On the First day of Christmas my true love gave to me gas at a $1.37. Any time you have to travel, even at Christmas, when you see gas for this price, it's so less painful. Filling the tank went from $65 to $25 - what a great present any time of the year.
On the Second Day of Christmas my true love gave to me a White elephant (slash) Yankee Swap. Whatever you call them, this is a fun thing to do with kids, extra items lying around the house and time for a few laughs. This year's hotly contested items included soap on a rope (teenage boys), sparkly cider and anything with the Red Sox logo.
On the Third Day of Christmas my true love gave to me children acting out the nativity. With any age of kids, doing this every year has been priceless. Throw on a few towels and bathrobes, assign a few parts, and you have a sweet memory of how it really happened. Angel Samuel deserved an Emmy, and Hunter as Joseph almost got a sweet kiss from Mary.
On the Fourth Day of Christmas my true love gave to me singing Christmas carols to the neighbors. This was one thing my children were not looking forward to but once we were out and about, they sang loud and clear, were well behaved, and were even rewarded with hot cider. Singing to someone else's neighbors brought to me the spirit of Christmas, as singing any hymn can do. They even got to sing to an 103 year old lady!
On the Fifth Day of Christmas my true love gave to me the sweet sounds of compatability. Nothing better than seeing tables full of kids and adults playing games for days on end. Liars Dice, Carcasonne, Phase Ten, and ping pong tournaments and basketball games just to name a few of my favorite things.
On the Seventh Day of Christmas my true love gave to me an evening in church on Christmas Eve. I've always loved the tradition of attending church on Christmas Eve, and really enjoyed the quartet playing Christmas hymns, and the reverent singing of Silent Night. This is a new tradition I'd like to continue, as community churches offer sweet programs in the spirit of Christmas. 
On the Eighth Day of Christmas my true love gave to me one really big dog getting along with two really little dogs. Enough said. Even dogs can find peace during the Christmas season, and learn to get a long in site of their differences, size, and bite. Our host was very generous in forgiving Ranger for all his doggie faults.
On the Ninth Day of Christmas my true love gave to me his yearly Yuletide Log Sandwich. This is a great tradition on Christmas Eve, making big sandwiches in the spirit of cooperation and breaking bread together. Every year we seem to add a new ingredient, and this year's new addition was homemade onion rings.
On the Tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me a boy who was missing his front teeth. Ever since I've had boys and boys missing front teeth, I really want them to be missing the front teeth at Christmas time. I love singing "All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth to them, and this year, Sawyer's timing was impeccable. The last tooth came out two days before Christmas while eating spaghetti in Texas. He thought it was a rock, but he swallowed it anyway.
On the Eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me time to be outside with my boys doing the nature thing. I don't get to do this very often except on vacations. This year we went on a hike to the bamboo forest. Every time we visit this particular oddity in Texas, planted behind a massive subdivision, I can't get over how invasive it is, and how big it's getting. You can't stop its growth, but a herd of boys (or is it a gaggle) can inflict a little damage, mostly as they're trying to get themselves and their bamboo back out of the jungle.
5 comments:
Oh, what fun you all had, and memories you are making for and with your family. Good for you. Sounds like you just had lots of fun. I think the singing of carols is a wonderful idea. Our neighbors did it one year, and it was fun. No one around here does those things anymore. Too bad. I think it is a wonderful tradition.
this was such a FUN post to read. Sounds like you made a lot of memories in Texas with Jarrod's family. The pictures are GREAT!
Looks like you had a great holiday season.
JoJO you did a great job with the twelve days of Christmas post. Did I get your pictures downloaded. I love the picture of the Bamboo Forest. I forgot about the yuletide log. We have some new traditions we are going to keep. Thanks to y'all for introducing them to us. We have went out and purchase 30 dice to continue the fun with those dice games.
Great job! It was fun to read. I was wondering the same as Nellie, did I ever get your pictures from your camera? Is there a way to send them? Hope you all are doing well.
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