Sunday, September 29, 2013

The Day We Decorated the Tree

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One of my favorite days of the year is when we decorate our Christmas tree.  Before we start decorating, the girls each get to open their new ornaments.  They are always so excited to see what we picked out for them.

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Brooke is definitely our Barbie girl, so she was thrilled to see that she got the Tori ornament from Barbie: Princess and the Pop star.  Those are both in line with Brooke’s career goals, so this was a perfect ornament for her.  Hallmark sold out of the ornament early in the season and Brooke was so worried she wouldn’t get that one – fortunately, I was on it in plenty of time.

Ornaments - Brooke 11-25-12aOrnaments - Brooke 11-25-12bOrnaments - Brooke 11-25-12cOrnaments - Brooke Barbie Princess and the Popstar Tori 11-25-12

Emily got a Cinderella ornament to commemorate her dressing up as the princess for Halloween and because that was her favorite princess.  It was also foreshadowing the announcement of our trip to Disneyland.  She was thrilled with her ornament even though she didn’t know about the trip yet.

Ornaments - Emily 11-25-12bOrnaments - Emily - Cinderella 11-25-12fOrnaments - Emily 11-25-12gOrnaments - Emily 11-25-12hOrnaments - Emily 11-25-12iOrnaments - Emily's Cinderella 11-25-12

Katelyn was tricky last year.  She loves all things electronics made by Apple so I was trying to find an iPod or iPad ornament but it also need to be “Katelyn blue.”  That didn’t exist, so I hunted and hunted.  I finally found this cute little polar bear listening to an iPod but the girl version was pink and the boy version was blue but not cute.  So I did the only thing that made sense, I bought the pink on and transformed it into a cute blue girl bear.  I was so excited but had a moment of panic right before she opened it, when I irrationally thought, “What if she thinks this means that I think she is a polar bear?”  Of course she didn’t think that and she loved it!  Surprising kids and making them feel loved is one of the best things ever!

Ornaments - Katelyn 11-25-12aOrnaments - Katelyn 11-25-12bOrnaments - Katelyn 11-25-12cOrnaments - Katelyn's iPod Bear 11-25-12

The also each got another ornament with their name.  This ear it was a cute little ice skating snowman.

Ornaments - Katelyn's ice skating snowman 11-25-12

Next up, it was time to decorate the tree.  I love pulling out all the ornaments and remembering when we got them and what they mean.  The girls are so good at doing the decorating, that now I just unwrap them all and they take care of the placement.

Decorating the tree 11-25-12Decorating the tree 11-25-12cEmily the reindeer 11-25-12aDecorating the tree 11-25-12b

Emily was thrilled to find a box of candy canes in with the ornaments.  She stopped decorating while she worked on making her tongue turn different colors.

Emily & the candy canes 11-25-12aEmily & the candy canes 11-25-12cEmily & the candy canes 11-25-12dEmily & the candy canes 11-25-12e

Last but not least, we found the musical instrument ornaments that were mine as a young girl (back in my cello playing days).  Not only do they like to place them on the tree, they also LOVE to “play” them.  Our Christmas band is always so fun to watch and listen too and usually ends up in a dance party.  Having fun kids is the best!

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