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