Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Hey!! Santa brought you a doll!!!


We had great Christmases at our house growing up. My parents always made sure that Christmas was special. There was one thing that I did not love. My brother was two years younger and it was his mission in life to make me scream. Christmas morning was no exception. Every Christmas Eve we left out a plate of cookies and glass of milk for Santa. We hurried to sleep because Santa would not visit if we weren't asleep. Then came Christmas morning. Santa presents were unwrapped under the tree. I never got the pleasure of running downstairs and seeing what Santa brought me. Every Christmas my brother woke up first and he would see what Santa brought me then proceed to wake me up and tell me what I got. Every year I begged him to let me look for myself and every year he would tell me. Once it's out, it's out, you can't take it back. You can't take back the opportunity for a child to look with wonder at the gifts she has been given. I am happy to say that although preparing this post did bring back some slight bitterness (ya think?), I have to say that this little orneriness of my little brother is no longer a big deal to me. What is a big deal is that my family loves Christmas, my parents always made ours special and my husband and I make every effort to make our daughters' Christmas special. I really feel that we have celebrated with an abundance of spirit and meaning without an abundance of "stuff" and we have never forgotten the true celebration of the birth of Christ.



This Wordful Wednesday picture is one of the few I have of our early Christmas days. We were always too busy opening presents to take pictures. This was probably taken around 1969. Note the black and white TV (right), the Christmas Card tree (above), the gold painted nut tree on the table, and the quilted lime green floral house robe!! Gotta love that robe!! Way cooler than that animal print robe of my brother's. The creep!! :)




Abundance is...Christmas memories, a doll from Santa and an abundance of love and joy!



Join other Wordful Wednesday Participants at Seven Clown Circus!!

Posted by Wendy at 8:33 PM
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29 comments:

  1. Ronda's RantsDecember 9, 2008 at 9:08 PM

    I love it...I think I had your robe!

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  2. LettiDecember 9, 2008 at 9:13 PM

    I was the brother of my family...lol Except I didn't tell anyone what their gifts were I just woke everyone up at 4 every Christmas morning. They would get so mad because then they couldn't go back to sleep. It sounds like your parents gave you some great Christmas memories.

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  3. SusieDecember 9, 2008 at 9:36 PM

    What a great picture and a great memory:-)

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  4. jennDecember 9, 2008 at 10:24 PM

    Little brothers are such pests. Haha. (I have one also. We're about a year and a half apart.)

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  5. KimberlyDecember 9, 2008 at 10:25 PM

    I love this! Too bad about your brother though...you know...maybe that is why my parents never let us open presents before they were awake...to keep the peace! LOL! What a wonderful memory!

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  6. FrizzyDecember 9, 2008 at 10:40 PM

    What a blessing to have wonderful holidays to recall suprise or not.
    I have to agree with Jenn3. My brother didn't ever do such things and would probably say to this day that I'm the pest not him. Gotta love them!

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  7. UnknownDecember 9, 2008 at 10:54 PM

    I love that photo. It reminds me of my youth.

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  8. carrhopDecember 9, 2008 at 11:09 PM

    Love, love, love this photo! Look at you! And I do think it is 3 of 8's mission in life to pester 4 of 8--ah, the circle of life!!

    Blessings!

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  9. tiarastantrumsDecember 9, 2008 at 11:10 PM

    OH - your brother - the little dickens let him get away with that!

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  10. KaceyDecember 9, 2008 at 11:34 PM

    This was so sweet. I love old pictures and I love the memories you talked about. Even though your little bro was ornery, it was most likely because he was just overwhelmed with excitment. At least that is what I will tell myself. Ha! Ha! Oh - love the house coat. So Sassy! :o)

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  11. CarolineDecember 10, 2008 at 12:39 AM

    That little stinker! But it's such an endearing story to hear... I love the picture, oh the olden days of B&W tv...good stuff ;)

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  12. bichonpawzDecember 10, 2008 at 1:36 AM

    What a wonderful picture! It reminds me of our Christmases at home too! Actually, I think my sister had that very same robe! I loved our Christmases too....thank you for sharing yours!

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  13. MamarazziDecember 10, 2008 at 1:57 AM

    aww poor you! what a little snot rocket your brother was. i hope he grew out of it! lol

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  14. Claremont First WardDecember 10, 2008 at 4:35 AM

    It's always so nice to hear childhood memories of great Christ filled Christmas'. My brother was 3 years older and tormented me my whole life. He still kind of does. :)

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  15. Hootin AnniDecember 10, 2008 at 5:22 AM

    I so love to go back in time....with the memories of Christmases past. Loved this share.

    Come see my Wordful Wednesday if you can find time!! It's a catghan!

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  16. miruspegDecember 10, 2008 at 7:14 AM

    I hope your brother gets to read this post, I wonder what he would say about it.
    It's great looking back on the old photos....ahhhh the memories.
    You looked like a very happy child, concealing your anguish very well.

    It's always a treat to read your posts.

    Chow
    Peggy

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  17. Lori of I'm no super MomDecember 10, 2008 at 8:14 AM

    What wonderful memories! Thanks for sharing!

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  18. StefunkcDecember 10, 2008 at 8:27 AM

    Sometimes I'm glad I'm an only child!

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  19. MandyDecember 10, 2008 at 9:21 AM

    Yeah, that would drive me bonkers! No surprise... brothers... :-)

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  20. MelissaDecember 10, 2008 at 9:59 AM

    Oh how fun to go back and remember Christmas Past...
    I love, love, love the picture!!

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  21. RobinDecember 10, 2008 at 10:38 AM

    A great picture and a great story to go with it.

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  22. UnknownDecember 10, 2008 at 10:44 AM

    Oh that little stinker! Love the picture - you've made we want to dig out old photos from my Christmases as a kid!

    Merry Christmas!

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  23. MichelleDecember 10, 2008 at 10:51 AM

    Pesky little brothers!

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  24. Live.Love.EatDecember 10, 2008 at 12:28 PM

    You should have woken up in the middle of the night and tied him to his bed. Hah. Or maybe stolen ALL of the presents while he was sleeping. Sorry, I can play those games too :)

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  25. Liz {Learning To Juggle}December 10, 2008 at 2:39 PM

    I love that robe!! I understand the brotherly woes...I have an older...but that's for my blog...

    That is a great picture - you all look truly happy!!

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  26. Honey MommyDecember 10, 2008 at 4:35 PM

    Your brother sounds like a bit of a pill! I had four sisters... so I know how that goes!

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  27. Carrie and JimDecember 10, 2008 at 9:12 PM

    This is a super sweet story and I love the photo. You look the same! What is it with siblings who drive us crazy? Theyy are blessings too even if it takes years for us to realize that.

    Merry Christmas!

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  28. Jennifer Chronicles (jenx67.com)December 10, 2008 at 9:51 PM

    oh, a doll from Santa! I LOVE THAT LINE! I'm digging the photo.

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  29. RobanDecember 10, 2008 at 10:10 PM

    I love the picture.... It looks like one out of my family's photo album (almost). I didn't have a brother. Instead, my middle sister would be up during the night with my mom and would TAKE some of my gifts for herself. I'll never forget the beautiful pink feather pen that was supposed to be MINE!

    I have a card for my new-found friends on scrapblog or googleblog... take a peek!

    Hugs,
    Roban

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