O, Tannenbaum pt. 2

We begin our five day Yule celebration opening tree ornaments on the Solstice.

I had to take the tree down early this year.  Typically, I'm a tree-up-til-New-Year's-Day kinda gal.  Take it down before that, and I miss its glow at night too badly.  But, for whatever reason, this year's tree was particularly sad about the whole being cut down thing, I guess.  No matter how much water I offered it, it never seemed to take even the smallest sip.  Its dryness I could ignore through Christmas, but its rapidly fading color the days following I could not.  As Wolfman says, it'll make a terrific New Year's bonfire.

Before lighting it up, I did manage to snap photos of this year's new ornaments.

Early in the month, Wolfman brought these two simple, plush ornaments home from his cafe: a goat for Martigan and unicorn for Ella.

Martigan's favorite toy for the past few months has been a yellow Tonka truck my friend Rachel brought him when she visited for lunch in the summer.  Mads likes to pluck this off the tree and push it across the carpet, even though its wheels don't spin.

My ornament this year had to be Wonder Woman, because that's what being a mom feels like to me.  Her little ankles are dented by Martigan's teeth.

Frankenstein's Monster arrived on our tree by accident this year.  We'd scoped out Hallmark's ornament display early--being that Hallmark caters so well to nerds at the holiday season, Wolfman's ornament is often a Hallmark Keepsake.  He was particularly excited about the Godzilla ornament, but, alas, I waited too long to pick it up.  Sold out.  A helpful shopgirl even called other nearby Hallmarks to check its availability, to no avail.  I was bummed.  But, Boris Karloff will always do in a pinch, and now I'm considering making the Universal Monsters a collection for our tree.  Our yule can always use another infusion of Halloween.

Wolfman's mother, Sandra, brought us two ornaments this year, both Merck Family's Old World Christmas.  She gave Mads a Baby's First Christmas ornament last year (he received three altogether last year), but wanted to give him one in this collection as well--a little glass snowman wearing a glittery blue toboggan.

This second Old World Christmas ornament from Sandra has already become a perennial favorite of mine and will get a prominent spot on the tree every year.  I was smitten with it as soon as I laid eyes on it, but the little accompanying description really sealed the deal for me: "The moon casts eerie light on the darkest of nights, but especially on Halloween, so when the sounds of a lonesome owl hooting and screeching break the silence, it can be both beautiful and frightening! Once thought to be the companions of witches and wizards, owls are symbols of the mysterious and are often associated with Halloween."  I am completely touched by this nod to our wedding anniversary. 

O, Tannenbaum pt. 1

Mads & Grandpa Bob

This is really the best gift we could've given Wolfman's dad--just a little time with Martigan, looking out a window, watching for birds and trucks.

O, Tannenbaum

We picked up our tree from Neighbor Boy, just up the road from us, at the first of the month.  I wrote to a friend recently that everything having to do with the tree--choosing it, decorating it, upkeeping and admiring it--is my favorite part of the holiday.  It's been Martigan's favorite part as well.  He doesn't understand most of what's happening this month, but the whole live-tree-indoors thing is something he can get enthused about, being the Nature Boy he is.

Living with two toddlers, all of our ornaments are crammed at the top half of the tree.  It doesn't stop them from reaching up on tip toes to pull down their favorites.  When my mother-in-law saw our tree, she said she was forced to decorate hers in the same manner back when they had "that Cody dog." I've heard stories of "that Cody dog," a big, dumb yellow lab that kept Wolfman company when he was a boy. One Christmas that dummy dog ate a glass ornament, through which he lived, but some adjustments had to be made to the tree thereafter.

 

The crow atop the tree was Wolfman's idea.

Each ornament I hang on the tree has a little story.  Here are just a particularly photographic few:

Baby's First Christmas ornaments, in pink and blue, for Ella and Martigan, side-by-side on the tree this year.  Gifts last year from their Great-Grandparents Clacher.

Early December 2012 we announced to Wolfman's dad we were expecting.  A couple weeks later, he gave us this ornament.  He may or may not have had tears in his eyes.  It gets a prominent place on the tree each year now, forever.

When I was 17, I helped pay for my dance classes by assisting at my studio in the classroom and office.  The studio director, Miss Kim, gave me this little ballerina ornament that Christmas.  She's one of a handful of ballerinas on my tree.  They remind me of a time, before baby, before husband, when I could leap in the air so freaking high.

This little teddy bear was a gift from one of those dance students in one of the classes I assisted in--little curly-haired Alyssa.  She was seven-ish and a lovely little pixie, as they all tend to be spinning with abandon in pink tights and ballet skirts.

Caught in the act, the bugger.

Remember Remember the All of November

The Venus Flytrap, pre-hibernation.

Martigan's first ordered meal at a restaurant.

Foggy mornings.

Wolfman surprised me with these earrings.  He sneakily bought them at the Renaissance Faire (by Warfire Forge).

How he keeps busy while I cook.

Best buds.

An axehead stuck on a tree branch outside our friend Crist's place.

Thanksgiving!

The most perfect stuffing recipe of all time.

Grandma's house is always an inspiration.

The spread.

RenFaire Daze

Parked outside the village gates was a detailed replica of the Back to the Future DeLorean by Razorfly Studios.

A few photos taken by our friend, Nikki.