Christmas Traditions Part 2

Hanging the ornaments on the tree is always a stressful time for me. Shame on me, I know...but I think in terms of "the tree has to be balanced" and "the good ornaments go up HIGH". There is no shame in having a beautiful tree.

Last night, after dinner we attempted to decorate the tree as a family. Oooooo...bad idea.

Picture this - Manny downstairs firmly entrenched in a hot game of WOW on the computer, the little kids grabbing the most expensive and sentimental and BREAKABLE ornaments, Melyssa grumbling under her breath, Noel safely on the loveseat (his job is to crown the tree, and he does it very well) and Jillyan hopping somewhere along the stratoshpere. At some point, the ladder became a jungle gym. I'm pretty frustrated at this point, and singing a Christmas Carol at the top of my lungs (I'm pretty loud) while Melyssa stomps and squalls all the way up the stairs, strains of "It's not fair!" echoing through the house (probably the whole neighborhood). Allyson fumbled two ornaments, and glass had to be swept up while keeping the dog from eating it and Evan from stepping in it. Oh yes, it was family fun night at my house, family fun indeed. That was one of those moments that I will look back on and remember with teeth grinding fondness, of this I am certain!

The good news - the tree is up and beautiful.
The not so good news - the vodka helped.

Enjoy the pictures of some of my favorite ornaments, and feel the love...just feel the love!

See the broken bottom? I still put it on the tree!

I really like the reflective quality of these ones. Better yet? They're plastic!

This is a plain silver ball...the colors are reflections of the lights.

Pretty!

Another of my favorites, but they are glass. I even still have all 4 in the set! GO ME!

Reaction to the "Then and Now"

Michelle, tell Maddy she was right about the reaction. I think the picture explains it all, don't you?!

Christmas Traditions - Part 1

This is a big honkin' shrub! Manny's 5'7" and standing...

We have many Christmas Traditions in our family, and I thought that the easiest way to capture them is to blog about them as they happen. Sadly, yes...the Christmas Tree Tradition goes about the same each and every year...

There were many bad, bad words spoken under the tree this year!! Sorry Noel!

For whatever reason (ok, it's me), the size of our Christmas trees vary from year to year. This year - Noel and I were prepared! We knew where we were going, what variety of tree we were getting AND the size of tree that we were choosing to grace the family abode this season. Arriving at the lot, Noel (as usual) chose the best and most beautiful tree that they had within our variety specifications. It was even, we were assured, the height that we were looking for! Can't get much better than that! From arrival to "drive away" - the overall time spent on the lot was about 15 minutes. This year...I even got a live wreath (my 1st ever...I'm SO excited)!

He only held it up for about 45 minutes. I think his fingers are still stuck together!!

While our oldest son was at work, Noel and I drug the bush into the house and began the preparations for set up. Lo and behold...the tree was not an 8 footer, it was EASILY a 10 footer. Since we have 10 foot ceilings...this took some cutting and imagination! The beauty was finally erected straight and true upon it's place of honor in our living room. What a relief!

The tree was all snuggled into it's base, and after letting it "fluff" out for a while - the yearly chore of the lights began! Before you nod your head sagely, please note that I am a super freak about my Christmas lights (el cheapo's from Target), and each year they get rewrapped the way that they came, and some are even in their original boxes. Obsessive, I know. This year - lights seemed to not want to work AT ALL. Usually I am an 800 count or better on my lights, but this year was frustrating enough that there are 700 lights on there, but only 600 are lit. Since the 100 that are out are in the middle of a series, those little suckers are staying ON the tree! I don't even CARE at this point. It's rather hard for me to type, as the pine sap has stuck together all of my fingers; but I had to share these stories with you hoping you'd get a chuckle on a Monday...

While safely tucking the last of the connectors deep within the tree, I did the unthinkable...well, it would be if I didn't do it every year...I knocked the tree over. After some quick thinking and swearing from Noel, muscle from Manny and my standing WAY back in the kitchen (hey, somebody has to make sure the tree is straight, right?!?) - the big Christmas bush is secure once more - AND has lights!!

Ornaments will be hung tomorrow after school, with the grand crowning of our tree done by Noel with our capiz star. For now, just enjoy the pictures of the lights...and breath a sigh of relief for me that at least my part in the "Tree Tipping" is done for the season!

Pretty lights on the tree...



Playing with the camera! This is pretty cool lookin'!

My first live wreath! I think it turned out pretty :O) The sign says Joy...

Then and Now...

Got this picture recently from my Gram...thought it'd be cute to post a then and now...mainly to mortify my daughter!! Above is Allyson at 6, and below is Allyson at 12. I don't even want to think about Allyson at 18...

I DID IT!!

I actually MADE a gingerbread house!! Whoo - whoo!!!

There is a company out here called BBC Holidays that for a small fee, hosts a gingerbread house decorating party at your house. When I got the invitation from my friend Allison (I just noticed that she is in here A LOT!), I thought about it long and hard. Being only moderately creative, with not so much as a whiff of creativity in the food department - I'll admit, I was hesitant. I am SO glad that I caved in and went!!

Is it outstanding as far as gingerbread houses go? No. It's lopsided, sloppy and pretty funny to look at actually. Do I love it? HELL YES! Having never done anything like this before, I was pretty intent on following instructions. We all bounced ideas off of each other, copied each others creative spurts and had a great time. Added to that...I got the bonus of my puppy fix :O)

Be sure to check out my rather depressed looking reindeer that our "assistant" Michael made for me. I'm calling him Shopper - the tenth reindeer (Olive is technically number 9!). He's a sad little soul! I couldn't resist him!

Breakage

While I realize that every Christmas brings about some ornament breakage - I'm a little cheesed that the first one this season hadn't even made it onto a tree yet :O(

My friend Allison gave me this ornament (she has it's twin) that she found in a great shop. It's TOTALLY my style. I LOVED IT!! Now it is little glass dust. The cat is toast...

PUPPIES!!!!!

Dog Mama Millie and gang...they are about 12 hours old...

This little lady looks like a baby bear...

She has a little white dot on her forehead - too cute!!

Little girl looks like a baby skunk - we love her!

Gooti's three sisters were born Thanksgiving morning! I got to spend a little time with them all while their "Grandma Allison" was in Ohio for the holidays, and they are as cute as cute can be!! We will soon have TWO little girlies running around our house! Early January will be a fun time at Casa Malabanan!!

Funniest thing - we chose the name for our puppy on Wednesday night (they weren't supposed to be here for another week)! Since Gooti's name is Chinese, we stuck to that theme and attempted to name the new puppy from a fortune cookie too. Nothing good that round of dinner, so to the Internet we went! After only 5 minutes - Noel found the translation for "puppy love". Yes, our new doggy's name will be Zao Lian. We have officially shortened this to Zaoli (zowlee), and everyone is calling her Zaoli Mo-Mo - 'cause we're weird like that. Gooti is "Gooti Mae" or "Gooter" or any other variation you can think of. Nicknames for our pets...we probably need therapy!

We get to choose our puppy when they are about 4 weeks old - trust me...I'll keep you "posted"!