Christmas Stories
When I was young my parents started collecting Christmas ornaments for my brother's and I each year. Every year we would get one or two special ornaments of our very own. Sometimes these would be hand made from school, other times my mom would go and buy us each one that represented us. When it came time for us to move away and have our own Christmas tree's she gave us the box of our own ornaments so that we had a pretty good start at decorating our own tree. Over the years I have kept this tradition in our house. Each child gets at least one ornament a year and it is kept in their very own box. I also buy/make Chris and I one for us every year so when the kids are gone our tree will not be bare!
Every year as we unpack our ornament boxes in preparation for trimming the tree I start with my stories. I think almost each one has it's own memory, some are quite old, some are quirky, some are weird, but I love them all the same. This year I thought I'd start writing my stories down because as much as the kids remember them I wonder how much they will forget over the years, and me too!
This is our Christmas Pickle. I don't know where we got it, but I love it. Every year this is one of the favorite ones the kids fight over to put on the tree. Who can resist a big glass pickle with glittery snow on top?
This is our Christmas Spider, another favorite of the kids. They like me to hide him in the branches some where and see who can find him first. I think my mom made this at a Homemaking Meeting when I was younger. I think he's cute and sparkley.
Now this one is a reason for family jokes. This is a "girl" that my Aunt Mickey made me when I was probably 5 or 6. She's Styrofoam, yarn, sequins, and Life Savers! Just what every ornament from the 80's was made from! The joke part is we are not sure what 31 year old Life Savers would taste like or even if they could kill us, so we are careful to keep this one away from the babies!
My ballerina is my favorite. She is the first ornament that I remember my parents buying for me. Her head and hands are porceline and I'm scared every year that someone is going to drop her.
Mr. Snowman is very old indeed 1985 to be exact. Only my mom and Grandma ever call me Synthia!
This little guy was made by my cousin Kristy in 1984 pom poms, and a block! So cute.
These are little crochet'd ice skates. One year my mom had jury duty right around the Holiday's and one of the ladies serving with her was whipping these up to pass the time and gave a set to my mom. Like I said who is gonna remember these crazy stories?
This one cracks me up. I think I was probably 10 when I got her. I had a fundraiser in school and picked her out of a catalog and paid with my own money and everything. I think I paid some ridiculous amount like $15. I was so proud of myself for buying my own ornament. She's a glass bell, and just this year I noticed that she is holding a baby! This ornament tells the future!
You guessed it...made in the 3rd grade! 1984ish. It weighs about a pound and has to be put on a really sturdy branch. We were supposed to make a design that was representative of our name. Well my last name being Rains at the time, the middle is supposed to be rain drops and HELLO the color is water!
OK this one cracks me up! One year Carl's Jr. was giving out these with every happy meal. Some were angels, some looked like soldiers, some just plain stars, but they all were in the shape of stars. Let's just say we ate at Carl's Jr. A LOT that year and I think between the 3 of us we had like 20 of these puppies. Our tree was covered with them, and it made my Mom soooo mad! Every year after that we would pull out the ornaments and start putting on our Carl's Jr. Stars and she would freak out and only let us put on one each! So I kept this one as a reminder that even if your tree is covered with kids meal toys it's ok! Who know's this could be worth a fortune someday!
I know these are not going to last forever (especially not the 30 year old Life Savers) so I'm glad to have pictures of them for my kids to remember. When I was younger I thought it would be so cool to have a theme'd tree with all matching ornaments, all positioned exactly right with matching ribbon, and tinsel. I have come to the conclusion that I will not trade my mismatched, hodge podged, sometimes weird, always quirky tree for anything!
Every year as we unpack our ornament boxes in preparation for trimming the tree I start with my stories. I think almost each one has it's own memory, some are quite old, some are quirky, some are weird, but I love them all the same. This year I thought I'd start writing my stories down because as much as the kids remember them I wonder how much they will forget over the years, and me too!
This is our Christmas Pickle. I don't know where we got it, but I love it. Every year this is one of the favorite ones the kids fight over to put on the tree. Who can resist a big glass pickle with glittery snow on top?
This is our Christmas Spider, another favorite of the kids. They like me to hide him in the branches some where and see who can find him first. I think my mom made this at a Homemaking Meeting when I was younger. I think he's cute and sparkley.
Now this one is a reason for family jokes. This is a "girl" that my Aunt Mickey made me when I was probably 5 or 6. She's Styrofoam, yarn, sequins, and Life Savers! Just what every ornament from the 80's was made from! The joke part is we are not sure what 31 year old Life Savers would taste like or even if they could kill us, so we are careful to keep this one away from the babies!
My ballerina is my favorite. She is the first ornament that I remember my parents buying for me. Her head and hands are porceline and I'm scared every year that someone is going to drop her.
The stocking was the first ornament that I ever bought for Chris and I. It hung on our first tree in our first apartment. The tree was only about 3 feet tall and probably about the same wide (at least it looked that way). I was pregnant with K at the time and as I was decorating it Chris took pictures but you couldn't see the tree past my body!
Mr. Snowman is very old indeed 1985 to be exact. Only my mom and Grandma ever call me Synthia!
This little guy was made by my cousin Kristy in 1984 pom poms, and a block! So cute.
These are little crochet'd ice skates. One year my mom had jury duty right around the Holiday's and one of the ladies serving with her was whipping these up to pass the time and gave a set to my mom. Like I said who is gonna remember these crazy stories?
This one cracks me up. I think I was probably 10 when I got her. I had a fundraiser in school and picked her out of a catalog and paid with my own money and everything. I think I paid some ridiculous amount like $15. I was so proud of myself for buying my own ornament. She's a glass bell, and just this year I noticed that she is holding a baby! This ornament tells the future!
Goofy is my all time favorite cartoon character. This one Chris bought me our first Christmas together. He lights up and everything. I also have several other Goofy ornaments that are near and dear to my heart. The first gift Chris ever gave me was on my birthday (our second date) it was a Goofy figurine, I think it broke a year or two ago!
You guessed it...made in the 3rd grade! 1984ish. It weighs about a pound and has to be put on a really sturdy branch. We were supposed to make a design that was representative of our name. Well my last name being Rains at the time, the middle is supposed to be rain drops and HELLO the color is water!
OK this one cracks me up! One year Carl's Jr. was giving out these with every happy meal. Some were angels, some looked like soldiers, some just plain stars, but they all were in the shape of stars. Let's just say we ate at Carl's Jr. A LOT that year and I think between the 3 of us we had like 20 of these puppies. Our tree was covered with them, and it made my Mom soooo mad! Every year after that we would pull out the ornaments and start putting on our Carl's Jr. Stars and she would freak out and only let us put on one each! So I kept this one as a reminder that even if your tree is covered with kids meal toys it's ok! Who know's this could be worth a fortune someday!
No on to my all time favorite...the angel. There is NEVER a question as to who gets to put her on the top of the tree, it's ALWAYS ME! I don't let the children touch her. My mom made her for me the year I had my first Christmas tree, she is porceline, and lace and sparkles and I LOVE her! And she is blond like I was so I like to think that she looks a little like me, but cuter!
Comments
80's thang.