Tuesday 4~ Countdown to Christmas

 Sorry I'm late to the party!!

Countdown to Christmas


Hello and welcome once again to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 where we hope that 4 questions help you to blog, meet people and think about things in general. Sometimes the simplest questions can be a bit difficult to answer.
Christmas is celebrated all over the world.


Let's talk about the countdown to Christmas . 

1. What was the countdown to the holidays like for you as a child? Special projects at school.. at home.. with friends? Do you use an advent calendar?

This picture was several years earlier, when I was still "a little angel".  That was my costume for the church Christmas program that year. I was 3. I haven't been an angel since, I'm afraid. LOL.

At our home when I was growing up we usually did not put up our Christmas tree until Christmas eve, and we would help decorate it before we went to bed, but we never saw the finished product until the next morning when we woke up.  And yes, we definitely hung our stockings by the chimney with care. These weren't any fancy stockings, but just regular old socks!  I remember getting nuts, candy, and maybe an orange in the sock. I don't really remember any particular gifts in our stockings, but these socks were kind of small (at least mine was! LOL)

Decorating the outside of the house wasn't as big of a deal as it is today, but here's my sister and I posing by the front door, and there is a pine bough with a Santa Claus face in it for decoration. This was Florida, so that is why we were bare legged and only wearing sweaters!

Regarding a "countdown", I remember my sister and I had a little Advent Calendar with windows/doors that we opened each day that had some kind of picture about Christmas in it. I am sure we also had an Advent wreath at Church, but I don't remember much about it then. Later as an adult we re-introduced the Advent Wreath to our family and our churches where we served, as it had not been their tradition to have one.  You can read more about the Advent calendars and wreaths if you click on any of the Advent topics in the right sidebar on my page under "Some Special Topics".  To me, celebrating Advent is a special way to prepare our hearts for the true meaning of Christmas. It is a great way to teach our children about the real Christmas story.

2. As a kid did your family stay home on the holidays or go visiting around ... what do you do now?

I think I took this picture, so I am not in it. That is my cousin Becky standing in the background, and she is wearing a "shag wig", which was popular that year. I also had one, but apparently no one took my picture wearing it. It was a big deal to me, because it was blonde, and I was a redhead, so it was fun to pretend I was a blonde for a while. LOL.  This is at my grandparents' house. We usually rotated around for Christmas dinner: one year at our house, one year at my grandparents, and one year at my Aunt Marion's house (she is on the left). We all lived within 10 miles of each other.

Oh, one more thing...in the evening when it got dark we would drive around town and look at the Christmas lights. There was one home in the town where my Grandparents lived that we always went to look at. The house had a big bay window in the front, and they always had a beautiful dancing ballerina doll in that window! She was quite large, maybe at least 4 feet tall I would guess, and it was the most beautiful sight to see! I wish someone had taken a picture of it because I would love to see it again. 

What do we do now?  Well, usually we have our gift opening time in the morning after breakfast and before dinner, depending on who's coming and how far they have to travel. Most often now it is just our own immediate family who live here in town (our kids and us) for Christmas day, and then if we are going to get together with the extended family it is usually on another day since we live about 2 hours apart and it is just too much to try to do in one day for everyone.  Sometimes we wait until New Year's and have our extended family Christmas gathering then. It just depends on everyone's schedules, which seems to be getting more complicated as the years go by.  

Me on Christmas morning...many moons ago...I sure was excited about getting that Doctor's Kit!

3. What foods did Mom and Grandma make for those days? What snacks were out? What is the food situation in your home today?

This must have been the year we had Christmas dinner at our house. I think this might have been the first or 2nd Christmas we had in that house that my daddy built. I am holding a new baby doll in my arms. Mom is holding the turkey that she must have just taken out of the oven...her pretty turquoise 1957 variety oven! Seems like we usually had ham for Christmas and turkey for Thanksgiving, but this particular picture shows a turkey for Christmas.My Mom always baked sugar cookies and pies. My Grandmother made her special Sand Tart cookies, which our son Scott now does for the family. (click on that link for more information!) It seems like my Aunt Marion always made fudge. Of course there's always a lot of little snacks around at Christmas...candy, nuts, pretzels, cookies...way too much stuff. My mother in law always made a fruitcake, and she and I were really the only ones who liked it.

Regarding our food situation today: LOL.  If anything gets baked or made special, it will have to be in a week or two...right now I'm busy with shopping, preparing for our Christmas Cantata at church and various other church activities...all wonderful times of celebrating Christmas with our church family...but I don't have a lot of extra time for making things...however, it's just hubby and me and we don't need a lot of extra goodies around us...We'll see what develops between now and Christmas day...  

4. What is Christmas dinner for you and yours? Goose? Turkey? English Roast Beef?

This year we are having Lasagna again. We've done that over the past few years, because it is easier to make and bake in the oven while we are opening gifts, etc., and not a lot of fuss and clean up.  

Click here for last year's lasagna dinner and the very special friends who joined us!

Tomorrow night we will be going to visit the little church in Florahome, and have a caroling and candlelight service. Our church choir participates in this every year, and it is always so special. We end up with our candles outside, and sing Silent Night in front of this Nativity Scene, but it is usually dark at that time, and is so pretty with the candles lit. Tomorrow is supposed to get rather cold again, so it will feel a lot like Christmas! Then we go into their nice fellowship hall and have a time of refreshments and fellowship.  

This morning I am headed to our Women in Faith's Christmas party at our church Fellowship Hall. I'm making some punch and an Amish Fruit Salad.  It's always a very special time of Christmas fellowship with our ladies.  So I need to get a move on or I'll be late!

Silent Night by Mariah Carey

1 Silent night! Holy night!

All is calm, all is bright

’round yon virgin mother and child!

Holy infant, so tender and mild,

sleep in heavenly peace,

sleep in heavenly peace.

2 Silent night! Holy night!

Shepherds quake at the sight.

Glories stream from heaven afar,

heav'nly hosts sing, “Alleluia!

Christ the Savior is born!

Christ the Savior is born!”

3 Silent night! Holy night!

Son of God, love’s pure light

radiant beams from Thy holy face

with the dawn of redeeming grace,

Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth!

Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth!

4 Silent night! Holy night!

Wondrous star, lend thy light;

with the angels let us sing

"Alleluia" to our King:

“Christ the Savior is born!

Christ the Savior is born.”