Christmas Memories

I haven't been on this space in ages! To be honest, I haven't had the "blogging bug" in awhile. Not quite sure what to write about and just being plain old lazy. I think it's too easy to compare yourself to other massively talented bloggers these days and how it seems everyone else is just so on top of it that I just don't even want to bother. Plus I kind of feel like most people seem to be on Instagram more often anyway. I love a good blog, though, don't get me wrong. I've just been lacking inspiration. If anyone still reads my blog and has any ideas of content you would like me to write more about, please let me know! I think I just need to find my focus and once I do, writing here won't feel so forced.

Lately I've been getting into the Christmas spirit with a little bit of crafting and baking. We had our first big snow yesterday (besides a little one earlier in the season, that quickly melted). I decided it was the perfect day to bake some gingerbread cookies. The intoxicating gingerbread filled the house with memories of Christmases past at my grandparent's house. Do you ever bake certain foods that remind you of some fond memory from your childhood? That gingerbread smell takes me back to the moment we arrived in the small town my mom grew up in. My grandparents lived in an old Victorian house with a working fireplace, the same house my mom grew up in. Grandpa would be tending the fire and Grandma in the kitchen cooking a huge Christmas meal. There would be Wassail in a Crockpot with small glass teacups next to it. Aunts, uncles and cousins milling about drinking their hot wassail or cranberry wine if you were old enough to have alcohol. Usually everyone started arriving around noon on Christmas day. We would eat a big midday meal and after the meal was cleared and the dishes were washed, everyone would gather into the big living room with the fireplace and the grand piano. My aunt Susan would play Christmas carols on the piano and we would all sing along. My aunt Gwen lead everyone to her own version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer complete with hand gestures. That silly song always made me laugh as a little girl. After singing carols, we would pass out Christmas presents and everyone would open them one by one, youngest to oldest. That's correct, we couldn't open any present until it was our turn and then when it was our turn, everyone's eyes were on us and we had just one gift to open. This went on for ages, of course, but it was loads of fun. Then when almost all of the presents had been opened, suddenly there was a knock at the back door. Who could it be?! All of the children ran back and when the door was opened there was a big burlap bag filled with gifts. Santa was here! The gifts in the Santa bag were always so nice. Of course they were from our grandparents, but for those young enough to still believe in Santa, it was pretty exciting. One of my fondest memories was receiving my very first American Girl Doll, Felicity. I was overjoyed! The next year my grandpa actually made furniture for our dolls, exact replicas from the Pleasant Company catalog! I have had some pretty amazing Christmas memories. I loved Christmas at my grandparent's house. We would usually spend the night and sometimes Grandma let us sleep in the living room by the fire. My aunt Sarah would tell us ghost stories to my sister, cousin and I. Falling asleep was easy to do after a long exciting day. As I grow older those memories are some of the things I cherish during the holiday season. I know not everyone has good memories during this time, but it's never too late to make new memories and traditions.

What are some of your holiday memories?