Childhood Holiday Memories... #FridayFrivolity

5 Favorite Childhood Holiday Memories... #FridayFrivolity

Ahhh the holidays!  I hope everyone has happy childhood memories of the excitement, joy, and togetherness of the season.  Those (hopefully happy) childhood memories are the theme for this week's #FridayFrivolity!  

Take a stroll down memory lane with me...  

Caroling / Christmas Music... was always a big part of our holidays when I was growing up. I think we had to buy a second Mannheim Steamroller tape after wearing out our first... music from the Nutcracker and Nat King Cole's Christmas album were also among our favorites.  And we didn't just listen to Christmas music, oh no!  We went caroling ourselves, armed with candles and a homemade book of our favorite carols, neatly typed and stapled, making the rounds both in our own neighborhood and in those of our grandparents.  My own favorite part of caroling may or may not have been the multiple desserts we enjoyed at each destination, but the singing was fun too.  A particularly funny memory is the time that one set of grandparents didn't hear us right away, so we sang song after song, louder and louder, until half their apartment complex was watching us... and finally our melodic bellowing brought our grandparents out onto their balcony too.  I don't think I want to know what they were doing in there that was so absorbing, rofl, but I half suspect that the story could have even been funnier than we knew at the time...

Neighborhood Christmas Lights...  There were several neighborhoods / houses in the area that we would pilgrimage to each year without fail, in honor of the elaborate lights they put on display.  I think we managed a couple of strings of lights ourselves one year, but by and large we were contented to admire other people's efforts without expending any ourselves.  That photo up there isn't quite right of course, the lights I'm thinking of looked more like this.... minus the creep-factor!  ;P  

Christmas Stockings... Kids always love little things, right?  Dollhouses, Polly Pocket, teeny tiny charms on bracelets, all that stuff was right up my ally.  So it probably makes sense that the "small" gifts in my stocking always held a near and dear place in my heart as a child... not to mention all the candy... so much candy!  I did my best to make it last until Valentine's Day each year, but I think I only succeeded once.  

Christmas Family Movie Nights... My family loved movie nights in general, complete with popcorn and cups of Sprite, but Christmas movie nights were even more special.  My personal favorite films were Miracle Down Under (also known as Bushfire Moon and The Christmas Visitor, depending on what continent it was being marketed on) and The Wish that Changed Christmas.  I liked all the "standard" ones too, but leave it to me to love the weird ones best.




Candle Light Christmas Eve Service... Christmas isn't Christmas without a candle light service at church!  I loved those evenings as a kid, and love them still as an adult.  It probably didn't hurt that the services combine two of my other favorite Christmas memories as a bonus ("songs" and "lights"...  ;P)  but the chance to shift away from all the trappings of the holiday (as fun as they are!) and focus on the hope and joy of the story of unexpected event in a barn two thousand years ago was always quietly powerful to me.

Now on to the link-up! :D

 

Featured Post from Last Week:

In a fun twist, since we now have five hosts and co-hosts we will also have five FEATURES.... but you will have to go check out the other four blogs to see if you were featured there! ;)

Jamie at Medium Sized Family has awesome ideas on how to put together a beautiful holiday mantel on the cheap!  Click through to check out her advice and craft ideas.  :)

The Hosts:

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Sarah Eliza is on a mission to Devastate Boredom by living life with laughter and intention! Her blog is your spot for Capsule Wardrobe how-to's and inspiration, humor, encouragement, life-hacks, Read / DON'T Read book reviews, and more!  Stop by her blog for winter Capsule Wardrobe inspiration -- mix-and-match outfit inspiration in burgundy and olive! 

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Audrey is a wonderfully eclectic blogger, who not only can cook up a storm over on That Recipe, but also writes at Munofore - "MUsings NOt FOod RElated." Munofore touches on humor, parenting, crafting, holiday ideas, tutorials, and more! Audrey's most recent post reviews Classic Games for Family Fun -- awesome recommendations for holiday gifts, or game nights through the year!

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  Lisa is an awesomely hilarious and authentic writer who marches to her own drum on her blog Syncopated Mama, providing an "un-labelly spot" for all the happily off-beat folks out there who have been wishing to find kindred spirits. She shares her adventures building a natural home, teaching her adorbs daughter, establishing and refining positive communication skills, camping, creating, cooking, and so much more! Lisa's latest post is a hilarious and awesome list of Stocking Stuffers from A-Z... you've gotta check it out!

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Jessica is an amazingly funny and smart blogger from Wales who writes at Babi a Fi on a whole range of topics -- from entertaining vintage nostalgia, to technology tutorials, to book reviews, to raising her adorable munchkin, and so much more! Her latest post, a review of the Meryl Streep film Florence Foster Jenkins, is filled with comedy and pathos!

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Erin is a fantastically honest and engaging blogger over at Stay at Home Yogi, where she shares encouragement for fitness, finances, self-care, and other fun and positive topics.  Her posts are filled with great advice and perspective.  Be sure to stop by her blog for this month's Financially Fit update -- Erin shares both the progress and frustrations of tackling debt, as well as helpful strategies for saving and making money too!

 

Calling all bloggers looking for an upbeat and supportive group of pals to join in hosting the weekly #FridayFrivolity par-tay! We are hoping to add to our ranks of dedicated hosts and co-hosts, and would love for you to consider joining the fun! Co-Hosts are welcome on a temporary basis (usually a month), while Hosts make a more ongoing commitment. :) Swing by here to express interest and ask any questions!

Now time for the new stuff!

This a link-up for all things funny, fun, encouraging, hopeful, and happy. That includes free printables, giveaways, and other fun stuff to make us SMILE and start the weekend off on the right foot. If you're here in search of fun and uplifting reading materials, skip the rules and just start clickin'! Bloggy buddies, thanks for coming to par-tay! You are welcome to link up to 3 posts, and old posts are always welcome! There are three rules only:

Join us at the #FridayFrivolity link-up for all things fun, funny, happy & hopeful! https://t.co/QI2uPlY0Jf Christmas memories this week!🎄

— Sarah Eliza (@REALsaraheliza) December 16, 2016

An InLinkz Link-up

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