Merry Christmas!

Well, for those of you who may be wondering - I haven't taken my kids annual Christmas photograph yet!!! I still plan to, but it is looking much more like New Years cards instead of Christmas cards. I may even post it here when I get it done.

I was just thinking about Christmas's past. We sent our nieces and nephews cold, hard, cash this year. I remember that when I was a kid, I always LOVED getting money cards in the mail for Christmas and other occasions. The bills were nice - but I always liked the greeting cards that had the coin slots cut in them! Do any of you remember those? Oh, I know, inflation being what it is, kids today probably don't have the same appreciation for 6 or 8 quarters and dimes. Still, cash is cash, and it is money they can take and spend absolutely anywhere.

I was also thinking about my maternal grandparents and a neat TRADITION they had. Each year in my Christmas stocking along with trinket toys, an orange, and some chocolate - there were always some of those mixed nuts still in the shells. You know the ones - they are always for sale in the produce department during the holiday season! Most of the nuts were just down in the stocking - but there were also the MAGIC WALNUTS!! I don't know how much time my grandparents spent on this - but they would painstakingly cut or crack the walnuts exactly in half and scoop out all the insides. Then, they would either fold dollar bills small enough to fit inside - OR - they would put quarters, dimes and nickels in there - and then they would glue the halves back together! Imagine my surprise to find MONEY inside the walnuts! My folks have tried this with my kids in the past couple of years, and it was a big hit!

My paternal grandparents sent us a neat cloth calendar every Christmas, and I always got a pretty piece of Avon jewelry, too. I know there were other things too - but these are the special ones that stand out in my memory.

One year in high school, I was getting a new flute for symphonic band and marching band. My mom cleverly laid the flute case in the cardboard box that was meant to hold 24 cans of coke - she removed 6 cans and placed the flute case there, then wrapped the whole shebang. It was very heavy, and I never guessed what was in it!

With my own kids, we typically leave our tree lights on overnight on Christmas. It is kind of cool on Christmas morning to see the Santa gifts glowing in the light of the tree. (Shout out to Melissa Dovel for pointing this out - we have been doing this - but I couldn't quite describe it!) When we hear the kids stirring around - we call the grandparents and tell them to head on over for the unwrapping! In between, the kids open their stockings and check out their Santa items.

My kids also get to open ONE gift on Christmas Eve. Sometimes, we let them open gifts from beloved cousins in other states as well! They love doing this and it helps to curb some of the enthusiasm! Oh, and we always leave cookies, carrots and milk out for Santa and the reindeer!

What are your favorite memories and traditions?