Getting ready for Christmas
The tree is up and decorated and I have tried to clean up all the needles left by our tree. Having the day off and getting to decorate the house for Christmas was very nice. I decided I would decorate the whole house, I brought out my Christmas china and decorated the bathrooms too. As I was putting ornaments on the tree I thought about each one and where they came from.
Christmas ornament memories. . .
Each of our ornaments has some significance, I pick up ornaments when we travel and the boys get an ornament every year from me and their grandmothers. Last year as I was putting away the Christmas ornaments I fixed a box for Sprat and Big T so I could keep their ornaments separated. When they leave our home to make their way in the world they have a nice neat box of their ornaments.
I remember when the hubbs and I got our first tree, we were just dating but we put a tree up in his apartment. We did not have any ornaments so we went to this little store in town and bought some ornaments and lights so the tree would not be naked. When the boys are ready for their first apartment they will have ornaments for their tree. Their tree will not look as shaby as ours did, it was rather pitiful.
While decorating our tree this year I noticed I had two ornaments that were similar, one was mine and one was the hubbs. Mine was a little girl silhouette in brass playing an instrument at the bottom it had my name engraved, this was given to me by my parents when I was little. The hubbs was a little boy silhouette in brass playing an accordion, it had his name and a year engraved on his. We have been married almost thirty years and I just noticed these two ornaments or maybe I noticed them earlier and never really thought about it.
Our animals have ornaments too. Every year I put their ornaments on our tree and think about each of those that have crossed the Rainbow Bridge. Sweet Basil gets a new ornament each year too. Yes, we are crazy about our fur babies, they have stockings too for Santa.
Unique Ornaments. . .
Every year we put a pickle ornament on our tree. This is a German tradition, the pickle is the last ornament placed on the tree Christmas Eve after the children have gone to bed. On Christmas morning the first child to find the ornament gets a special extra gift. The purpose of the search for the pickle is so that the children look at the ornaments on the tree and appreciate them before rushing to open presents. The boys have always loved this tradition and oddly enough they never get mad at each other that one gets an extra gift.
We have a birds nest ornament that we put in our tree every year. This was given to me by my mother – in- law and she says that having the birds nest in your Christmas tree brings you luck in the new year.
The hubbs has a cardinal ornament that he insists must be on our tree every year. This is his tradition, his cardinal had seen better days so I found a newer one and replaced it so we could continue. There is also a weird green and gold ball that must be hung on our tree every year. One Christmas my husbands grandmother took him shopping and he wanted these hideous green and gold satin balls and she bought them for him. His mother was not very happy with the selection, it did not go with any of her other ornaments but she put them on the tree. Every year one or two of them went missing until she had only three left and she would hide them in the back of the tree. When my hubby and I were married I was gifted those three hideous green and gold balls, the hubbs is quite insistent that they are on our tree every year. The boys will be gifted two of these balls when they leave our home to make their way in the world, they also each have a pickle ornament in their box too.
Conclusion. . .
I hope you have enjoyed reading about our quirky Christmas traditions. I would love to hear about your Christmas traditions quirky or not. Stay tuned recipes of Christmas to come. . .