Christmas Memories

Those who know me well know that I LOVE Christmas music. One of my absolute favorite albums (we used to have it on vinyl when I was a kid) is by Alabama and includes the song "Christmas Memories." If you don't know the song, it is worth finding it and giving a listen. It is about traditions, and family, and the spirit of the holiday. With that in mind, here are a few of my favorite memories from this Christmas ...

Miss S "won" a gift basket in the school Christmas lottery. She brought it home on the Thursday before Christmas and made us put it under the tree. We had to wait until Christmas Eve to open it. The funniest part was that it was so NOT kid-oriented. It had English biscuits, a nice bar of chocolate, a small bottle of wine, and a duck terrine (some jarred stuff I still haven't figured out). She was so proud of that basket though.

This is some serious unwrapping! Paper was flying everywhere. So were the smiles.

The girls received a new Sally the Dog book. Sally is their favorite character. She is a Labrador Retriever who lives in Vermont with her owner, and the author, Stephen Huenek. She has been to the beach, to a farm, to the mountains, and has now had a snow adventure. The girls have almost all of the books that tell about her adventures. We are all looking forward to a trip to Sally's Dog Chapel in Vermont this summer.

Great minds seem to think alike. The Husband and I had a tough time coming up with ideas folr each other this year, and an even tougher time with surprising each other as the girls kept telling our secrets! We did manage one great surprise though. We each bought the other a kitchen scale! Not a romantic gift, but a fun one as it is necessary to do any French cooking.

Aunt W, Uncle E and Cousin C took a trip to Disney World and sent the girls some cool Princess stuff - crowns and magic wands. These wer etons of fun, especially once they figured out that the wands light up! Now a favorite activity is to go into their bedroom and play with the wands in the dark.

We received several games this year. So far the favorites seem to be Candyland (Miss S plays a vicious game) and Zingo. We have spent time just about everynight playing games as a family. The games get my vote as the favorite gifts.

The last and largest gift. It turned out to be a train table, but the trains haven't spent much time on it. We've also discovered that it is good for new Legos and Little People. It also functions well for stacking books or serving tea to stuffed animals. It might just be the season's favorite.

I hope the rest of you had an opportunity to create some of your own special Christmas Memories. I'm going to bask in these for a while.