I Love My Crazy Family

This is my antique coffee jar. The lights don't look as colorful in this picture. It wouldn't be Christmas without this jar. It brings back memories of my son, Tim. When I first did this, he was visiting and kidded me about my fire hazard in the kitchen. I wondered about it and would light it for a short while and then turn it off. Since then, I've left it lit for several hours and it hasn't caught fire yet. He also teased me about putting lights under the cotton around my village. "Tsk tsk, Mom.....a fire hazard." He was such a tease all his life. I miss that most about him. 

I was a crafter in those days and made some little wooden blocks with the letters MERRY CHRISTMAS on them. When ever my kids were visiting....they would mess the letters up and have something like MERRY RISTMACHS I had to check these each time they left.

I had a little music box, that was a miniature roll top desk. When my Dad would visit...he would open the desk and put money inside. A few coins that would rattle when I dusted. I always knew that he had done it and would call him and we would get a laugh out of this.

I got a letter in the mail one day from what I thought was our village hall. Inside a declaration that I was chosen care giver of the year and had won a prize. My prize was a sheet of Christmas stamps. I knew it was from my Dad. He found a way to give me something for helping to take care of my Mom who had Alzheimer's.

When we all get together, we always bring up the same old stories. Our memories are mostly of the funny things that happened to us. LuAnn and Tyler tipping over in the canoe, Collin seeing an anteater on the road, Syd walking around my car 100 times, Xoie with her driving skills, the grandma's talking about Gromer's grocery store, their dad and his cage with the mongoose, John and the car door, and me with my Burger King hat....these are just a few of our stories.

We are a family of a  group of people who all have a good sense of humor. At our family gatherings...there's a lot of joking and laughter. Quite a noisy crowd all having a good time. As my grand daughter, Syd, just said on Facebook..."I love my crazy family!"

Balisha