untraditional, but certainly delicious, brownies and ice cream.  The finale of the weekend (whew!) was watching Amazing Race with the family.  This is the first season we have watched with the kids, but in light of their high level of interest and the many teachable moments throughout the episode, I think I could see this becoming a tradition. :)


Yep ... it ended up being a lovely birthday weekend.  A wonderful mix of traditions and new experiences all tossed together with family time.  And I will be the first to say that I'm spoiled ... spoiled rotten! :)

Me and my babies :)

How do you spoil your birthday boy on his special day?  What traditions do you enjoy when celebrating your birthday girl?  Please share! :)