Christmas Time

Yesterday morning at my Mother's house everyone decided, well actually my mother decided, that it was time to decorate the Christmas tree and to put up decorations around the house. So that is exactly what we did. I do not remember the last time my brother and I spent Christmas together or decorated a tree together, but I think it has been at least 4 years if not five years....

My family has a tradition where every year we pick out ornaments, sometimes we pick out our own ornament and other times we pick each other's out for them. My mother has been doing this for my brother and I since we were born so we have 'baby ornaments' and all the other ones that were especially ours and no one else could put them on the tree. (I am now the one who puts up all of my brother's ornaments.)

Well, there were also those ornaments Michael and I fought over and I am assuming we both loved them. 

The one above is a very old ornament. We had three of them, one blue, one red, and I think a green one? All we have now are the blue and red one, and as you  can see they are falling apart. My brother and I would hide them next to the trunk of the tree at random heights. I know we would try to hide them from each other so that the other wouldn't move it, but I also think we hid them next to the trunk so the sequins would catch and reflect the light given off by the Christmas lights decorating the tree. 

Well I was shopping the other day for my mother and found another ornament. The first ornament I've bought for my future family tree, an ornament for my children to hide. It is absolutely hideous, but it has the same sequins.

While I am sharing, let me show uou another ornament that is one of my favorites and one of my parents' least favorite. Every year without fail my brother and I would use it to be as obnoxious as possible until we were threatened enough to give up...or until our parents hung it high enough on the tree that we couldn't reach it. 

It is an actual horn and it works quite well. Of course it was one of the first ornaments I pulled out to place on the tree and I couldn't quite resist the urge to blow it until mom gave me a look that said enough. What can I say? I may have grown up, but a tradition, no matter how annoying, is still a tradition. I hope it lives on to the next generation. Mom said she was going to give it to my kids so they could annoy me just as much as I have used it to annoy her for the past two decades.