My Christmas wish list

    Do you remember waking up really early on Christmas to open gifts?  

    In my family the first one up would yell "It's Christmas! It's Christmas!!!"  And we would (the children) rush though the hall (not looking at the gifts) run up and jump on Mom and Dad's bed, wake them up and beg to go open presents.  After a few seconds of "Wait, don't we need a camera, and it's too early" we would all head to the living room where the biggest gifts stood unwrapped.  The stockings, bulgy and overstuffed, were first Dad always love to put oranges and nuts to make them fatter but they had small gifts like lip gloss, toy cars, yo-yos, and gum (and that one year, toothbrushes).   Then we would fly to the gifts under our real live Christmas pine, and the accumulation of wrapping paper was enough to make one kill the proverbial goose!

My sister and I Christmas eve, the mound of presents wrap around our live tree.  About 3yrs. ago.

    Now there are five of us children so if you count at least three gifts per child, plus two each from Grandma Ruth and Pampo (More if they were here), and one from Grandma and Grandpa (unless we were there), and now that we are a bit older we add four more, one from each sibling.
This is a minimum of fifty presents under the tree, not including our "To Mom and/or Dad" presents.  :)
I love my large family!

    In those in between moments from unwrapping/clean-up to breakfast, Dad reads the Christmas Story from the Bible, and if there is time and snow we would play with our new sleds (always a gift) and come in soaking wet and hungry.

Last year, we built a snow man even bigger then the little one on top of shoulders! 

   When we can, we go to Grandma and Grandpa's house usually after we have our own Christmas.
That, is what we are doing today.  We have moved several (in my opinion) times, and once lived five blocks from Grandma and Grandpa, since we now live 9hrs. away it's harder to figure out when to travel and when to squeeze our own Christmas in.

  The plan: Leave around 9am today (I don't see that happening, "around" is more like it) travel to Grandma's house, unload presents and then we will stay at my Aunt and Uncle's house.

   I can't wait to see everyone (and to end the car ride) my father is one of five children, and I have over 20 first cousins, a few cousin-in-laws (?), and some cousin's kids.  Not sure of the final family count, but it's large.

My Christmas wish list this year???

(note: all big items I've gotten for my Birthday)

1.  iPhone cover for... well my iPhone. :)

This one would be fantabulus!

2.   Scarves. Any kind.

3.  Jewelry.  Any kind. (again)

Owls could hurt either. 

4.  Would be clothing, but I just got some amazing new stuff at Cato so I'm good here. 

5.   Anything involving baking.   :)

Really love baking

6.  Hats!!!  (the uber fancy kind)

I have yet to see this one under my tree.  :) 

And my outrageous wish list might as well go online... just for fun.

Ice skates

Red hair

Gloves (the long kind)

Dresses

College money!!!

More ideas

(huh, I was sure I had a longer list... I guess I'm getting older.)

  Whatever your Christmas plans may be this week/whole month, I pray you remember the real reason for the season amidst all the gifts and family.

Digging too deep

Winnie the Pooh

And fond childhood memories 

Deep in the hundred acre woods, where Christopher Robin plays. . .

Are you the child whose parents cuddled you at night and read chapters of Pooh's Adventures and other bedtime tales.  Or were you plopped in front of the screen and in went the VHS? (don't tell me it was DvD yet, it wasn't!)  Either way this stuff n' fluff really means a lot to you.  What if I told you that characters aren't created out of thin air, but are mixed from something more.  (Yes, even I know that the writer's son was Christopher, and that he had stuffed animals.)  Where I'm going is much deeper so hang on tight!

Let's look at the character traits of seemingly simple playmates.

Did you ever just want to super-glue his tail on?  Or at least use a screw?

Eeyore:  This one is most obvious, sad, gloomy and nothing ever goes right.  It almost sounds like "emos," even in a make-believe world,  reality is leaking through the pages.

He is always watching out for Roo.

Tigger: Happy, fun loving, bouncy, don't forget just a little bit spacey. This describes clearly someone I know.  

He is always in his garden.

Rabbit: Bossy, always planning, means well and is very organized. Thinks himself very clever.

(this is mostly me I'm, shall we say "strong willed.")

Dyk he can't spell "Owl?"

Owl: You try and be polite, and he really does know something. He just talks. So. Much.  On and on about nothing.  Are you starting to see my point? I hope so! 

P.S. I love his tree house!

Piglet's good times

Piglet:  S-c-cared s-s-stiff-f no matter how hard you try and help them. (If you pay them any attention, they are the best friends)

Roo having fun

Roo:  I don't care what age you are, there is always someone younger looking up to you. 

Whenever we see Kanga we see Roo!

Kanga:  That sweet person you know, maybe a Mother, grandmother, or neighbor.  

And for some reason It always bothered me that she was the only girl, unless you read the books and then there is “Lottie” the otter.  (Sorry, if you have always thought Piglet was one, and I burst your bubble.)

Everyone's favorite bear.

And Pooh. . . Loves the sweet things in life, maybe a little slow, but he's always there for  you.  Even “a bear of very little brain” shows courage.

Gopher and his stick

Gopher's not in the book, but we see workaholics everyday.  His amazing network of tunnels. 

This would be the kind Heffalump.

This fellow looks sly.  

Don't forget those Heffalumps and Woozles “. . .because they covet everything thing you prize.”

These are not all the characters and if you see common links between life and the plushy stuffed creatures, then comment below to add them to the story. 

I hope you at least get a glimpse at what I see in these beloved children's books.