Cozy memory

All right, I'm working on a big giant post, that will probably be posted in parts, about the history of how our family came together. Until I get that done though, I really feel I need to start posting SOMETHING to this blog!

I thought it would be nice to post a small snapshot of a fun memory, to give people an idea of how we live.

Last Wednesday, we finally put the ornaments on our tree. We got the tree a week and a half before that, and it stood, smelling beeyoootiful in it's piney goodness, for about a week.

Then, Mary Elizabeth and Ian put the lights up last Tuesday and last Wednesday, we put the ornaments on.

We celebrate Yule, so our tree doesn't have a star or an angel on top. We've talked about what would be the best topper for the tree, and have agreed that a Sun topper would be great, but we don't have one right now. Instead, our tree top is bare, but the rest of the tree is a cornucopia of lights and all kinds of interesting ornaments. I love pulling the ornaments out of the boxes and reacquainting myself with old friends that I haven't seen in a year!

Some of my favorites: the Muppet ornaments (Kermit, Miss Piggy, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, Gonzo, etc), the Star Wars ornaments, and the Harry Potter ornaments (yes, we are big giant geeks!). I also took some of my favorite childhood toys and, rather than let them go to waste sitting in a box, I made them into ornaments to hang on the tree. So, there is a rubber stegosaurus that I took EVERYWHERE with me when I was a kid. I slept with it, I took it to school, I loved it and called it George basically. There is also a truck I used to enjoy. Alex has some fun ornaments from his childhood. My favorite is a painted one that is actually a map of pre-90's Berlin. It has a line painted for the Wall. On one side, a hammer and sickle is painted. On the other side, an American flag, a British flag, and a French flag. I love that one! We also go to World Market every year and get new ornaments for each person. I have a ceramic sushi one from last year, mmmmm. This year, I got a piggy one.

The kids got a little rambunctious and we had to explain to the almost 3 year old over and over that the ornaments are for looking, not for touching or playing with. I seem to remember having to explain that to the 6 year old too a couple times. The mulled wine definitely helped the adults maintain our patient tones, heh.

All in all, it was a warm happy scene to me. One of those "You just built a cozy memory that will last forever!" kind of scenes. I love our family!