Part of me wanted to stop them and tell them to behave in public, but there was only one other family there and I didn’t know them and they were far enough away that if they were talking mean about us I couldn’t hear them… so I let it go.
She slowed down enough for me to snap this one:
Best part? Candy canes!
The next day we decorated. Some people have beautiful theme trees. And multiple trees. For example, check out my friend Wendy’s blog here. Wendy has four trees. Wendy puts us all to shame. Wendy’s not invited to my house for Christmas because I would be embarrassed for her to see my lame-o tree (and that’s tree-singular).
So anyway, if you’re still reading with low hopes about the outcome of my tree and this blog post, I’ll continue.
Our tree contains all the ornaments Dave and I got as children, the thousand million gazillion apple ornaments I received as teacher gifts over the years, and our children’s ornaments, including all the ones they make at school. Here they are holding the sandpaper gingerbread men they each made the year they were in pre-K:
My mom gave me a special ornament every year, mostly angels (because I was one) and some she made, and some she thought represented my year (like Santa looking at a globe the semester I went to Europe in college). Here is one she made for me the year she was into ceramics (see, I totally look like an angel):
I do the same as my mom, and tend to get the kids an ornament that represents something important to them in the previous year, such as a sport they played, or a toy or t.v. character they especially loved. The year Maddie fell from her window, I found a special angel ornament to represent her guardian angel’s presence that year.
I asked the kids to tell me their favorites of all of them, and surprisingly, they all picked the ornament I got them for their first Christmases! Here they are:
Maddie-Madeline, of course!
Ben—a peanut, because he was such a tiny little peanut his first year (we even called him Peanut):
Jack—the opposite of Ben, we called him our Chunky Monkey:
So I got the lights rigged up, and the kids found their own ornaments to hang, then helped me hang my million gazillion apples and angels.
And here’s the finished product (look away, Wendy!)
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree
Thy balsam branches loaded,
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree
Apples and angels exploded.
Jack hung his all, on just one limb,
(Our Chunky Monkey now is slim).
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree
Thy balsam branches loaded.
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