Wednesday, December 8, 2010

A Very Coghill Christmas.... er Cooper Christmas?

A very Kelsey Christmas is probably the best description to be honest.
I wouldn't know a Coghill Christmas if it hit me on the head...
and a Cooper Christmas is warm, cozy, hodgepodge, and gluttonous.  (My family likes to eat! and Christmas was the very, very best! My parents would let us buy whatever we wanted at the grocery, which usually didn't end up being anything to do with Christmas at all but rather just junk we wanted but mom wouldn't buy the other 11 months of the year.)

a Kelsey Christmas is homemade, pink, sparkly, and... overdone?

I love Christmas!
I DO!
I love Christmas for the holiday it wants to be
and I love it for the holiday it almost is.

ok. so that was a sort of quote from Jerry McGuire.  I can't say I love something with an exclamation mark without wanting to finish the phrase with I DO! just like Renee Z-whatever in the movie. 
I love him Laurel and I don't care what you think.

Christmas is something you have to start early with because December just sneaks up on you and BAM! it's here! and you weren't even ready!  you didn't get to enjoy it!
I hate the rule of waiting until after Thanksgiving to start Christmas....
one month of Christmas, really? that's it!?

My favorite memory of home at Christmas is coming down the stairs in our old house and it being all dark except for the glow of the Christmas tree and the old gas stove.  The living room was so warm compared to the rest of the old, drafty farmhouse.  At night from by bedroom (which was sort of a loft-ish room above the living room) you could see the glow of the tree on the stairwell wall.
My parents made Christmas awesome growing up.  There was so much excitement and effort put into really making us believe in Santa Claus.  And I did.  I can honestly remember the feeling of not really knowing for sure if Santa was real or not... because I saw Rudolph's nose out our bedroom window on the hill! he was there! and there were sleigh tracks on the roof! and I heard bells!

can you imagine the feeling in a child's heart and mind on Christmas Eve, seeing a red glowing nose and hearing bells? ah!  I cannot wait to make my child as happy as that.
I also remember years after I stopped believing in Santa Claus the devestation I felt when my brother prepared to go outside to be "Rudolph" in front of me.  He was doing it for my nieces at this point, but it was still a mystery to me of how they actually pulled it off! 
A red cloth over a flash light. or a flash light shone into a red glass.
no mystery anymore.
but at least I will know how to pull of such a great trick for my own kiddos.

All 5 of us (actually probably 6 b/c Mahima has been around for a long time!) would sleep upstairs and my dad would come tell us The Night Before Christmas Story... the Gary version of course.  He tells it so sweetly, it really should be recorded (note to self)
We still carry on this tradition now, over the phone.  Thank goodness for 3 way calling.

Wow, this entry was supposed to be about my holiday decorations but now it has turned into a very sappy walk down memory lane.
and I am suddenly very, very sad.
and happy at the same time

Happy I have such wonderful memories and the greatest family a girl could ask for.
and sad that I actually chose to be away from them this Christmas.
who does that?





I'll save decorations for another day.
for now you can enjoy my beautiful, wonderful family.
at least the original 7.
we are now a family of 22! YIKES!

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