My Favorite Childhood Christmas Memories

First I want to emphasize “FAVORITE”, because like most families, I could tell you some crazy stories too. But I want to focus on the positive stories instead. The negative stories can just stay in a big pile of negativity with Scrooge.

When I was a child, Santa put up the Christmas tree, so in the morning we were not only surprised by the toys and presents but by the beautiful tree too. We always received 17 presents every year. I remember my father getting on top of the roof making the sounds of the reindeer. He told us if we didn’t fall asleep Santa wasn’t coming in. I remember my younger brother getting a set of drums one year. What was Santa thinking when he delivered those? Of course the noise of Christmas is a big part of it all. Living in a house with 6 children, things were hectic to say the least…… but exciting too.

When I was a teenager, I remember having a lot of people over on Christmas Eve. Lots of friends and family came over and the sounds and the smells were so exciting. Food and drinks were flowing and we even got to open a few gifts. I remember my sister giving me a maroon jacket with faux fur around the collar. She was working at the time, so she had her own money and I just thought that was so cool. I LOVED the jacket and I wore it to midnight mass and just felt so good wearing it.

As a young married adult we would go over my mom and dad’s house for dinner, my mom would go all out on the meal and decorations. She was obsessed with having a perfect Christmas. My kids got excited because they were allowed to open their gifts from my mom and dad. They loved and appreciated everything they received.

Then a few years later my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer as well as a few other medical issues and hosting Christmas became too much. This is when the history of Christmas began to change for me.

So, the next year I took over hosting the Christmas Eve dinner. It was nice and I tried to keep my family traditions. It’s funny because I remember we always had oyster stew (yuck). I loved watching my children open up their gifts, like most mothers it’s like watching something magical happening and you just want to freeze time.

Of course we can't forget going to mid Night Mass at St. Paul's.  The parish became so big that at one point we had to get tickets to go to Mid Night Mass.  I believe at that point we started going to the Vigil mass.  (I haven't been faithful about going to mass lately but I really do want to get back to going.  I need to make this a priority.)

Now my children are adults and it will be fun watching them start their own traditions as well as keep some of the older traditions too. It’s going to be fun to see the magic of Christmas in the eyes of my granddaughter this year.

Christmas day isn’t even here yet and we already made so many new memories…….Tis the Season to Be Jolly.

A Fun Filled Cookie Baking Day!

This past Sunday was Christmas cookie baking day in my house. It was so much fun......we had flour and batter flying everywhere.  Literally Everywhere.  My kitchen was a mess and I loved it. We must have made at least 8 different types of cookies and it was fun because my sister Debbie made us tye dye shirts and socks to match....so our pictures were fun to take too. My baby Granddaughter Tessa, got to stir her first Christmas cookie batter and we have pictures to catch that memory.
I have to be honest, my sister Debbie ended up making most of the cookies. I premade my batters so it was easy to just bake mine, but Debbie made a lot of special and fun cookies and chocolate covered pretzels. Every ingredient was fresh and natural and you could taste it in the yummy cookies. I love Christmas cookies. I love them so much, that Sunday night I went to bed with a tummy full of warm cookies and I slept like a baby. Of course Monday, I was back at the Gym to balance out those scrumptious baked goods. I am posting some pictures of our fun Cookie day.  Did I say how much I love to make and eat Christmas Cookies?   Ha, Ha !

Enjoy the Pureness of Real Butter and Real Sugar !

My motto for this "Holiday Season" is to enjoy everything from family and friends to good cheer and good food.  One major change is, I am only going to eat homemade foods and baked goods.  No processed foods......Only the best for me, such as pure butter and real sugar, fresh eggs and real fresh milk.  Our bodies are made to break down natural and pure foods. No more artificial sugars and sweeteners, either I will use the real thing or nothing at all.  We just have to remember everything in moderation. See, that's where my problem has always been.  I want to eat it all.  Not just a few.  I still have to work on that.
 
If you're trying to eat healthy like I am, perhaps you have heard to stay away from processed foods. While that's great advice, it seems many people are confused about what exactly constitutes processed food. Remember - processed foods are foods that have been altered from their natural state. Such as trans fats,
Trans fats are really like plastic, and when we eat them they incorporate in our cells and the cells cannot communicate or talk to one another. In turn, hormones are disturbed, weight gain follows but more troubling, the risk for heart disease, cancer, stroke go up.  
 





I am not going to go on forever on this, but I know that once this junk is in your body and your about my age, it hard to get it out of your body. It clings to your cells and your intestines and just makes you feel awful.......that's one of the reasons I went through my two week detox.
Well, the reason I am bringing this topic up is because this Sunday is our holiday cookie baking day. My sister, daughter, myself and this year my granddaughter will get together and bake cookies for our family party. I will make sure we use all natural ingredients because it's just good for us, no more fake stuff.  It's just not worth it.
 I can't wait and I hope we have lots of fun and make plenty of memories....and enjoy the pureness of a few homemade butter and sugar cookies.  

 I will post some pictures next week.