Christmas in Ticky Tacky Town

Christmas in Ticky Tacky Town

Stockings

I don't remember any special Christmas stocking growing up. I think we actually put out one of our old knee high socks. I do remember that we usually got a big apple, orange and candy canes in our stocking and sometimes we also got nut to crack. Fresh fruit was a special treat in winter as was candy.  Mom and Dad separated and later divorced when I was 12 and I think that was the end of stockings. We lived with Dad and I don't think he remembered to fill stockings. 

When my kids became teenagers and we didn't know what to put into the stockings we would spend all year collecting any kind of free stuff to fill the stockings. After a couple of years  it was a tradition and they would look forward to what we found for free to stick in their stockings. I continued the tradition well after the kids left home but haven't collected free stuff for about ten years or so now.  

I made Christmas stockings for my two oldest kids and finally this year made them for the rest of the family - kids, spouses and grandkids. 

Presents

We always received pajamas and a new outfit to wear to church on Sunday.  We usually received a book or books.  One of the first and all time favorite books I received when I was younger was The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew.  I usually received a crafty gift because I never really liked playing with dolls.   I remember a potholder loom, small weaving loom I still have, paint by number, yarn dolls.  When I was old enough to sew I received fabric so I could make clothes for myself. Green faux suede that I made into a jacket and skirt and a brown plaid that turned into a drindl skirt come to mind. As a family we received a game from Santa that Santa left unwrapped under the tree. We would play it on Christmas. I remember the game of Life and Mille Bornes  (coup-fourre!) were family favorites. 

We opened our gifts on Christmas morning. I have to admit that a lot of the time I knew what was in the gift. Yes, I was a peeker. 

Songs

My favorite Christmas carol is Oh Holy Night. I loved hearing it at midnight mass. My second fav is Little Drummer Boy.  I also like Silver Bells. I remember singing it in choir at a Christmas program in sixth grade. 

My husband's family opened gifts on Christmas eve. After a dinner of Oyster Stew and ham sandwiches all the kids, grandkids, and most adults would gather in a room other than where the Christmas tree was (usually the dining room) to sing Christmas carols. Then suddenly we heard a bell ring.  That was Santa ringing it as he was leaving.  The kids then knew to run into the Christmas tree because there would be lots of presents left there. 

Trees and Ornaments 

We always had a real tree when I was growing up. And we've always had a real tree since. A few times when the kids were younger we went to a tree farm and cut our own. 

Dad liked tinsel on the tree. Mom insisted we put it on one strand at a time. That was not fun. Fun was throwing it on in clumps. Also not fun was finding tinsel here and there about the house all the way into the following Christmas.  One year there was Angel Hair on the tree.  That stuff was dangerous and we got cuts from it. 

Most of the ornaments on our tree are handmade and full of memories. Starting when the oldest son was about four we made ornaments every year of some kind.  When they grew up, got married  and had their own trees I gave them the ornaments they had made throughout the years for their own trees.   I started the same tradition with the grandkids.  They would make ornaments for their parents for Christmas and one for my tree.  They enjoyed that until the oldest girls turned twelve a couple of years ago.  When the grandkids leave home and have their own trees I'll pass on their ornaments that I use on my tree to them.  My youngest son, aged 34,  moves around a lot so I haven't given him the ornaments he has made yet.  I have a macaroni laden cardboard star painted gold he made when he was five and a Christmas tree metal punched with a nail into an orange juice lid and a painted cardboard Christmas tree to give him someday. 

I made a Garden Angel for a tree topper, have cross stitched ornaments and crocheted snowflakes and made yarn doll angels.  Some old ornaments that aren't handmade came from a lady named Lois that worked with my husband and me. After we married we didn't have much money to spend on ornaments and I think Lois knew that so she gave us a bunch of hers. Her husband had died years earlier and she said she just kept them in storage so we might as well have them.  I remember Lois every year when I put them on the tree.  Other ornaments commemorate trips to places like Ireland.  And I collect jingle bells. 

Christmas Baking

When mom still lived with us she made cookies at Christmas. I don't remember her making cookies at any other time of year.  She used Betty Crocker's Cooky Book and I still have that very book with pages stained with flour and butter.  She always made Snickerdoodles and Molasses Cookies we secretly called Mole Asses.  We would have had our mouths literally washed out with soap if she heard us. (I actually had a few mouth washings in my time). 

Our family tradition has been homemade Cinnamon Pecan Rolls fresh from the oven on Christmas morning after we open presents.  I sent away a bunch of Gold Medal flour UPC codes for a free cookbook when the kids were younger and decided to make the rolls one year to use some fresh pecans my aunt in Georgia sent us. The rolls were a hit and I've made them ever since. It's a nice recipe because they raise overnight in the refrigerator so you can just pop them in the oven Christmas morning while everyone opens presents. 

 Every year at Christmas I think I should gather all the old Christmas pictures and make a Christmas Through the Ages scrapbook. Heaven knows I have the scrapbooking supplies! 

This is an old picture of us in our new PJs (except for my brothers) one Christmas. I'm the oldest and on the left with a book on the arm of the couch next to me. It was probably the book I received as a Christmas gift and I probably didn't want to put it down to have a picture taken.  I'm not really smiling. 

I'm thinking this is a year later than the previous picture but it might be the same year. Of course the picture isn't labeled as to year.  Looks like I'm the only one that didn't get dressed for the picture. I have one some horrible looking ruffly robe I probably received for Christmas.  At least I'm smiling in this picture - one of the few pictures that has captured me with a smile. 

Merry Christmas to you and yours!