Really, the problem is I can't decide what to bring for Christmas Eve. The last few years I've made it a point of bringing cocktails to our family's Christmas Eve evening celebration. I have quite a few cousins around my age who can enjoy a nice adult holiday beverage, so we do. Three years ago I had lemonciello, two years ago I had both red and green martinis, and last year I had what was called a blue gimmel (my love of blue drinks lives on), and this year I'm drawing a blank.

My cousin posted on my Facebook wall the other day asking if I knew what I was bringing and I explained, well I just bought some glass candy cane stir sticks so I think I'm going to have to work around that. Yes, that's the way I work. Plan my dishes around the cutesy items I have to use with them. So I ask, anyone have any ideas?

There's just something about these hat-wearing birds that I couldn't resist. While I did receive 1 of them as a birthday gift (can you guess which one?), the other two I bought myself because I just couldn't help it; they were too cute. I suppose that's the same logic I fooled myself with when I was younger and had a room full of stuffed animals...they were just too cute. Luckily these guys are a lot smaller.



Ugh, an owl carrying a lantern while wearing a night cap? I can't. I'm going to be one of those old ladies who has a house filled with cat knick-knacks aren't I?

Not all of my ornaments are sentimental. Some are just plain silly.

This happens to be my favorite kind of donut, a cake donut with chocolate frosting. It just so happens my uncle is the donut maker at our local grocery store and ever since he's been doing it and I moved close to said store, I eat them more often than I should. I swear they vent the "donut air" into the entrance of the place so when you walk in the door the only thing you can think is, "mmm...donut" as you find yourself mindlessly wandering towards the bakery.

This ornament was made by my dad's mother, my grandma Then. I don't know exactly when she made it, but I do know she made a few of them and most of us Then's are now lucky enough to have one in our homes. It was always hard to picture that my grandma made these delicate ornaments because even as a child I remember my grandma's hands being severely crippled. Grandma had one of the most severe cases of rheumatoid arthritis her rheumatologist had ever seen. So now, as my grandma is no longer with us I will treasure this ornament as a link to both her and my dad as this is an ornament we always used to hang on our family's Christmas tree. It was always my dad's job to hang these ornaments because they are heavier and required to be hung towards the top of the tree on the more sturdy branches. For us, it hangs from our ceiling fan's pull chain in the middle of the room where you can't miss it.

So I thought I'd help myself get in the Christmas spirit by posting daily some of my absolute favorite ornaments. While I appreciate some people's monochromatic schemes on their trees, that will never be me. Last night as I struggled over the decision to keep an ornament that I bought or give it as a gift, Mike said, "Well the tree is kind of full." Oh, poor Mike. He has no idea just how many can fit.

You see, decorating the Christmas tree has always been a big deal to our family. Whether it was the days of charlie brown trees that my logger father would never live down, or the days of perfect pine very carefully picked out by my mom, the time to decorate it was always a happy one. Somehow down the road we ended up making it a tradition to invite my aunt over to help and we'd stick in the the movie, "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" while we decorated. The sound of my dad laughing hysterically every single year as Clark Grislwold went flying down the hill on his greased up saucer passes through my mind often. We would unwrap each ornament and as we hung it, discuss where it came from, who gave it to us, or make fun of whoever's baby picture was on it (we're sentimental like that). I look forward to passing on to my future family the same enjoyment of the Christmas tree.



These ornaments are some of my favorite. The N was given to me by my friend Holly, a couple years ago. I fell in love with it when I opened it up. Later, I found the same ornaments in my favorite store and bought the M for Mike as the first ornament I gave him. How happy I was to see that the M was in a more masculine color. It was meant to be!

Where packages galore arrive at our door.

Leaving kitties very curious.

Thank you online shopping for making my life less hectic this time of the year.