"Merry Christmas in July"

MERRY CHRISTMAS, PUPPY DUDE!

In yesterday's blog (whoever came up that word?) I said someday I'd talk about Christmas--well, lucky you, today's that day! And here's why:
Today is the last day of July, making last week Friday July 25th. For almost 2o years my children and I celebrated Christmas in July every summer...this year...I had no kids to party with. It was a very sad day for me. You have no idea. I called Justin and he told me call several friends of his here in town...but everyone was busy. I STILL haven't gotten to watch my summerly Christmas movie. Ahhhhh, but tonight....and this wasn't my idea....my junior high group and I are partying it up! We're going to make fudge, make a Christmas ornament and watch a movie. So I'll get my fix...even though it won't be quite the same without Tiffany and Justin.
Yes, I AM the Christmas Queen. I love everything there is about Christmas, the lights, the baking, the smells, the colors, the family and friends, making and sending out cards, making gifts (we try our best to have a home made Christmas in every sense), the partys...even the snow. The only thing I don't like is wrapping the gifts. One year I bagged everything...it just wasn't the same though when it came to opening them. That idea was easily...bagged.
Every year we would have a birthday party for Jesus with a cake, the song, gifts for Him. He was the center of it all. When Ken and I were first married we had no ornaments or decorations. Our first year we made a salt dough manger scene, which I still have...every year I have to glue on a foot or find a way to make the star stick again. (I think our dog ate one of our sheep one year.) After Tiffany and Justin were born I made a felt manger advent calendar that I would hang on the wall and they would take turns each day hanging up the pieces. That too, every year I have to patch. When Tiff would play dress up from October well into January, she would be Mary, Justin would be Joseph.
Kenny was very good at tolerating all of this. But his main contribution to our festivities would be to spend one whole Saturday afternoon making snowflakes with the kids. I would have paper snowflakes of all sizes, designs and shapes plastered all over all the windows clear into spring, to the point where I'd have a hard time getting the tape off the glass. He was also very good at reading to the kids....of course the Christmas story--all sorts of versions, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Littlest Angel. As Tiffany and Justin grew so did our books...The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, The Gift of the Magi, The Christmas Carol...but never stopping the reading of the "little kid" books.
And the parties....oh my goodness! One year we had at our house the school party, the Pathfinder party, the Boy Scout Party, the Girl Scout party, the Hospital party and of course out Happy Birthday Jesus party. Our parties were never boring. We were blessed for several years with a large house with acreage on the side of a mountain with wonderful sledding trails, not for the weak of heart. We had a Newfoundland at the time so there was always what Kenny called "the horse and pony show".
As the Children have gotten older, the Mary and Joseph dress up tradition has been replaced with other things. Our most current is the "great Christmas tree hunt". This is something that both Tiffany and Justin go out of their way to be home for. Kenny's dad lives on 10 acres just 3 miles south of the Canadian border. So every year, as soon as we can gather after Thanksgiving, we and various friends do our northerly trek to my inlaws' where after our traipse through the snow (hopefuly) and collecting various quantities of trees, we enjoy a home made dinner of fried chicken or taco soup...and watch Christmas movies!
Yes...I am the Christmas Queen...to the point where Kenny had to lay down some rules. Christmas music cannot be played in the house or car before Halloween or after the month of January. Christams movies of any length cannot be played before Thanksgiving or after the month of January. Christmas cannot come out of storage before the weekend after Thanksgiving and must be put away by January 10. He did allow 2 exceptions: the weekend after the first snow of the winter (usually in October), and one evening in July. Thus tying it in with ...today, and with what this has to do with this stage of my life.
I missed my kids horribly last week! But I have found others--some who had never heard of Christmas in July (can you believe it?!)--that I can share it with. I do so look forward to grandkids--not for a few years, Tiffany and Justin--but someday. I look forward to the childish enthusiasm, the excitement and wonder, the Mary and Joseph dress up parties, to the re-living of old family traditions and the making of new ones.
So....Merry Christmas in July, every one. And may we hold Christmas in our hearts all year long!