Happy Father's Day

I couldn't find any Father's Day cards I liked. They were either very formal or way too mushy with nothing in between. So this is my Father's Day card to my Daddy, my husband Tommy and my son David. Thank you for all that you do for our family. Thank you for loving me, each in your own way as my father, my husband and my son. I hope you each have a wonderful Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to three most important men in my life! In the picture above on the left are my Dad and niece Grace, in the middle are my hubby Tommy and our grandson, Doodlebug and on the right in my son David. You are all excellent fathers and grandfathers. 

Daddy, you have always had the patience of a saint when raising Patty, Billy, Kathy, Susie and I. You use that same patience with your grandchildren as well. You were always there when we needed you and you were always there for us no matter what. Thank you for being my Daddy and for loving me as you do. I love you very much!

Tommy, you have been a remarkable step-father and you were always there when Kenny and David needed you growing up. You are a wonderful husband and I thank you for loving me and my crazy family! You are a wonderful grandfather to our Doodlebug! I love you for who you are, for loving my children unconditionally and for the way you love our little grandson, he couldn't ask for a better Jaja!

David, you are an exceptional son, father and husband! I love to watch you with your family because it brings such joy and love to my heart. I love watching you with Doodlebug and I can't help but laugh and be filled with joy when I see him doing things that you did at his age, you will understand this feeling when you have grandchildren of your one day! I love you baby boy!

 

Family Picture Friday - Happy Easter Everyone!

This is my first Easter picture with my Mom! April 1963 Hialeah, Florida. I will see you on Sunday, Momma! 

 

Christmas Eve 2001 ~ David and I

This is David and I on Christmas Eve in 2001 at my Mom and Dad's.

 

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories # 24

 Photograph by Kris De Curtis, 2006

 
From now and until Christmas Eve I will be participating in the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories, 2015 Edition by Thomas MacEntee and the Geneabloggers. If you would like to join you or want to know more about it please see this link.

Today's Christmas memory is about Christmas Eve.

For me, Christmas Eve is all about family. This afternoon we will make our way to David and Cassie's where we will all hopefully fit into one car then we will head up to Greensboro to my the home of my parents. We will probably arrive while everyone is at the Children's Mass and celebrating the birth of Jesus. Once everyone arrives at Then we Momma and Daddy's we will settle in for dinner and gifts. 

Every Christmas Eve, my Momma makes manicotti with a salad, rolls and big pot of sausage & peppers. However, before we can sit down to eat this wonderful meal we have to gather around the table in the kitchen (all 23 of us) to say grace which is usually said by my Dad. After dinner is the cleanup and in years past when we would use Momma's good china and silver we had to wash everything by hand. Fortunately, one of my sister's (Kathy, I think) finally convinced Momma that paper plates and regular flatware was just fine! Then it is time for presents.

We let the kids open their gifts first and they go in order from youngest to oldest. I think last year my nephew Walker got a rude awakening when he realized that Easton was now the youngest and would now get to go first. I am looking forward to seeing how Easton handles this Christmas Eve with all the kids and the adults this year. He is shy until he gets use to everyone, then watch out! The noise level alone when the kids open their presents is enough to make anyone deaf! After the kids are done they go to the den and watch tv or a Christmas movie or special then the adults get their turn!

My parents, siblings and their spouses, Tommy, David, Cassie and I do Dirty Santa gifts. My nephew TJ is also considered an adult now, once the grandchildren hit age 21 they get to play too! The rules are that the gift must cost no less than $20.00 but cannot cost more than $25.00. If you choose to play as couple than you get 1 pick on the other hand if a couple chooses to play as an individual then you get 2 picks. We draw numbers to decide what order we will start. Then the fun begins because if you are pick the # 1 you pick first but if someone else likes what you picked they can take it away from you and you have to pick another gift. Any gift can be swapped twice. Oh and did I mention alcohol is always involved? This year I am taking spiced apple cider and champagne for apple cider mimosa's for Christmas Eve. Last year was my nephew TJ's first year and he purchased a giant (64oz) white flask and I was the lucky one who got it. It has come in handy at our Parrot Head events.

This will be the first year that all 23 of us will be home for Christmas Eve. I have already told my Momma that we need to be sure we a group picture. We all try to be at all family events but it is not always possible. We also need a picture of her and Daddy with all of the grandchildren, which we did for years but for some reason last year we only took one only of all the grandchildren.

  The Grand's: L-R Standing: Kaitlyn, TJ, Williams, and Jebb. L-R Sitting: Walker, JJ, my son David holding my grandson, Easton, Bryan and Gracie; personal collection

I just talked to my youngest nephew Walker on the phone because I want him to do a special favor for me. I asked him since he is now the second youngest if he would please show Easton the ropes for Christmas Eve with our family and that if Easton needed help with anything would he please be sure to help him. He said of course he would! 

This Christmas Eve we will start 2 new traditions with David, Cassie and Easton. The first one is that Tommy and I will be spending the night with them so that we can be there Christmas morning to watch Easton open his gifts from Santa. The second tradition I start will be a secret but I will tell you on Christmas Day. I am really looking forward to Christmas morning!

Merry Christmas Eve Everyone!

Photo Credit: File: Christmas tree bauble.jpg, Wikimedia Commons, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Christmas_tree_bauble.jpg : downloaded 22 December 2015) image contributed by Kris De Curtis (own work) 3 December 2006; used under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International; originally posted to Flickr ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/krisdecurtis/313881077/: 22 December 2015)

Christmas Eve 1997 ~ The Williams Grandchildren

This picture was taken at my Mom and Dad's house on Christmas Eve, 1997. My family traditionally does our family Christmas on Christmas Eve, where we exchange our gifts to each other. When my boys were younger they would spend Christmas Day with their Dad. In this picture from left to right are my son Kenny, my nephew TJ, my niece Kaitlyn and my son David.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories # 23

 
From now and until Christmas Eve I will be participating in the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories, 2015 Edition by Thomas MacEntee and the Geneabloggers. If you would like to join you or want to know more about it please see this link.

Today's Christmas memory is about the meaning of Christmas. We are suppose to be able to explain it to someone who has no concept of Christmas. I can only tell you what it means to me but I hope that if I were to find someone with no concept of Christmas that this post would be a good place to start.

For me the meaning of Christmas has changed over the course of my life. As a child it was a man dressed in a red suit trimmed in white fur, with a big white beard. He carried a big sack of toys and drove a sled with eight reindeer. 

As a parent it was making sure I did my best to make sure that my children would understand that Christmas was about family, the special kind of magic that we all have in hearts and I wanted them to know about gifts bestowed upon us from God, faith, hope and love, that is not just about presents. As a grandmother I want Easton to know these things as well.

It is in 1 Corinthians 13:13, we are told of the spiritual gifts that God has given us, " And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." 
 
Christmas is a magical time of year. It is our ability to renew our faith in ourselves and in each other. It is our ability to give hope to ourselves and to each other. It is a special kind of magic that comes from our heart. It is our capacity to love and be loved in return.

Today when I think of Christmas and what it means I call upon my faith in God who I know watches over me and mine daily. I call upon my faith that tomorrow will be better than yesterday. I call upon my faith to celebrate the joy of life and it is my faith in God that has seen me through the darkest days in my life.

As Christmas draws closer I think of hope. Hope that I will see world peace in my lifetime. Hope that I will be around to see my grandchildren marry and have children of their own. Hope that the tomorrows to come are better than today. Hope that here in the United States we can find solutions for homelessness and the escalation of the violence here in our homeland. Hope that we overcome the damage that has been done by ignorance.

Christmas always reminds of love. My love for my children, Kenny and David. Myy love for my husband, Tommy. My love for Easton, my precious grandson is a love I have never experienced before and it is a blessing for which I will forever hold in my heart. I think of my love for my parents, sisters and brothers, their spouses and children for my life would not be the same without them. I call upon the love I have for my friends who have seen me at best and even at my worst.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories # 21

From now and until Christmas Eve I will be participating in the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories, 2015 Edition by Thomas MacEntee and the Geneabloggers. If you would like to join you or want to know more about it please see this link.

Today's Christmas memory is about Christmas wishes. 
My Christmas wish is for peace here in America. In 2015, here at home in the United States we have seen a lot of violence. I can't remember in my life time when the violence was so bad. The country that I grew up in is no longer as I remember it and it is changing every day. I feel that the violence is going to continue and I don't know if anyone person or group has the solution, however we need to find one and quickly. 

I was looking for a poem or a quote to share about peace when I found this poem by Dr. Maya Angelou. She wrote this beautiful piece for the lighting of the Christmas tree at the White House in December 2005. George W. Bush was the President at the time. Below is her poem, "Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem" I hope you like it.

Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem
By Dr. Maya Angelou

"Thunder rumbles in the mountain passes
And lightning rattles the eaves of our houses.
Flood waters await us in our avenues.

Snow falls upon snow, falls upon snow to avalanche
Over unprotected villages.
The sky slips low and grey and threatening.

We question ourselves.
What have we done to so affront nature?
We worry God.
Are you there? Are you there really?
Does the covenant you made with us still hold?

Into this climate of fear and apprehension, Christmas enters,
Streaming lights of joy, ringing bells of hope
And singing carols of forgiveness high up in the bright air.
The world is encouraged to come away from rancor,
Come the way of friendship.

It is the Glad Season.
Thunder ebbs to silence and lightning sleeps quietly in the corner.
Flood waters recede into memory.
Snow becomes a yielding cushion to aid us
As we make our way to higher ground.

Hope is born again in the faces of children
It rides on the shoulders of our aged as they walk into their sunsets.
Hope spreads around the earth. Brightening all things,
Even hate which crouches breeding in dark corridors.

In our joy, we think we hear a whisper.
At first it is too soft. Then only half heard.
We listen carefully as it gathers strength.
We hear a sweetness.
The word is Peace.
It is loud now. It is louder.
Louder than the explosion of bombs.

We tremble at the sound. We are thrilled by its presence.
It is what we have hungered for.
Not just the absence of war. But, true Peace.
A harmony of spirit, a comfort of courtesies.
Security for our beloveds and their beloveds.

We clap hands and welcome the Peace of Christmas.
We beckon this good season to wait a while with us.
We, Baptist and Buddhist, Methodist and Muslim, say come.
Peace.
Come and fill us and our world with your majesty.
We, the Jew and the Jainist, the Catholic and the Confucian,
Implore you, to stay a while with us.
So we may learn by your shimmering light
How to look beyond complexion and see community.

It is Christmas time, a halting of hate time.

On this platform of peace, we can create a language
To translate ourselves to ourselves and to each other.

At this Holy Instant, we celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ
Into the great religions of the world.
We jubilate the precious advent of trust.
We shout with glorious tongues at the coming of hope.
All the earth's tribes loosen their voices
To celebrate the promise of Peace.

We, Angels and Mortal's, Believers and Non-Believers,
Look heavenward and speak the word aloud.
Peace. We look at our world and speak the word aloud.
Peace. We look at each other, then into ourselves
And we say without shyness or apology or hesitation.

Peace, My Brother.
Peace, My Sister.
Peace, My Soul.”

Sources:

Christmas Dove of Peace image, Free Wallpaper,  found at www.motaen.com

Maya Angelou, Quotes, Goodreads, (http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/663997-amazing-peace-a-christmas-poem-by-dr-maya-angelou-thunder : 21 December 2015).
 

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories # 19

From now and until Christmas Eve I will be participating in the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories, 2015 Edition by Thomas MacEntee and the Geneabloggers. If you would like to join you or want to know more about it please see this link.

Today's Christmas memory is about Christmas gifts. However I feel like I covered the types of gifts I buy in my post about Christmas shopping which you can find here. I would rather talk about the colors of Christmas, what they mean and how I choose my wrapping for Christmas.

The Colors of Christmas and Their Symbolism

The colors of Christmas are green, red, white, blue, silver and gold. As I wrap my gifts in these colors, I am reminded of the spiritual gifts God has given to us, we know them as Faith, Hope and Love.

The color of green is a symbol of nature, the promise of new life, hope and renewal. We find green in our Christmas trees. We also find green in the holly and mistletoe of the season.  

The color of red is a symbol of love, fire as well as the birth and death of Christ. We find red in the beautiful poinsettia's of the season in our homes and in church. Did you know that in Mexico, the poinsettia is a symbol of the star that led the Wisemen/Magi to Bethlehem?

The color of white is a symbol of purity, innocence, faith and virtue. We find white in the snow and ice of the winter. It is simple, clean and pure. Because of the brightness of the metallic in the color of silver it is considered to be a substitute for white.

The color blue is a symbol of heavenly grace and hope. I have always associated blue with
Mary, the Blessed Virgin Mother. Blue is also associated with royalty.

The color of gold is a symbol of joy, celebration and that which is precious and valuable. Gold is also one of the gifts presented by the Magi/Wisemen.

Choosing Wrapping Paper

For me wrapping Christmas gifts is one of the highlights of the Christmas season and it really puts me in the Christmas spirit. I like to purchase really pretty paper, gift tags, ribbons, bows (I really prefer ribbon) and tissue paper and I prefer that they be in the colors of Christmas. I also like to choose wrapping paper with designs but for me it has to have something of Christmas related on it like holly leaves, poinsettias, Santa Claus, candy canes, Christmas trees and ornaments. I use bows and ribbons, especially curling ribbon! I like to use candy canes on the outside of my gifts too. Oh and I am the scotch tape "Queen"! 

When I choose wrapping paper and ribbons I think of the spiritual gifts that God has given us, faith, hope and love. When I see green I am reminded of life, hope, and renewal. When I see red I think of I am reminded of love but also of the birth and death of Jesus Christ. When I see white and/or silver I think of snow and purity. When I see blue I am reminded of heavenly grace and royalty. When I see gold I am reminded of joy!

Now imagine you are wrapping your Christmas gifts. First you must choose your paper. You carefully wrap your gifts and if you are like me, it has to be perfect. Next, you choose the color of ribbon you wish to use. I sometimes choose to combine two or three colors when using ribbon. What do you see when you look at the gifts you have carefully wrapped? 

What Do You See?

When I look at the presents under the tree I see many things. Under my tree I have chosen to wrap my gifts in symbols of life, love, faith, hope and joy. The greatest of these is love.

Editor's Note: Portions of this post have been used from a post in last year's ACCM. You will find it here.

Sources: 

"The Colors of Christmas", Why Christmas.com (http://www.whychristmas.com/customs/colors-of-christmas.shtml : 16 December 2015).

"The Meaning of the Christmas Colors", Reindeerland.org (http://www.reindeerland.org/christmas-customs/christmas-colors.htm : 15 December 2015).

"The Importance of Christmas Colors" Colorcombos.com (http://www.colorcombos.com/the-importance-of-christmas-colors-article.html : 15 December 2015).

"Pointsettias", Celebratingholidays.com (http://www.celebratingholidays.com/?page_id=1579 : 15 December 2015).

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories # 18

From now and until Christmas Eve I will be participating in the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories, 2015 Edition by Thomas MacEntee and the Geneabloggers. If you would like to join you or want to know more about it please see this link.

Today's Christmas memory is supposed to be about Christmas baking. I have never fixed a Christmas dinner other than for my husband and I, which doesn't require any baking per se. My Mom still cooks a full Christmas dinner where my family gathers on Christmas Day as well as for Christmas Eve too.

I must apologize once again to Thomas MacEntee for going off script! I am trying hard to keep to the blogging prompts but I just don't have some of these memories. However, in
the spirit of Christmas Baking, here is a brief history of Christmas Cookies.

Cookies were first served 10,000 years ago during the Neolithic period when farmers would make a paste of grain and water then cook them on hot stones. However, the origin of cookie recipes comes from Medieval Europe and by 1500 cookie recipes were spread all over Europe. Some believe that the gingerbread cookie also known as the lebkuchen cookie was the first flavor to be associated with Christmas.

In the middle ages, the winter solstice festivals gave way to the Christmas holiday. The Christmas holiday kept the solstice tradition of serving food and drink. Nutmeg, cinnamon and black pepper were becoming more popular and were used in baking. To add sweetness, depth and texture to cookies dried fruits such as apricots, citron and dates were added to the recipes. However, the cost of the spices, dried fruit along with butter and sugar were delicacies during this time. Families could only afford these delicacies on important holidays. 

It was during the 17th century that America was introduced to cookies by the Dutch.
Then between the 1870's and the early 1900's, after changes in importation laws, cheap imported goods from Germany such as cookie cutters became available in the United States. It was during this time that the tradition of hanging cookie cutter cookies on the Christmas tree. Christmas cookie recipes still use the old world spices of nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and black pepper while the recipes may have changed a little here and little there the basic foundation of the recipe is still the same.
 
Sources:

Butler, Stephanie, "The Medieval History of the Christmas Cookie", The History Channel, 18 December 2013 (http://www.history.com/news/hungry-history/the-medieval-history-of-the-christmas-cookie : 16 December 2015).

"Christmas Cookies", Wikipedia Contributors, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_cookie : 16 December 2015).

Durner, Christine, "The History of Christmas Cookies", The Baltimore Examiner, 30 November 2011. HTML edition, archived. (http://www.examiner.com/article/the-history-of-christmas-cookies : 16 December 2015).

"History of Christmas Cookies", History of Christmas, Christmas Carnivals (http://www.christmascarnivals.com/christmas-history/history-christmas-cookies.html : 16 December 2015).

Sember, Brette, "A Brief History of Christmas Cookies", The Culinary Life Blog, 3 December 2012. HTML edition, archived. (https://www.theculinarylife.com/2012/a-brief-history-of-christmas-cookies/ : 15 December 2015).

" 'Tis the Season for Holiday Baking", All Culinary Schools (http://www.allculinaryschools.com/culinary-careers/article/christmas-cookies/ : 16 December 2015)