Christmas Memories from My Mom

 

 

 

Charlie, Shirley, Obie, Cass, Sharla, Brenda, Randy, Marsha

Christmas was always so much fun growing up in Wetumka. Dad would hitch the tractor to a sleigh and we would go down in the pasture and cut a Christmas tree. It was so hard to wait until he got a stand built for the bottom on the tree. Mom always did a lot of baking and candy making. We always got a sack of hard Christmas candy and an apple and an orange. That was such a treasure! Always enjoyed going to the May family gathering. What a joy to get to see all our cousins and uncles and aunts. I was always amazed at how many gifts Grandma and Grandpa got. I thought they were the luckiest people in the world. What a blessing we had!

After Christmas Sales

The kids had money from Christmas burning a hole in their pockets.  So took them shopping today at Walmart for the after Christmas sales.  Boy did they haul in the booty.  The little girls in particular had so much fun.  I turned them lose in the store with their new cell phones, and let them buy whatever they wanted.  They've never gotten to spend money like that before.

 Carlie got two Monster High dolls, a punk zhu-zhu pet with a mohawk, a round bottle of Coca-cola, an 8 pack of Diet Mountain Due, a package of Starburst and a package of Starburst jelly beans.

Madi got a Fur-Real friend Rabbit, a zebra striped snuggie, a polar bear blanket holder, a beautiful diamond necklace, some beef jerky, a round bottle of coca-cola and a package of whoppers.

Libby was practical and got a set of clothes, some half price fuzzy socks and some gum for her boyfriend.

Frank bought a girl a SIXY-EIGHT dollar necklace!!!  For a girl who is not even his girlfriend.  He didn't tell me he did it.  So he's going to have to return that one.  I stand by my statement that boys are brain damaged until they are in their 30s.  

First Shave - A rite of passage

I took Pepaw to do his Christmas shopping this year.  We had gifts for everybody but Frank.  I'd been teasing Frank that he needed to get rid of that fuzzy black caterpillar under his nose.  So Pepaw and I came across a shaving kit that had the razor, shaving cream, after shave, etc.  He asked me if he could get it for Frank.  I told him sure, that Bob and I had been talking about it anyway.

So he opened it up on Christmas Day.  And Bob showed him how to shave. 

Holidays

I knew the Holidays would be a little different this year.  But it all turned out great. 

I let the kids have their cell phones a day early.  We hid them in the house and they started ringing and the kids were searching for them.  They are very locked down, they can only make and receive calls from people on their contact list, only have so many minutes a month, etc.  And they can only make calls from 8am to 9PM.  Every morning at 8:01am, Carlie calls Granny. LOL.

We started off with Christmas at my parent's house.  I had asked for outside gear.  Granny and Papaw got me a Carhart Jacket, Libby got me muck boots and Carlie got me a cool hat with a nose cover.  They all came in handy when I had to go fix the donkey pen one evening when it was 18 degrees.

Bob got some wireless head phones from my parents.  Which is great because he can listen to the computer or TV as loud as he wants to and I can't hear it.  But the down side is that he sings along to whatever he's listening too.  Where is the duct tape when you need it!

Then we went to Wetumka and had Christmas with the Osborn family.  Almost everybody was there, and it was great to see and hold all the new babies. The kids had fun playing with their new cousins.

Then we finished on Christmas Day with the Pools.  We didn't have alot of money to spend there, but just having Memaw there in the house with us, and Amira's first Christmas was a true blessing.

Memaw really enjoyed Christmas this year. She liked all her gifts, and she said "beautiful" everytime she opened one up. We she opened her last present, which was a coat she said it was "too much". Too many presents for her.  She started started crying big tears of happiness.

Last night we were in OK, and Carrie had gone to Walmart. Pepaw came into the living room, and Memaw was leaning way over in her chair going through presents. She couldn't wait to start Christmas this morning.

Frank got a shaving kit this morning, and Dad showed him how to shave. Wonderful memories.

60 is the new 50

My Dad turned 60 this year.  "Still crazy after all these years."  And good looking too.  Just ask him and he'll tell ya!

This is what he had to say on his 60th birthday.  "My Dad always said that if he'd known he was going to live so long, he'd taken better care of his body.  So my Dad did teach me one very important lesson. I took it to heart."

In the same year, I turned 40, Angel Pool turned 50, My Dad turned 60 and Pepaw turned 70.