You are either already subscribed or there was an error
Your entry has been submitted
Sorry, your entry could not be submitted
2007 Ornaments
2008.01.02
To M from the Christmas Elf
Click here to add text
To M from the Christmas Elf
1
To M from Grandma & Grandpa, Aunt K and Uncle G, handpainted creation, something from Mom and Dad and finally from Grammy and Grand Dad.
Click here to add text
To M from Grandma & Grandpa, Aunt K and Uncle G, handpainted creation, something from Mom and Dad and finally from Grammy and Grand Dad.
2
To C from Aunt K and Uncle G, Grammy and Grand Dad, the Elf and then a handpainted creation.
Click here to add text
To C from Aunt K and Uncle G, Grammy and Grand Dad, the Elf and then a handpainted creation.
3
To C from Grandma and Grandpa
Click here to add text
To C from Grandma and Grandpa
4
A's handpainted creation, one from Grammy and Grand Dad, from Grandma and Grandpa and from Aunt K and Uncle G.
Click here to add text
A's handpainted creation, one from Grammy and Grand Dad, from Grandma and Grandpa and from Aunt K and Uncle G.
5
A's collection from the Elf.
Click here to add text
A's collection from the Elf.
6
I remember moving into my first apartment and wanting my own Christmas tree that year. I bought a $75 tree from Target, one strand of lights, a spool of wide pretty wired ribbon and what I thought was a bunch of ornaments. I remember being dissappointed that I'd spent so much money and my tree still looked rather bare. Ornaments were SO expensive and I hadn't even bought nice ones!
This lead to a tradition in my house. With the birth of our first child, the Christmas Elf started to visit every year on December 1st with an ornament for everyone in the family. I collect the White House Christmas ornaments so that's what he brings Mom and Dad every year. My intention was for the children to have really nice ornaments - lenox, crystal, fancy glass, etc. - instead of items that would be outgrown in a few short years. However last year I realized that our family tree needs to be "touchable". My children like to hang the ornaments, rearrange the ornaments, take them off and examine them and then re-hang the ornaments. Fancy glass is not good for little hands. So this year, the elf brought some more child friendly ornaments.
In addition to all this, both sets of grand parents have decided to give each child an ornament every year and my brother and his wife do the same. That means 4 ornaments every year for every child. Beyond that even, we have a day in December when each child paints/makes an ornament for me. That way when they move out and take these boxes, I'll have a tree full of handmade ornaments from their childhood. We have quite a few ornaments here! As you can imagine, there is no way I'd be able to remember in 20 years which ornaments go with which child - much less who gave them each of them. So... each child also has a 7x7 album (nothing fancy) where I take a picture or two each year of the ornaments they've received and record who they got them from. It's become quite a handy reference guide to me as I take the ornaments off the tree and attempt to put them in the correct child's box!
On a funny note, the nutcracker above was actually a gift from my in-laws to me (they also give my husband and me each an ornament each year) but I'm passing it to my middle child because she gave him an ornament that said "Baby's First Christmas". He's FOUR! She'd never even noticed the big banner on it that said that. We teased her quite a bit about that. Fortunately, she has a good sense of humor.
