One thing I found out about myself last Friday when we were putting up the Christmas tree, is that I can be a little possessive when it comes to decorating the tree. I did not know this about myself. Of course, this was the first year that Caleb actually had an opinion about where he wanted the ornaments to be placed and was extremely zealous in getting them on the tree. See, I like to take my time as I pull each ornament out of the box and reflect on the significance of each decoration. My four-year-old, on the other hand, just saw a bare tree and knew that it needed some flair...IMMEDIATELY! While I was in the kitchen preparing Thanksgiving leftovers for lunch on Friday after we had spent the morning assembling the Christmas tree, Caleb proceeded to decorate the tree by himself. (Of course it was only the lower half that got covered) I 
admit, he did a pretty good job. But I had envisioned us all lovingly placing the ornaments one at a time on the tree while reminiscing about good times and Christmases past. Okay, I don't think I actually thought it flow that smoothly, but I did at least want to participate. Oh well.
Have I mentioned how sweet, kind, and patient my husband is? I was still feeling pretty lousy from being sick and now I was somewhat disappointed, so I took my overly sensitive and coughing self off to bed for a nap once lunch was finished. When I woke up, the tree was bare again, except for the lights. I wasn't quite sure what to make of it until Caleb came downstairs and told me that he wanted to decorate the tree together. Sniffle (and I am sure there was a cough in there, too) I am not sure how much "gentle" persuading that it took on Eric's part, but I was grateful. Grateful that he was able to nudge him without breaking his festive little spirit.
2000- A Santa Claus walking a schnauzer-Eric's family has had three schnauzers and at the time had a sweet one named KeeKee. Eric LOVES dogs!!! I think in the early stages of our dating, I may have faked a little more dog enthusiasm than I actually had...to get the guy, of course. It worked.
2001-A glass ornament with a picture of a Jack Russell terrier (could be JC's brother)-By this point, the fake enthusiasm had turned to real enthusiasm, as we had adopted JC in May, two months before I left for school in Iowa, which meant I had two boys that I missed terribly in that first year away.
2002-The Sim's first Workman family ornament; two snowmen (with our names on them) with a heart underneath reading Our First Christmas Together -This year we cheated. We didn't actually pick out an ornament. I am not sure why. It was probably a combination of me being nuts with exams right before break and all of the travel we had done that fall back in forth between KY and Iowa for weddings. We were just too tired to remember, even though it was our first year as a married couple. Thanks, Sims, for saving the day!
2003-A little ocean scene Caribbean ornament-The day after Christmas, Patti and Gary took us on a cruise of the Caribbean. It was our first cruise and a lot of good food! We also had a little stowaway that we didn't know we had carried on board until a few weeks later.
2004-A teddy bear in a UT sweater-To celebrate our first Christmas in Tennessee (and with the aforementioned stowaway), we thought it was only appropriate to christen our tree with a little orange. No worries; we are still true blue Kentucky fans! But a little orange is okay. We also had an array of baby's first Christmas ornaments, but the UT bear was "our" ornament.
2005-Mini Cracker Barrel ornament-I know most people think we are a little off because we have a weird obsession with Cracker Barrel restaurant, but after all, it is where Eric and I first met. So it does have sentimental value. Enough to put a little miniature version of the restaurant right in the middle of our tree. Did we mention we also have a Christmas village Cracker Barrel on our kitchen table? Maybe that is a little extreme. The barrel ornament is also a symbol of 2005 being the year I laid down my pride, decided to put practice on hold to stay home with my baby, and strapped on the ole apron again (something I NEVER thought I would do again) and took a part-time job with an "old friend".
2006-A tennis ball with a Santa hat-Somehow this ornament has snuck its way onto Caleb's little tree in his room. We just thought this was really cute and since one can rarely find a tennis ball amid all of the football, baseball, and basketball paraphernalia, we grabbed that baby up at Hobby Lobby. We both enjoy tennis, but Eric LOVES the game, as do our boys. In 2006, Caleb took an interest in the game and would take his little racket out with Eric and play with the big boys.
2007-A pirate ornament-This was the year of the pirate in our house! Everything was about pirates for Biz. We saw the ornament at Black Lion in Opry Mills and there was no discussion, we had to get it!
2008-A log cabin Pigeon Forge ornament-We usually take a family vacation with Eric's family each year, but this was the first year that we took a vacation with my family. We spent four days with my family in Pigeon Forge, TN, and hope to make it a tradition.
Caleb was more than happy to do it all over again! And it was a lot of fun, even if some of the branches had more than one ornament and the majority of the ornaments ended up on the bottom two rows of branches. I do think it just may be our most beautiful Christmas tree ever!
There really is no theme to our tree, or symmetry for that matter, but it is filled with so many memories. Our ornaments do not match, but there seems to be a story with almost every piece we put on the tree...from the Christmas stocking ornament I made at day care in 1980 to the hand pain
ted ornaments that Caleb had made for each of the last three years. There are all of the family ornaments that the Sims' family gives us each year, that have grown from two snowmen together in 2002 to four carolers in 2008. Pictures of Seth and Caleb's first Christmases adorn the top of the tree near the angel, as well as two bears in purple princess dresses that Eric picked out in memory of our sweet twins whom we lost to miscarriage in 2005. It is a sweet reminder of their very brief earthly lives.
There really is no theme to our tree, or symmetry for that matter, but it is filled with so many memories. Our ornaments do not match, but there seems to be a story with almost every piece we put on the tree...from the Christmas stocking ornament I made at day care in 1980 to the hand pain
ted ornaments that Caleb had made for each of the last three years. There are all of the family ornaments that the Sims' family gives us each year, that have grown from two snowmen together in 2002 to four carolers in 2008. Pictures of Seth and Caleb's first Christmases adorn the top of the tree near the angel, as well as two bears in purple princess dresses that Eric picked out in memory of our sweet twins whom we lost to miscarriage in 2005. It is a sweet reminder of their very brief earthly lives.
My favorite part is our tradition of Eric and I picking out a special ornament each year that we call "our" ornament. We started doing this when we had been dating for only four months and nine Christmases later, we look forward to finding that ornament that will be ours each year.
Here is a little stroll down memory lane (more for me and for journaling sake, but feel free to read along):
2000- A Santa Claus walking a schnauzer-Eric's family has had three schnauzers and at the time had a sweet one named KeeKee. Eric LOVES dogs!!! I think in the early stages of our dating, I may have faked a little more dog enthusiasm than I actually had...to get the guy, of course. It worked.
2001-A glass ornament with a picture of a Jack Russell terrier (could be JC's brother)-By this point, the fake enthusiasm had turned to real enthusiasm, as we had adopted JC in May, two months before I left for school in Iowa, which meant I had two boys that I missed terribly in that first year away.
2002-The Sim's first Workman family ornament; two snowmen (with our names on them) with a heart underneath reading Our First Christmas Together -This year we cheated. We didn't actually pick out an ornament. I am not sure why. It was probably a combination of me being nuts with exams right before break and all of the travel we had done that fall back in forth between KY and Iowa for weddings. We were just too tired to remember, even though it was our first year as a married couple. Thanks, Sims, for saving the day!
2003-A little ocean scene Caribbean ornament-The day after Christmas, Patti and Gary took us on a cruise of the Caribbean. It was our first cruise and a lot of good food! We also had a little stowaway that we didn't know we had carried on board until a few weeks later.
2004-A teddy bear in a UT sweater-To celebrate our first Christmas in Tennessee (and with the aforementioned stowaway), we thought it was only appropriate to christen our tree with a little orange. No worries; we are still true blue Kentucky fans! But a little orange is okay. We also had an array of baby's first Christmas ornaments, but the UT bear was "our" ornament.
2005-Mini Cracker Barrel ornament-I know most people think we are a little off because we have a weird obsession with Cracker Barrel restaurant, but after all, it is where Eric and I first met. So it does have sentimental value. Enough to put a little miniature version of the restaurant right in the middle of our tree. Did we mention we also have a Christmas village Cracker Barrel on our kitchen table? Maybe that is a little extreme. The barrel ornament is also a symbol of 2005 being the year I laid down my pride, decided to put practice on hold to stay home with my baby, and strapped on the ole apron again (something I NEVER thought I would do again) and took a part-time job with an "old friend".
2006-A tennis ball with a Santa hat-Somehow this ornament has snuck its way onto Caleb's little tree in his room. We just thought this was really cute and since one can rarely find a tennis ball amid all of the football, baseball, and basketball paraphernalia, we grabbed that baby up at Hobby Lobby. We both enjoy tennis, but Eric LOVES the game, as do our boys. In 2006, Caleb took an interest in the game and would take his little racket out with Eric and play with the big boys.
2007-A pirate ornament-This was the year of the pirate in our house! Everything was about pirates for Biz. We saw the ornament at Black Lion in Opry Mills and there was no discussion, we had to get it!
2008-A log cabin Pigeon Forge ornament-We usually take a family vacation with Eric's family each year, but this was the first year that we took a vacation with my family. We spent four days with my family in Pigeon Forge, TN, and hope to make it a tradition.
And as with most things, the box has this mysterious appeal and is usually more of an attention getter than the actual contents. This is actually where Seth could be found during the decorating festivities.
1 comment:
Once again, we are on the same page. Soon there is going to be a Chervenka post with Tyler in the Christmas tree box! :)
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