Christmas and Traditions

Welcome to JollyDaze 4 & me!

A short six week meme to carry us through the end of the year.
A meme for us to enjoy the holidays with.
We'd love to have you join us! Click here for more info.

Our Christmas tradition starts Christmas Eve when we put out the gifts. Long ago my sisters and I started shaking the gifts as we loaded the tree. It quickly became a game and Mom got smart. She camouflaged gifts in extra boxes and added things to rattle and shake in the box... LoL, that's something we do here too now. As you can see, I have to because it isn't just my hubs that shakes the gifts here...

Christmas morning starts with stockings, which is one of my favorite parts. Mom puts the best stuff in our stockings--I hope to learn that knack...

After the kids open their stockings, we have a big breakfast, and do the dishes, much to the kids' frustration, LoL.

THEN we move on, beginning with...

A tradition my father started years ago is to read the Luke 2 account of the birth of Jesus. It's one of those things that's near and dear to us and something we've continued on with even when Mom and Dad aren't with us for Christmas.

After Dad or Jim reads Luke 2 and we talk about it some, then comes the gifts. One at a time, taking turns so we can enjoy and savor each gift given and received.

Christmas is a family time we treasure.

So tell me, what's your favorite family Christmas tradition?

If you're joining us for the JollyDaze 4 u & me meme by posting on your blog this week about Christmas, be sure to add your name and the link to that particular post in the linky gadget here.



On deck for next week:  Christmas Decorations... your favorites and what they mean to you... how to make a particular Christmas decoration... decorations you remember... or anything Christmas. Click here for our post idea starter schedule.

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November's Caption Contest Winner

You ever have times when you just check out of... life?
LoL. Well, I did. I checked out on Wednesday and stayed underground until Sunday. And it was good. Very good. =) Spent time with the fam, reading, and even Christmas shopping. And miracle of miracles, our shopping is close to being done, which means I get to relax some and enjoy the holiday. Woot! A rare treat and gift all its own.

I hope you guys had a wonderful Thanksgiving, doing whatever it is you did.

Now for November's caption contest winner:

Bev White sent in what her husband would say... and for some reason I can hear Don saying it. Every time I read that line I cracked up. =) (Bev, email me and send along your snail mail addy so I can send a lil gift.)

Stay tuned for December's Caption Contest.

Don't forget tomorrow's JollyDaze 4 u & me post is about Favorite Christmas Traditions... memories of a tradition... We'd love to have you join us!

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Happy...

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The Service of Worship

Each week at Living by Grace, a devotional discussion Facebook group, we post a memory verse and this week's is Romans 12:1...

Therefore I urge you brethren,

by the mercies of God,

to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice,

acceptable to God,

which is our spiritual service 

of worship.

~Romans 12:1

Be sure to check the Cafe for more links to WFW

Won't you join me memorizing Romans 12:1 this week at Living by Grace?



*Photo by courtesy of sxc.hu

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JollyDaze 4 Thanksgiving

Welcome to our first 

JollyDaze 4 u & me meme! 

For 6 weeks we'll be posting about the holidays, and this week is Thanksgiving. For more information and the post idea starter schedule, check out the informational post for JollyDaze here.


And now, a step back in time...

Anytime my crew gets to talking about Thanksgiving, they circle quickly around to 2005--one of the most memorable Thanksgivings we've had. Now, you may consider us unAmerican, but remember, spending my teen years in Ecuador kind of altered how I view holidays. Turkey was unavailable there so we made due with what we had, and since it was THE best time to go to the beach, that's what many of us did, even if it meant eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches along the side of the mountain on the way. Which it did. So, I thought I was doing great and in the spirit of the holiday by making turkey lunch meat sandwiches for the fam in 2005. ;-)

Thanksgiving of 2005 found us scrambling to get a house roofed before bad weather moved in. And it moved in the evening of Thanksgiving day. If we wanted the house under cover so we could work on it through the winter, we had to work on Thanksgiving... So we did.

Here's my youngest--he was about 4 here. Can you see the Thanksgiving Dinner anticipation building?

Our family has always worked together--in the house and out of it. My older daughter preps the shingles before they go to the roof.

The easiest way to keep an eye on the youngest was to give him a hammer and bring him with you up on the roof. Now, before you freak out on me, remember, my kids have all been brought up around construction and they're taught about roof behavior very early. VERY early. What you don't see in this picture is his daddy only two feet lower than him on the roof.

My middle son and younger daughter help in many ways, including cleaning out the original flower bed. It had been full of shingle bits and pieces from tearing the roof off a couple days earlier. They were up and down off the roof too. Many times they were shingle preparers and transporters.

And here's the cooker of Thanksgiving Day 2005. This man is amazing!! That year he roofed half that house in record time, even as the temperature dropped and the clouds grew heavier.

I didn't have a picture of our turkey lunch meat sandwich dinner, probably because I was busy making those sandwiches, but here's one of our desserts that day. Fruit and nut granola bars! Can you say yumz? My youngest sure was!

Like every Thanksgiving, there were moments here and there for naps... Here's my oldest in the comfiest spot around. Well, actually, that would've been the bench seat of the old pick-up but the youngest was crashed there. ;-)

We may have worked our tails off that Thanksgiving, but we sure made memories. The kids still love talking about it and we had fun...right up to when the snow started and we packed up and waited for Jim to finish the last few rows, in the spitting the snow. But we got it done and the inside work continued through the winter. Lemme tell ya, we were THANKFUL!

Happy Thanksgiving!

May you make many memories.

If you're joining us for the JollyDaze 4 u & me meme by posting on your blog this week about Thanksgiving, be sure to add your name and the link to that particular post in the linky gadget here.

On deck for next week, the 29th: Favorite Christmas Traditions... memories of a tradition... 

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If I Were

Awhile ago, a looooong while ago, my cousin posted this on her site. I intended to post right away, but it slipped through the cracks. Well, I found it. Finally. *eye roll* If you'd like to play along, swipe it and play. =)

If I Were...
     
If I were a month, I’d be May, bursting with buds and blossoms.
   
If I were a day of the week, I’d be Sunday and strolling in the sunshine after my snooze.   
 
If I were a time of day, I’d be snack time with a tin of cookies close at hand.

If I were a "planet," I’d be Saturn with rings halos.
    
If I were a sea animal, I’d be a starfish, regenerating as needed.

If I were a direction, I’d be UP (who wants to be down?!)    

If I were a piece of furniture, that recliner with the soft, snuggly throw across the arm.

If I were a liquid, I'd be grape koolaid, sweet and full-flavored.

If I were a gemstone, blue zircon, quiet color, flashing.

If I were a tree, I’d be a sugar maple, glowing in October's sun.

If I were a tool, I'd be a tote bag, ready to grab and go.

If I were a flower, the tiger lily growing wild, waving to all passers-by.

If I were a kind of weather, I’d be the sunny day, luring you out.     

If I were a musical instrument, a cello, mellow and full.

If I were a color, the pink of a soft sunset.

If I were an emotion, I’d be peace, resting.     

If I were a fruit, I’d be an apple--crisp and comforting.

If I were a sound, I’d the hush of the hillside, settling into your soul.

If I were an element, I’d be earth, grounded and growing.

If I were a car, a practical pick-up, with all the trims, easing the practicality.

If I were a food, I’d be french fries, hot, salty, irresistible.

If I were a place, I’d be a tuft of paramo grass high in the Andes, sheltering from the wind.

If I were a fabric I'd be a cozy flannel shirt, softened by the years.

If I were a taste, I’d be a chocolate mint, zippy, fresh, chocolate.

If I were a scent, I’d be mandarin, bright and ready to go.

If I were an animal, I’d be that great pyrennes or golden retriever, never leaving your side.

If I were an object, I'd be a deck chair, inviting you to rest and linger.

If I were a body part, I’d be lips, curling up on the sides.

If I were a facial expression, I’d be a smile, reaching out.

If I were a pair of shoes, I’d be the sneakers, ready to run and ready to lounge.
     

What would you be?

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JollyDaze 4 n Me Meme

We had so much fun with the a 2 z meme that we want to momentum to continue, so, for the next 6 weeks, we're doing JollyDaze 4 u & me. A holiday meme to carry us into 2012, and we'd love, Love, LOVE to have you join us. Interested but don't know why or where to start? Check out my post on the benefits of blog memes in "How to Make the Most of Memes."

Here’s the scoop on JollyDaze 4 u & me:

• Linking day will continue to be on Tuesdays since we’re already programed that way, but you can do your post anytime during the week and then link up with us.
• Come and go as you wish—NO pressure, it’s here to serve YOU not you serve it.
• Everyone is welcome to join us and link up with us! The more the merrier.
• You can do your own holiday themed post and link up
• I’ve got an ‘idea starter schedule’ mapped out for us...

JollyDaze 4 & me Idea starter Schedule:

• Nov 22 (next Tuesday): Thanksgiving. ANYthing Thanksgiving.
• Nov 29: Favorite Christmas Traditions... memories of a tradition...
• Dec 6: Christmas Decorations... your favorites and what they mean to you... how to make a particular Christmas decoration... decorations you remember...
• Dec 13: Christmas Baking... Recipes... funnies... memories from the kitchen...
• Dec 20: Church Activities/Celebrations... Cantatas... Plays... Readings... Candle light services... Dinners... baskets or gifts to needy... A memorable/meaningful church Christmas event...
• Dec 27: New Year’s Celebrations... Traditions... Resolutions (although if you want we can run an extra linky on New Year’s Day for resolution type things)... Starting point... Memories...

These are JUST ideas in case you want ideas. You can do your own thing!! Even posts about the Nativity account in the Bible would be FABulous, so really, use this to serve you and fit you—just keep it holiday related and themed (the holidays being: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, NOT St. Patrick’s Day, Valentine’s and... ) *wink*

Here's the JollyDaze 4 u & me button code, if you want it:
<center><a href="http://www.pattywysong.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="JollyDaze 4 u & me meme" border="0" src="http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p194/impeej/Backgrounds/JollyDazememe.jpg" /></a></center>

If you have any questions, let me know and I'll do my best to answer them. =)

Come join us and bring a friend!

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