Sharing Christmas.....

[Mickey1953]

Ishida, a young friend of my daughters and mine called last night...he is making a change in his life. One of the things he is doing to bring back joy, and Christmas; is he wants to serve others. He asked me for different places to volunteer.....

I do not know if it is possible for you, but it is just a thought to help bring joy into your life & others. Presents given with the gift of time and heart, seem to give to both the giver and the receiver....

http://www.volunteersolutions.org/

[FONT=trebuchet ms, arial, helvetica] How Can I Volunteer?[/FONT]

​

[FONT=trebuchet ms, arial, helvetica]
[/FONT]​

[FONT=trebuchet ms, arial, helvetica]

[/FONT]​

 

[Mickey1953]

​

Part of our Christmas Eve Eve meal (we have our family party the night before Christmas Eve) are perogies.
And today we are going to make them, my daughter in law and I. And with this day we have snow....It is so beautiful outside...
What are some of the foods that others serve?
​

​

 

[rmw8855]

 

[rmw8855]

Part of our Christmas Eve Eve meal (we have our family party the night before Christmas Eve) are perogies.

And today we are going to make them, my daughter in law and I. And with this day we have snow....It is so beautiful outside...
What are some of the foods that others serve?​

​

When my brother was married, we always had Christmas at his house. His wife made zucchini patties every Christmas. (shredded zucchini, egg, flour, ... fried in a patty) I don't know if that was an Italian tradition or just her family, but they were great. I miss that.

 

[Mickey1953]

When my brother was married, we always had Christmas at his house. His wife made zucchini patties every Christmas. (shredded zucchini, egg, flour, ... fried in a patty) I don't know if that was an Italian tradition or just her family, but they were great. I miss that.

Some day my perogies will end too.... but I do have a daughter, 2 actually that would take over our tradition I think, though my helper tonight could not come today because of all the snow today....

but I mixed everything up and will continue tomorrow after work. I think everyone is so busy.
It s funny, I seemed to get more done when all my children were home, though I was blessed to be at home & work for my husband out of our home...

I looked this up:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Zucchini-Patties/Detail.aspx

Sounds good... I will try them this summer....

 

[rmw8855]

My sister in law was Italian and no one ever went hungry at her house. Cooking for 10 people meant a 10+ lb. turkey, ham, roast beef, potatos, zucchini patties, yams, stuffing, a rice dish, at least 2 vegetables, and rolls. Plus about 3-4 deserts. I think her meal for 10 could have fed 30 or more. Her mom was the same way.

 

[goldenviolet]

my youngest son, gene was born on christmas, they wrapped him up with a little red cap, green ribbons, and bells... 7lbs of joy.
my fav christmas was the last year i made my children's gifts. we had a leek in the roof and it was mended with family help. i took every scrap of wood, both old and new, and sawed them down into as many shapes as i could. it made a whole box of building blocks (sanding those down was quite a chore!... i also took a very big box and made a puppet show house, and then made puppets too. alyssa was under one, tricia was almost 4, and james and gene were 5 and 6. it was so much fun.
that was right before i lost my husband. and a flood took all of our belongings. we still only have one tradition. everyone opens their gifts, one at a time, youngest to oldest. it makes the kids appreciate it all so much more. and it's nice to talk, and have fun rather than be set loose to tear though it all.
now i have grandkids. four and one due any day. those are by boy's children. my daughters aren't there yet. lol. ~ xo dee

 

[edie19]

My Christmas memories are quite varied.

My mom was an only child - so her parents always spent Christmas with us (my mom was in her 40's the first time she had a Christmas without her parents - my granddad had just gotten out of the hospital and wasn't allowed to travel). There were a few years when our house was pretty small and we didn't have any spare room - so my grandparents stayed in a hotel. Sometimes they'd let one or two of us spend the night in the hotel with them, except on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve my 3 sisters and I would all sleep together (we'd squish into a full bed) - not that we slept - we'd stay up all night talking, sharing secrets and wishes. Probably the only time all year all 4 of us went more than a few hours without at least 2 of us getting in an disagreement about something.

Christmas morning we had to wait for my grandparents to arrive before we could go into the living room. My mom always went in first and turned the tree lights on. Then we were allowed to go in - as fun as it was to open presents - I remember watching my sisters to see their reactions to what I got them - that mattered more.

Mom always fixed a really nice breakfast/brunch on Christmas day too - probably the only day every year that the entire family would sit down to breakfast together (my dad was often gone to work before my sisters and I were up). We'd all be laughing - my granddad always had funny stories to share - he truly adored all of his granddaughters - to this day I think I miss him the most at holidays.

Sometime between breakfast and dinner we'd have our final Advent service - we always had an Advent wreath and candles - and we'd always have a little home service starting the first Sunday all the way through Christmas. My mom would let us read from her Bible - she'd had it since elementary school and it was getting pretty darn fragile (probably the only time we were able to use her Bible).

One other strong memory of Christmas Day from when I was growing up - my father had a good friend who was an Orthodox Jewish gentleman (his family emigrated to the US in the 30's). He'd always stop by in the early afternoon to visit with my dad and us girls. He'd share some stories of his childhood - and always managed to remind us how blessed we were to be part of such a wonderful family. I have to admit - I didn't always believe him then, but now I know for a fact he only spoke the truth.

 

[rmw8855]

Thank you for sharing those wonderful memories Edb I still miss my grandfather too.

 

[rmw8855]

Making a building block set was genius Goldenviolet. What a wonderful gift. I like opening 1 gift at a time more than all at once also.

 

[Mickey1953]

My Christmas memories are quite varied.

My mom was an only child - so her parents always spent Christmas with us (my mom was in her 40's the first time she had a Christmas without her parents - my granddad had just gotten out of the hospital and wasn't allowed to travel). There were a few years when our house was pretty small and we didn't have any spare room - so my grandparents stayed in a hotel. Sometimes they'd let one or two of us spend the night in the hotel with them, except on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve my 3 sisters and I would all sleep together (we'd squish into a full bed) - not that we slept - we'd stay up all night talking, sharing secrets and wishes. Probably the only time all year all 4 of us went more than a few hours without at least 2 of us getting in an disagreement about something.

Christmas morning we had to wait for my grandparents to arrive before we could go into the living room. My mom always went in first and turned the tree lights on. Then we were allowed to go in - as fun as it was to open presents - I remember watching my sisters to see their reactions to what I got them - that mattered more.

Mom always fixed a really nice breakfast/brunch on Christmas day too - probably the only day every year that the entire family would sit down to breakfast together (my dad was often gone to work before my sisters and I were up). We'd all be laughing - my granddad always had funny stories to share - he truly adored all of his granddaughters - to this day I think I miss him the most at holidays.

Sometime between breakfast and dinner we'd have our final Advent service - we always had an Advent wreath and candles - and we'd always have a little home service starting the first Sunday all the way through Christmas. My mom would let us read from her Bible - she'd had it since elementary school and it was getting pretty darn fragile (probably the only time we were able to use her Bible).

One other strong memory of Christmas Day from when I was growing up - my father had a good friend who was an Orthodox Jewish gentleman (his family emigrated to the US in the 30's). He'd always stop by in the early afternoon to visit with my dad and us girls. He'd share some stories of his childhood - and always managed to remind us how blessed we were to be part of such a wonderful family. I have to admit - I didn't always believe him then, but now I know for a fact he only spoke the truth.

Thank you for sharing.....

 

[edie19]

thought of what we call a Lukism

Last year Lukas was visiting a couple of days before Christmas - he was helping me wrap presents and put them under the tree. As the evening went on he got more and more excited - he was literally bouncing up and down. Finally he said to me "I'm so excited I should just go to bed now and not get up until Christmas."

edie

 

[rmw8855]

That is so cute Edie. Kids bring so much joy to Christmas

 

[edie19]

That is so cute Edie. Kids bring so much joy to Christmas

Some of my best childhood memories are of Christmas - to this day Christmas doesn't seem the same because of missing family members (who have passed). I pray that my children and grandchildren remember their Christmases the same way - that they become their favorite memories too.

​

 

[Mickey1953]

Some of my best childhood memories are of Christmas - to this day Christmas doesn't seem the same because of missing family members (who have passed). I pray that my children and grandchildren remember their Christmases the same way - that they become their favorite memories too.


Christmas memories....
I agree with what you said...When I was little I have a few memories of Christmas. One of the memories was; my dad, whom was very angry most of the year, would buy his daughters a little bottle of perfume from the 5 & dime store, we called it. I cannot remember the name of the perfume, but we loved it! Of all the presents I received while living with my parents this is what I remember. And he seemed more peaceful on Christmas Eve and Christmas.

The foods we ate were perogies only on Christmas Eve and raviolis on Christmas Day (Slovak & Italian).
My mom spent hours making them. I have not made raviolis, but continue with perogies... which my husband for the first time helped me make last night. (We were suppose to make them the other day with my daughter in law, but the snow storm kept my helper away.)
I was not feeling well, and ended up laying down, but he continued!

It had been a tradition that my children always helped with - perogies. They would fill theirs with jelly, while I made the real ones - but we had a great time, made a big mess, and then would walk through our little village to the local store and look at all the Christmas lights. They are all grown, and my one daughter likes to participate when she can, but all are busy with their own lives.... things change and more memories are made. I am thankful for those in the past and the ones to come.

 

[edie19]

My daughter-in-law is Irish/Italian. She'll fix Italian on Christmas Eve - she'll fix braciole (a stuffed flank steak) and a pasta dish. She's done veggie lasagna and spaghetti (no ravioli though).

I love perogies (especially the potato, onion & cheese) - boiled with just a little butter - mmm mmm

 

[JPPT1974]

First Christmas in TN I was so sick
Due to my neck after trying to fly
And getting it so hurt and reddened
I spent the hospital that first TN Christmas
That I couldn't enjoy my stuff.
Remember all too well!

 

[Mickey1953]

My husband helping with Christmas Eve - Eve Dinner...