When you are the youngest in a family of seven children, sometimes your siblings dress you up as The Christmas Elf. It is just comes with the territory. However, if you are two, then playing the role of Christmas Elf is pretty close to the best thing in the entire world, right up there with Snoopy and pink and boots and snow "soups" (suits) and lights and Christmas and Jingle Bells. Tell me, what is more wonderful than a two year old at Christmas time? I know, I'm sorry, trick question. The answer, obviously, is "Nothing!" I am a pretty lucky lady to have gotten to enjoy what will make seven Christmases with a child who is two. I just hope she doesn't get mad at me when she grows up and sees the pictures of herself being strung with lights and decorated with ornaments. You enjoyed it at the time, Clemmie.
This year our Christmas decorations feature some treasures brought back from our visit to Denmark. I love the wooden candle decoration. There were quite a few different types of this decoration in Denmark. Scandinavian design is so beautiful, with its simple, clean lines, and warm, cozy light. I love it. I'd make my whole house that style if it weren't for all the dirty hands and feet and dogs that make a mess every day. Clean, white lines would last about five minutes in my house, I'm afraid.
The shiny camel you see in the background is from Ben's recent business trip to the United Arab Emirates. We hated to say goodbye, but now we have a new Christmas decoration! Hmmm, I think I'd much rather have my husband around instead...but I do love how the camel perfectly matches the wisemen set we already owned. Ben's had to travel quite a bit, again.
Now, I want you to specifically notice that bright, gleaming Christmas tree, with every single bulb glowing. When we pulled out the tree this year, only a string of about ten lights on the tree worked. The kids and I, with the help of some friends, changed out every.single.bulb. on that tree to make it light up again like the first year we got the tree. Since that first year, each Christmas saw fewer and fewer bulbs that worked. It became such a sad looking tree. Strings of light bulbs, full of hope and potential, but instead are empty and dark are so sorry to look at. Okay, wow, I'm getting a little ridiculous, but you get the idea. This year it was clear that no amount of ornaments could disguise the fact that almost none of the lights worked. Fixing the tree took hours, and I hope to never have to do it again. Maybe I'll start charging the kids money for each minute the tree is on in order to conserve the light bulbs. Well, I probably won't go that far, but we are extra proud of our tree this year after enduring such a chore.
I don't have anything profound to say today. But sweet, cheery, nostalgic Christmas decorations are profound in their own way, I suppose. Bringing them out each year, and hearing exclamations of, "Oh, I remember this one!" gives me such joy.
