I Tri and Craft

thoughts from a mother of boys, a marathoner, a triathlete, a crafter, a wife, and a scientist


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12 Days of Christmas Tradition ~ Day 1

One of the reasons I love the Christmas holiday is the traditions.

I love reviving old family traditions, and making new ones.  I love remembering fondly the things that I did as a child at Christmas time and the things I couldn’t wait to do again.

As an adult, I get to make sure our family has our traditions and make new ones.

What Christmas would be complete with out a Christmas tree?

The past couple years we have been lucky to be able to get our tree from our friends property.  Which means we get to go hang out with some great people all day.

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This year is was cold.  Like 15°F cold.  But the sun was shinning, which is not always the case up here in the PNW.

The kids got to run around outside burning off all the energy they got from eating candy canes.

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Sid couldn’t last more than about 15-20 minutes outside at a time.  His coat is too big for him and he kept falling down.  Once down, he had some difficulty standing up again.  Yes, picture Ralphie, kinda like that.

But boy would we laugh and laugh until I helped him stand up.

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Hubby picked out our tree and drug it back.  Our friends had a bonfire and the kids got to roast hot dogs for dinner.

We had to bring the tree in the house that night because Ian was very concerned about leaving it on top of the car overnight.  But we waited till the next day to decorate it.

The boys were of course very helpful.

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Sid’s favorite thing is the lights.  He gets so happy when he sees them.

The whole time I was putting the lights on the tree Ian kept reminding me to put the star on top.  So this year he got to do it.  I had to take a break in light hanging to let him top the tree.

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After Sid went down for a nap, Ian and I hung the ornaments.  Well, at least on the upper half of the tree.

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I think next year I will be able to put out all my ornaments and I will be able to utilize the whole tree.

 

Happy Decorating

 

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What are your Christmas Traditions?


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O’ Christmas Tree

We got our tree last weekend and decorated it this week.

Our Christmas Tree

Ian got into all the decorations while I was feeding the baby, I guess he was excited!

How is your Christmas tree decorated, or will be decorated?

Is there a theme or designated color?  My sister does her living room tree in red and white like a candy cane.

Store bought ornaments, Hallmark, handmade, or glass bulbs?

On my tree consists of mostly Hallmark ornaments.  It was what I grew up with, my mom would buy a new one every year.  Each ornament had a story behind it and when we decorated the tree she knew every one of them.

It got to the point where she couldn’t fit them all on her tree anymore so she handed down a portion to us kids.  She gave us ones that were bought in honor of us, or ones that were our favorites.

I loved this one of a bear on a tricycle, the pedals and front wheel moved.  I would put it on the bottom of the tree and play with it.  Now it is on my tree and my son gets to play with it.

We have continued to purchase ornaments in honor of our family members, I will buy them for my mom or my sister when I see one they need.

But the best thing is that now I can buy them for my sons.  This year my mom got Ian a Darth Vader ornament that has a motion sensor and guards the gifts.  It says things like “You will peek again, it is your destiny” or “I find you lack of patience disturbing” Ian loves it!

Darth Vader

Baby Sid got his first ornament this year.  It is a Winnie the Pooh one that says “Baby’s first Christmas”.  We have Ian’s and my first ornaments up on the tree too.

Christmas Tree

I love the fact that the Hallmark Keepsake ornaments are dated, so we always know when we got them.  Ian helped to put a few on the tree but then he found his favorites.

Christmas Tree

The two seal ornaments never made it on the tree.  In fact he has them in bed (he has a small obsession with seals lately).  Baby Sid didn’t help decorate the tree, but he is pleased at how it turned out.  I think his favorite thing is the lights.

For me the best way to decorate the tree with ornaments that come with memories.  I can’t wait to pass them on to my children.

Happy decorating!

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