Happy Memories

Just thinking about how nice Christmas is now......having kids brings back how Christmas felt as a kid. Not just in the sense that it brings back your childhood memories of Christmas; but also that it brings back the excitement to you-you get excited for Christmas like you did when you were a kid. Only this time around it's because you want to enjoy the kids' enjoyment of everything. I do remember how it felt on Christmas Eve, especially one year when I did sit at the window in my bedroom, determined to catch a glimpse of Santa and his reindeer. Eventually I got too tired and had to go to bed. I have fond memories of the clay Christmas specials and of course the Grinch who stole christmas. I remember my sister Laura getting so giddy she could barely control herself. That had to be so much fun for my parents to see. And going to my grandmother's house on Christmas day-noise and confusion and presents and paper everywhere! I absolutely loved it. I don't know if it's a boy thing or not, but I remember my cousins Ronnie and Michael would just rip through the presents-barely glancing at what was inside. They just loved opening them for the sake of opening them. I loved the kaos at my grandmother's house. She has this huge house, always decorated. It was great growing up with lots of cousins-I wish my kids had that. My baby sister Claire, she really missed out in that department. Of my grandmother's 16 grandchildren she kind of ended up in the middle, agewise, so she didn't have the same kind of companionship. And I think Christmases were a lot quieter by the time she was old enough to be aware. But they were so much fun when I was a kid.
It's so cute how Leanna is worried that Santa might put snickers bars in her stocking(she doesn't like them but her Daddy and Justin do). We'll put milk and cookies out. I got a cup and plate specifically for that, discounted for 3.50(originally 15!). Until I hung the stockings Leanna kept puting them in new places, worrying that Santa might not be able to find them. She keeps asking how many days until Christmas. I'm really excited for Justin to open a present from my sister Laura. It's a Lion from the build a bear shop at the Lehigh Valley Mall and it roars. You have to know Justin to understand why that's such a great gift. He will roar if you ask him what a lion says or sometimes roar back at you if you do it first. It's one of those extremely cute things-much cuter in person than to read about. The majority of the time if you roar first(or even second) he will say, "scary!" And about half the time he really will be scared. We have a tiny toy lion, Scar-from the Lion King movie, and Justin is actually afraid of it. He has a very mean expression on his face, so I can see why Justin's afraid. Leanna's the easiest for me to buy for though, I guess because I can buy her things that I enjoyed as a kid, or wanted and didn't get. I'm probably most excited about her baby Cabbage Patch kid. Because it's a baby, so she can change it's diaper while I do Timothy(and all the other fun stuff), and because those dolls were so huge when I was a kid. I had 2-a homemade one that I bought from a friend with my allowance(the poor woman accepted payment entirely in change and only made a dollar profit off it) and then later, when their popularity had declined-and their prices-I got a real one for Christmas. Oh well, I'm way off track here. And this thing won't let me copy or cut, so I can't divide this into two posts! Anyway, the basic point is that Christmas is more and more fun as the kids get older and as we have more. Hmmmmm......16 grandchildren..........how would you like that Momma Sue?