10 on the 10th: November 2022-10 Memories of the Holiday Season & Link Up On the Edge #321
I know that I have been saying the same thing each month, but seriously, how quickly the time is passing by! How has another month already gone and we are a third of the way through November? I cannot answer those questions for myself, but I can answer Marsha’s 10 on the 10th questions!
10 on the 10th is a monthly series with Marsha of Marsha in the Middle, Leslie of Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After, and Gail of Is This Mutton? Each month, we are presented with 10 questions about a common theme and asked to share our answers in blog post form. This series is such a wonderful way to share more information about ourselves and to learn interesting new things about others. Anyone is invited to join and answer the questions. It is a great way to start new conversations and make meaningful connections with new people.
Since November generally marks the beginning of the “big” holiday season, Marsha has asked us to share 10 memories of the holidays. But we are not limited to just the end of year holidays, any holiday memories are welcomed here!
Here are 10 of my best holiday memories.
1. Archie’s First Christmas (December 2011)
Who doesn’t remember their first born’s first Christmas? Those are truly special moments. Archie was almost 8 months old when we celebrated his first Christmas in 2011. It was just the week prior to Christmas when Jeff moved to Fort Drum in northern New York and I stayed in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, a new mom who suddenly found myself completely unprepared for solo parenting! But I did it for 2 years and we made it through. Archie loved to lie beneath the tree and chew on the ornaments.
2. Archie’s Second Christmas (December 2012)
This was definitely a Christmas to remember. Jeff lived in New York and I was still in Bethlehem with a toddler and I was pregnant with Ralph. On December 20, I woke up to a shit-filled basement…literally. Tree roots had broken our clay sewer pipes which resulted in the biggest holiday mess you can imagine. By the end of it all, my entire front yard was dug up including the sidewalk, we broke a main city waterline in the process, and the total repair cost in excess of $10,000. And nope, home owner’s insurance does not cover anything outside the house including your sewer lines unless you have a specific rider for that, which we did not. We were so blessed, however, when two kind strangers showed up at our door with a check for $5,000. Apparently, they had learned of our situation and knew that Jeff was in the military and living away from us and they were moved by the holiday spirit. They showed up at our house a few days after Christmas when we were having a family photoshoot done that my sister had given to us as a gift. Without their help and the assistance of my in-laws, we might still paying for those repairs!
3. Archie’s Third Christmas/Ralph’s First Christmas (December 2013)
While your first child’s first Christmas is super special, so is the first Christmas with any subsequent children!
4. The 2015/2016 Holiday Season
Jeff was deployed to Afghanistan from May 2015 until February 2016 so our holidays looked so much different that year. And it was definitely an unforgettable Christmas. I spent Christmas Eve in Pennsylvania with the kids and my mother-in-law at my sister’s house. On the way back to Jeff’s mom’s that night, two year old Ralph had an anaphylactic response to something he ate at my sister’s (it was walnuts, we discovered later) and we spent the rest of Christmas Eve in the Emergency Room. All was okay in the end but I will never forget that night!
5. Holiday Family Photoshoot with Sarissa Melissa Photography (2017)
I entered a drawing in 2017 with one of my favorite local photographers and we won a free holiday family photo session. Sarissa Melisssa Photography did such a great job and we had a wonderful time in the process of making these beautiful family memories.
6. Friendsgiving (Thanksgiving 2018)
We don’t really have any set Thanksgiving traditions and generally go wherever the holiday tide takes us (that is a result of many years of military life). Sometimes we celebrate with family and sometimes with friends. Thanksgiving 2018 was a particularly special Thanksgiving with great friends in Pennsylvania.
7. The Best Day Ever (Thanksgiving 2019)
Another incredibly memorable Thanksgiving was spent at my sister’s house in 2019. It really was the best day ever. Hopefully, these cousins will be getting together for Thanksgiving 2022 as well!
8. Ralph’s Coronavirus Birthday (March 2020)
This birthday celebration was definitely one for the books. (Birthdays count as holidays, right?) The world shut down just a few days before Ralph’s 7th birthday so we had some last minute scrambling to do since our original birthday plans were disrupted. Monica at EuropeCakes came to the rescue with the best (and quite possibly the first) coronavirus birthday cake! We zoomed in some family and friends and made the very best of a disappointing situation.
9. The first day of college football season.
Marsha did say any special family holidays count for this prompt and the first day of college football season is a day that garners the most excitement in my house! We all get dressed in our Penn State gear and fire up the grill and the television for a day of football and food. Then we repeat this celebration every Saturday for the next 16-20 weeks!
10. Halloween 2022
I think this year was my favorite Halloween yet! We filled a baby pool with candy and some other creepy things like eyeballs and severed fingers then we put the skeleton’s feet in the candy bath. Some kids were a little frightened to put their hands in the pool to grab something but mostly everyone thought it was hilarious. A few times during trick or treat hours, we had a line of people backing up at our house. I cannot even express how happy that made my heart!
11. Bonus Memories from my own childhood.
I know my list consists of only holidays celebrated since my children were born but those memories are just a little bit clearer than my own childhood holiday memories and I have photos of our more recent holidays to share. But I do want to mention what a talented gift giver my mother was! She surprised me with something special nearly every Christmas that I can remember. And she was really good at keeping us off her track. When I was 12 she made me the most beautiful green velvet comforter with gold satin backing. She actually made the darn thing right in front of me and convinced me that it was for someone else. I loved the dark emerald green velvet so much and I was so mad that she was giving this gorgeous blanket to someone else. Imagine my surprise when I opened it on Christmas morning!
Then there was the antique bird cage I fell in love with in a thrift store when I was a teenager. Mom surprised me on Christmas morning with that stunning cage…and a little green parakeet to live in it! I loved that cage, I hated that bird. Ha.
I also remember how she convinced me that we simply could not afford to buy a high school class ring for me and then I found it buried in the toe of my Christmas stocking that year. It was a gold with a green stone, of course.
Now it is your turn to share some of your best holiday memories! You can leave them in the comments or write your own post and add it to Marsha’s Link Party!
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Shelbee
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shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
I am a midlife woman, wife, and stay-at-home mother of 2 boys and 2 cats. I have a passion for helping other women feel fabulous in the midst of this crazy, beautiful life.
38 Comments
Joanne
I got as far as typing up one memory yesterday and then drew a blank.. but I dreamed of writing my 10 on th 10th post all night and woke up with several more memories to type up. I’ve only read part of your memories so far… but boy, it sounds like you have had some crazy (and scary!) Christmas experiences!!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Oh yes, that anaphylactic Christmas Eve was definitely one of my scariest mom moments ever! I am so grateful that everything was fine and Ralph did eventually outgrow his nut allergy. He was tested again last Thanksgiving and came out allergy-free…except for ragweed and dust, but that gets all of us! I hope you get the chance to write your holiday memories. I would love to read them!
xoxo
Shelbee
Jill
I love looking back with you at all of these holiday memories! I remember you writing about the best Thanksgiving ever, and hope your sons will be able to hang out with their cousins this year! Thank you so much for the feature! What a nice way to start my day!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Jill! I really went down a holiday rabbit hole on this one and it was super fun! It’s why my post is a day late. It took way longer than I anticipated to find all these old photos! I hope you have a lovely weekend, my friend.
xoxo
Shelbee
Nancy
Oh how I love these little peeks into your life and world! And such cute photo’s of Ralph and Alfie. But that Halloween party was fantastic! All those people at your porch! Fantastic! Have a great weekend.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks, Nancy! Oh my goodness, this Halloween was so much fun! All the neighbors were hanging out and yelling back and forth from our respective porches. We had so many laughs! Such a great time was had by all…except for the few poor souls who fell down our steps including Ralph’s friend who broke her tailbone. Ouch. We have a least one casualty on the stairs every Halloween. We just got some non-slip stuff to put on them so hopefully that helps. Have a wonderful weekend!
xoxo
Shelbee
Jennifer
Aww these pictures!!!
Jennifer
Curated by Jennifer
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks, Jennifer!
xoxo
Shelbee
Laura Bambrick
Thank you so much for the feature! That made my day! It was so interesting to take a look back at past Christmases! It’s such a heartwarming story about those strangers and your sewer line. What a horrible experience, but so kind of people.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Laura, thanks so much! That was definitely an unforgettable moment. They told me that all they asked in return was that I pay it forward and so I always make sure that I do!
xoxo
Shelbee
Amy Johnson
What a wonderful trip down memory lane. I enjoyed looking at these old photos. Thanks for the party.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Amy! I enjoyed digging up these old photos!
xoxo
Shelbee
Lizzie
Awww! What a sweet post! Love taking a trip down memory lane with you – reading this made me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside (aside from your son’s allergy!). This reminds that I need to take more photos. I used to take all kinds with the film camera back in the day. But I hardly take “random” photos of family, friends and my hubby. I really need to do that more so I have them to look back on <3
Lizzie
http://www.lizzieinlace.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Lizzie! I enjoyed this memory lane trip as well! I have tons of photos on Facebook like this and sometimes think I should edit them when I use them on the blog. But I always change my mind and leave them authentically unedited, old, dark, and grainy but filled with beautiful memories! I think you should definitely take more random photos! But also remember to be in the moments without a camera, too.
xoxo
Shelbee
Mica Away From The Blue
Such a fun idea for a post, and so nice looking back on all these great memories! 🙂
Thanks for the link up! Hope you have a good weekend ahead of you 🙂
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Aw, thanks so much, Mica! This was a fun trip down memory lane for me!
xoxo
Shelbee
Emma Peach
The burst sewer pipe sounds horrendous, but how lovely that those kind people turned up to help you out! The Halloween display is fantastic! No wonder it drew such a big crowd!
Emma xxx
http://www.style-splash.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks, Emma! Oh my goodness, that sewer issue was such a nightmare! And just two months earlier, we had some minor damage such as fallen trees, broken windows, and lost siding and drain pipes from a hurricane. So it was quite the holiday season! Haha. But we survived it and it is all just distant memories now.
xoxo
Shelbee
Marsha Banks
You know one of the things I love about 10 on the 10th? Everyone brings something different to the table! I really wanted to encompass any kind of holiday so I’m glad you did that! You have some scary and crappy holidays! I’m glad they all turned out for the better! And, your Halloween photos are just the best! Thanks for the link party!
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Marsha, thank you for hosting this fun series! I love that we get to learn so many interesting things about other folks through these posts. It’s also why I love the group style challenge posts. Everyone brings their own personal interpretation and when we are given the freedom to just be ourselves, we do end up with some of the most wonderful results!
xoxo
Shelbee
Tamar Strauss-Benjamin
These are all such special memories! Love that skeleton in the pool!!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks, Tamar! I enjoyed sifting through all the old holiday photos!
xoxo
Shelbee
Erin Beard
Oh my goodness you have had some worrisome holidays! But sounds like more good ones than ones filled allergic reactions and broken sewer lines.
I love your childhood memories – especially the story about the class ring. How sweet! 🙂
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Erin, thanks so much! I definitely have way more happy memories than scary ones! And the bad stuff led to good stuff anyway. Those kind people helped with our broken sewer line and Ralph outgrew his nut allergy last year which rarely ever happens! I should go dig out my class ring and put a picture of it in the post! Maybe I will get around to that today. Have a lovely weekend!
xoxo
Shelbee
Michelle
You have some incredible memories – both wonderful and harrowing! Anaphylactic shock in a 2 year old. Eke! A check for $5,000 from a stranger when you needed it most – amazing! And you certainly have some wonderful memories of your mom.
Michelle
https://funkyfashionstyle.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Michelle! Oh, I have some pretty harrowing deployment stories, too! There is a joke amongst military spouses that as soon as your soldier leaves for an extended period of time, that’s when everything goes wrong! That year of the anaphylactic Christmas also included Ralph having such severe sleep apnea as a baby that he needed an emergency tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy that July right after Jeff deployed. We also had one cat and one great grandparent die during that deployment time and needed to replace various major appliances as well. Fun times in the life of an Army wife! I so don’t miss it! Haha
xoxo
Shelbee
Patrick Weseman
Just some very nice images over the years. Very cool. Thanks for sharing them with us.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Patrick! I had fun looking back on these old photos…so many memories!
xoxo
Shelbee
Stephanie 139a
There’s some wicked memories in there – thanks for sharing with #PoCoLo
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Indeed, there are, Stephanie! Thanks for reading!
xoxo
Shelbee
Anne M Bray
Thanks for the feature!
I’m trying to figure out if it’s possible to play that Golden Thread game via Zoom. I think it would be fun!
My best Christmas memory is what we always had (have!) for breakfast – Scrambled Eggs and Popovers smothered with homemade jam. It’s a Bray tradition that I carry on! Now that Severo is finally retired, we can actually have our Christmas Breakfast ON Christmas – he used to always work the holidays for the double time pay.
I linked a post with the recipe from the Glutton blog.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks, Anne! The Golden Thread Game on Zoom sounds super fun! And I love your Christmas breakfast tradition. We make French Toast Strata for every holiday breakfast complete with all the fixings including homemade berry glaze, ice cream, and whipped cream! There’s nothing quite like a big holiday breakfast! I hope you have a wonderful weekend and a very happy Thanksgiving!
xoxo
Shelbee
Gail
Loved this post. OMG, the sewer pipe story (a real Christmas joy story with those Good Samaritans!) and the rush to hospital! And I love the creepy skeleton paddling pool, and trick n treaters queuing up!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Gail, thanks so much! I loved writing this post! It was a fun walk through old memories! I am so glad that you enjoyed reading it!
xoxo
Shelbee
Carol Benton
Awwww! Such great family photos and warm holiday memories! Thank you for sharing this post in the Talent-Sharing Tuesdays Link-Up 42.
Carol
http://www.scribblingboomer.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Carol! This was super fun for me! It is true what they say, the days may sometimes move slowly but the years fly by so quickly.
xoxo
Shelbee
chickenruby
Some fabulous Christmas memories to cherish.
Thanks for linking with #pocolo
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Suzanne! This was a fun walk down memory lane for me!
xoxo
Shelbee