THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
by Clement Clarke Moore
or Henry Livingston

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;

And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow

Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!

On, Comet! on Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!

To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!

Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,

So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,

With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,

And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;

He had a broad face and a little round belly,

That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."


Take a little time to cozy down with a blanket and a cup of hot chocolate and read this story to your children or grand children. Sleep tight.

CHRISTMAS TREATS

TRAIL MIX

PRESS COOKIES

APRICOT CRESCENTS

CHOCOLATE DIPPED PEANUT BUTTER PRETZELS

SNACKS

ORIENTAL TABLE

END TABLE

We finished up this semester of school on Friday, with a reception for about six or seven hundred people. It seemed that everyone turned out for food and refreshments. We had worked for the last two days of school getting ready for this. The reception started at 5:00 and was over around 7:00. We got everything broke down and cleaned up and was out of there by 8:30.

Saturday we kind of laid around the house and watched a couple of movies. For the life of me I can't tell you what we watched. It was just nice to have a little free time to do nothing.

Sunday we went to church and decided to take a short ride afterward. We ended up in Athen's and stopped at a little flea market. I found this really neat Japanese table. It has a peacock and floral design on top and the legs are only about a foot in height. That would eliminate me from eating at this table. I can't imagine trying to gracefully get up after a meal. We also found an end table. I think it was crafted by someone in their home shop. It was different and we both liked it, so that is all that matters. If it doesn't sale I guess one of the kids will get it:)

Today John Pearson and Emily stayed with us since school is out for them too. John Pearson had to go to practice and John and Emily stayed at home while I went into town. Sissy and I worked out at the wellness center at UNA. I know if I miss too many workouts through the holidays it will be hard to get back in the groove when I go back to work.

When I got home I decided I would make some Christmas treats. Right after Christmas the rest of the family will start arriving for the New Year's get together, so I thought I would make some stuff to snack on. I made some press cookies, you know the kind that you squeeze out of the cookie press. Then I made some apricot crescents ( they kind of taste like a little fried pies). I bought some peanut butter filled pretzels and dipped them in chocolate. They kind of taste like a crunchy Reese's cup. I bought bags of nuts, dried fruit and yogurt covered raisins and made a trail mix. Johnny loves the trail mix. John loves the apricot crescents. John Pearson and Emily seemed to like everything. Hopefully there will be some left when everyone else gets here.

Here is just a little note about what not to do when you make cookies:

After beating the dough with you hand mixer, always unplug it. I was trying to get the rest of the dough out of the mixer blades and accidentally hit the on button. I got my thumb caught in the beaters and when I jerked my hand out

I pulled back so quick and hard that my shoulder that has been frozen for the past year moved to fast and too far. I really thought I was going to pass out. I have felt a little woozy the rest of the day. Thank God I didn't do something that dumb at work. I would have been written up big time.

REMEMBERING CHRISTMAS

Christmas is in the air and you can feel, hear and smell it everywhere you go. When we drive into town there are Christmas lights every where you look. You turn you radio on and you get a steady stream of Christmas music, the TV abounds with Christmas specials and in every store, office building or friends house you go to has the smell of cinnamon and fresh cut pine trees. There is just a feel at Christmas that you don't get any other time of the year. Even the jingle of the Salvation Army bell out in front of almost every store, sends a little tingle up your spine. Walking past the Santa's at the mall and seeing the little kids beaming with pure excitement puts a smile on your face and brings backs memories of when you yourself was a child that age.



I can remember sitting on Santa's knee at the old Sears store in town. We would stand in line for what seemed like forever waiting our turn. The closer I would get, the bigger the lump in my throat got. I would keep repeating my list in my head the whole time I stood in line so I wouldn't forget what I wanted. When it came my turn and Santa swept me up into his lap, my mind would go completely blank. I swear all I could remember seeing was the hair in Santa's nostrils and the smell of onions on his breath. I can remember putting my small hand on his beard and patting it ever so lightly, but for some unknown reason I had the urge to yank it just to see if it was real. Poor Santa. I'm sure that happens a lot.

Every year we would get a Sears and Penny's catalog. I would literally spend hours leafing through the pages trying to decide what I wanted Santa to bring. It was almost as exciting looking at the catalogs as it was to wake up on Christmas morning and seeing what you got. Then, like today, a lot of what you got was determined by what your parents could afford. One thing was always for sure. A stocking filled with oranges, stick candy and chocolate drops and for me a doll.



I always got a doll for Christmas. When I was growing up it was popular for girls to get a doll all the way up until they were thirteen and the last one would be a bride doll. I kept all my dolls until I was in my mid teens. One day my younger brother got mad at me about something and when I went into my bedroom there were doll heads and doll stuffing all over my room. So much for the doll collection that I had worked on for thirteen years.



The toys that we played with were much different than the toys now. I remember that when I was about five, I got an iron and little metal ironing board. The difference between now and then was that you actually plugged the iron into an electrical outlet and it actually got hot. I burnt the bejibbies out of my fingers more times than I can count. I felt like I was really ironing when Mother handed me a pile of handkerchiefs to iron and what the heck the burns always healed after a couple of days.



My brother got a BB gun when he was around seven. You know I don't remember anyone telling us "your going to shoot your eye out". I don't remember anyone telling him not to point the gun at you sister. I can remember him telling me if I didn't step over the electric fence he was going to shoot me in the foot. I didn't and he did.



He also got a bow and arrow set one Christmas. This was no mansy pansy toy set. It was the real thing with metal tips and all. We would take it out in the yard and shoot it straight up in the air. It is a thousand wonders we didn't kill each other. John said he and his brother did the same thing. Maybe that is why OSHA had to step in.



My younger brother got a BB gun when he was about six or seven. By this time I was about thirteen. Mother and Daddy had to run into town and left the three of us kids by ourselves. Wayne got out his BB gun and was shooting it out in the front yard. He was always the meanest kid in the world and would do about anything you dared him to do. I told him to put a cigarette in his mouth and I would shoot it out. He put it into his mouth and turned sideways. I promise I had no intentions of actually shooting at him, but when I lifted the gun like I was aiming at him the darn thing went off and I shot him right above his left eye. I thought Daddy was going to ground me for the rest of my life.



When I think back on Christmas when I was a kid, it seems I see it through a sort of a pinkish yellowish glow. Like from the light of a oil lantern. That's probably a little odd sounding but when we would go to my grand parent's house they only had lantern light for a long time. We would have Christmas dinner at their house. The men would eat first and sit around and talk until they were finished with their meal. After the men ate, the women would fix the kids plates and only after we were fed did the women sit down and have their meal. Later if we made it through the meal and afternoon without some of the brothers getting into a huge argument, we would all sit around the living room and the kids would fall asleep on the floor while the adults talked and my Dad and his brothers played music and sang.



Yes Christmas is in the air and it makes me reminisce about Christmases of long ago and most of the time I laugh.

KIDS DO SAY THE DARNEDEST THINGS

We had a nice trip to Memphis this weekend. We haven't seen the kids living in that area for quiet a while. We left Friday evening around 6:00P.M. and drove up. It is a three hour trip, so we made it in around 9:00. The kids are always glad to see us and are usually waiting at the door with a handful of games, books and toys, ready to play with Maw Maw and Grandaddy for a day or two. Since it was as late, Monica made them go to bed shortly after we arrived.

Saturday we got up early and met Mark and Paige at his apartment and drove over to meet Paige's parents. They were very nice and we also met her grand mother Polly who is 90 years old. Paige had to be at work at 2:00 that afternoon so we stopped and had lunch at Back Yard Burger. "Yummy".

We headed back to Monica's house to pick up the boys. We took them shopping for their Christmas presents. I decided it would be better to let them get their gifts and play with it now, then they wouldn't be distracted when Santa comes at Christmas. Andrew got a limited addition Monopoly game, Matthew got a Nerf shotgun and a pair of binoculars and Aaron got a Nut Cracker at the Thrift Store and and set of Hot Wheels and a bag of Christmas cookies at Target. ( Aaron tickles me with his shopping. At five there is no rhyme or reason to his plan. He just picks anything up and puts it in the cart). After we got home he decided he didn't want it because he was afraid he wouldn't get what he had ask Santa for. I kept telling him that the stuff was for him from Maw Maw and Grandaddy that it had nothing to do with Santa, but when we left he had still not played with his presents. Oh well I'm sure Matthew will make use of Aaron's stuff.

Monica and Tim went to a Christmas party Saturday night and we stayed with the kids. Matthew and I decorated a ginger bread house. John played Monopoly with Andrew and Aaron. It was a pretty quiet evening. We got the boys in bed just after 9:30. We got up early this morning and got ready for church. After church we stopped at Perkins to get a bite before we headed back home. They make a double "Yummy" cheeseburger. Man I will have to walk double time on that treadmill to work off this weekend. We got home at 5 minutes til 3 and I headed to the bed for a three hour nap. I was exhausted, but in a nice way.

Just wanted to add a couple of funny things the kids have said the the last couple of weeks. David told Sondra the other day that he wanted to send his cousins a "female". Sondra told him that he must mean an "email" because females were girls. He said, "OK I want to send a "boy female".

When Luke and Charlotte were here for Thanksgiving, we were shopping for their Christmas gifts. I picked up a coloring book with Cinderella and Prince Charming on the cover. I said "look Charlotte who is this"? She replied " That's Cindawella". Luke turned to us and said "That's not Cindawella, its Cindalella." Seems we have a problem with "R's".

This morning in church Andrew was trying to lift my arm to put it around his neck. I whispered to him " That is my frozen shoulder. It want go up that high". He said "Like John McCain"? and I said "Yeah like John McCain".

Kids do say the darnedest things