Our first time....

....alone at Christmas was not fun for me.

I hated being away from my family,

I called them every two hours it seemed.

It was silly really b/c we were less then three hours from home.

I made turkey dinner for the first time,

but ate it alone because HE was napping.

The gravy exploded all over the stove

because I tried to make it in a pyrex dish.

HE tried to recreate part of his traditions though.

HE made a chicken noodle omlette for breakfast.

Then,  I thought it was bizarre.

Now I can't live without them.

At the time it was sad to me that we were alone.

Today it is a reminder of how far we have come.

Over twelve years together.

Longer than alot of marriages.

WE work hard at it.

WE laugh at ourselves often.

WE are snippy at each other more than I would like to be.

WE created two beautiful children together.

And everytime I look at this ornament that I bought on our very first Christmas,

I think about how much I love HIM.

He's all mine.....and all His.

M that is.

Today was a little rough.

A little scary.

Tested my strength as a Mom.

Tested our strength as a team.

Something as small as gashed tongue,

(Which FYI was not so small and left me feeling sick to my stomach all day)

Reminds me of the gift we have been given.

Today it was a tongue.

Tomorrow it could be more serious.

We are so lucky to be a family.

I am so lucky to lean on B and be the level headed one in these situations.

I do not do well with blood.

I do not do well with accidents.

I do not do well when my kids get hurt.

I'm sure that sick feeling never goes away.

Today I am reminded that things are just things.

They can be replaced.

He can't.

He is clumsy like me.

And he has no fear like his Dad.

I am in for one hell of a ride with this child of mine

So today I was  more patient.

He was aloud to look and touch.

But he still had to be careful.

That snowman seems to be a favorite of his.

Back tomorrow to continue "The Ornament Cronicles"

Thanks for stopping by and having a boo.

x/o

J

My Vintage Snowman

I love this guy.

And by love, I mean LOVE.

He is so special to me in so many ways.

My Brother bought him for me the last Christmas we celebrated together.

I know he didn't have tons of money but when I opened this I was blown away.

I felt as though he had searched far and wide to find the perfect thing for me.

He hit it bang on.

I don't think I ever got to tell him that.

Tell him how much I love this guy.

How much I look forward to digging out his own special shinny red box every year.

Unwrapping his feet that dangle together from their special plastic packaging.

Thinking about him and missing him each time I look at my special vintage snowman.

Frig.

I hate that he is gone and that we don't have any more Christmases.

I hate that it is 7 years later and that I still can't write something about him without a pool of tears  in my eyes that are blurring my vision.

I hate it.

But I love my special vintage snowman.

And if any of my kids break this guy I think I may ground them for eternity.

Prophylactic Snowman

I have to honest here.

I could not wait to post this guy.

I was twitchy all day giggling to myself.

This guy was in my sock from Mom last year.

I have no other words.

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse

I come from a family of crafty women.




These women make everything.



They can sew anything.



AN Y THING!



My Grandmother, when I was young, made me and my sister all kinds of Barbie furniture.



We had the best Barbie stuff ever.



I was broken hearted as a child when we left B.C. and moved here, leaving some of those treasures behind.



If I could go back in time, my choices would be different.



My Handmade Raggedy Ann (again made from my Grandma) and my Barbie furniture would have made the cut.



But at a mere 10 years old how do you choose between those and the very first pink puppy stuffy that your parents gave you on that last Christmas that we spent there?



Hard choices to make.



Life is like that...allot of tough choices that are made and as a child you never really now why they were made or if you are lucky, you are completely oblivious.



I think I was lucky.



I know now that we had allot of tough Christmases.



Tough in the sense that my Mother, who is so kind hearted and giving, couldn't always give the things that she wanted to give.



She did such a good job of raising us that we never knew the difference until we were older and wiser and started to ask for things.



But even then when we did get some of those more expensive gifts, we KNEW that there were sacrifices made for us to have them.



I am so thankful for all I had as a child.



Because really, I KNOW there are some that had less.



So back to crafty.



My Mom made us all an ornament one year.



For the life of me I can't remember what color my Brothers was.



I'm fairly certain my Sisters was light blue with pink.



Mine was red.



I have had this ornament ever since I can remember; honestly I don't know the year. (Mom?)



I have always hung it proudly on my tree along with all my other store bought ones.



It looks so simple to make that I hope one day we can sit down together and make some for the boys.



And I really hope they enjoy theirs as much as I have enjoyed mine.



Thanks Mom.

The right foot

As you could probably tell from my first post on this very lovely first day of December, it did not start out well.


In fact it was the very opposite of great.

And if you are my Facebook friend you know that it started with a temper tantrum that landed M in his room.

TWICE.

BEFORE 7:00AM.

It sucked huge.

I really wanted to start December off right. It is such a busy month for our family with what seems like a kajillion birthdays as well as the holidays. I feel so fortunate that I am not working  for what may probably be my last December for a VERY long time so I really want to treasure this one. I had plans of snapping a photo per day and doing some sort of scrap/blog thing but tonight I decided that it wasn't in the cards. I don't have that much creative time and I don't want to feel the pressure of falling behind each day. So in my infinite wisdom I came up with a different plan.

Wait.

For.

It.

I'm going to document my holiday home.

Gay right?

Okay so more specifically I was looking at all my decorations and ornaments and thinking about the sentimental value that they hold to me.  I want my kids to know why they were special to me because one day they will be theirs and I truly hope they treasure each and every one of them like I do.  Some of these ornaments move me to tears and others make me laugh uncontrollably.  I hope you enjoy their stories and maybe it will inspire you to do the same.

Here's to December starting off on the right foot.

Happy Holidays.

x/o
J

Important Bulletin

Dear Child of Mine that has acquired a new blood curdling screech:




The administration of the D/H household requires you to cease and desist this behavior effective immediately during the following activities:

1. Upon waking.

2. During the consumption of any meal at the family dinner table.

3. While requesting further food that you may or may not consider a treat.

4. While you are waiting ever so patiently for the family to get packed up for an outing.

5. While we are shopping at the grocery store.

6. While I am driving.

7. During quiet times such as Naps or while viewing "the Wonderpets".

8. During bath time.

9. While playing with your friends

10. At bedtime.



Please be advised that this list is non-inclusive and that management at the D/H household reserves the right to make any amendments at any given time


Failure to comply WILL result in the prompt removal of your presence from my presence, into your bedroom until said screeching stops.


And please be thankfull that it does not result in your bum being grass and my hand being the lawnmower.


Sincerely and assertively yours,


The Administration at the D/H household.


AKA your Mom and Dad who may just whoop your butt if it doesn't stop.


Seriously........