The Tree Saga Continues

As some of you may know, I did not grow up in a family that decorated Christmas trees. So it should come as no surprise to you that I had no idea what to do once we got our tree home. Ted, who DID grow up in a family that did Christmas trees, was somewhat of a help, but as this was his very first tree as the DAD, it wasn't entirely obvious to him either as to how to proceed. We managed to get the lights on, as you saw in the previous post, but we weren't sure what to do about a garland. So for the first couple days, the tree just sat there, as you can see in the sad photo above. But not for long!

As you can see, we managed to decorate the tree just fine. We settled on a ribbon garland, and although it took a couple tries, I think Ted did a good job. We had just enough ornaments, mostly ones from Ted's Grandma Yia Yia, who helps out with a Christmas Bazaar every year. I absolutly love the kitschy stuff! Here are some of my favorites:

Here's that lonely covered wagon ornament from the top photo. As you can see, it's got some company now.

The Foam Snowman. A total classic, especially with the tiny crocheted hat and scarves and sequins for buttons.

The Stuffed Granny Boot. We have this in red too. Ted's favorite, and one of mine too.

The Gingerbread House. Looks yummy enough to eat.

And then there's the friendly ghost with the not-quite-James-Dean coiffure. Or is it a cloud? Or a marshmallow? Does it matter? Probably not.

Then there's the adorable rollerskate. Love those little tiny button wheels! This is so much cuter than the rollerskates I had as a kid.

Check out the three-headed Santa. Funny thing is my high school friend Ed saw this in my Flickr stream and informed me that his parents got this same ornament from their church bazaar. Weird!

By the date on this one, I'd say it's older than some of you reading this post.

Here's a trio of ornaments. The heart one on the right is actually something I picked up at the Seeds of Change marketplace. A woman (I think her name is Erin?) made these out of scraps from clothes she didn't want any more. That got me thinking about making some of my own...I haven't had any success, yet, I can tell you that.

And here is my favorite, y'alls. Is that robot rad or WHAT?! I can't believe Yia Yia's been holding onto this all these years!

There are many more ornaments, and I have to say they look awesome on our tree. Not Martha Stewart awesome (*GAG!*), but my kind of awesome.

Our next step is to make a popcorn garland. I think maybe with cranberries. So the saga continues...

Best Shot(s) Monday--Bring on the Holidays

I normally wouldn't post a photo of myself because I usually hate my own photos, but I kinda like this one. I took it on our hayride yesterday at the Pioneer Tree Farm in McHenry, IL, a place where you can get organically grown Christmas Trees for the great flat price of $35.

And here are Cadence and Ted sitting across from me on our hayride. Cadence wasn't so sure about the bitterly cold winds, but once that wagon started bump, bump, bumping along, she was happy as a clam.

She was kinda more interested in finding pine cones than a Christmas tree, and there were a few times when she almost threw a fit amongst the trees, but I was determined NOT to ruin the experience of getting our very first Christmas tree, so I didn't give up on our search for "the perfect tree."

I finally found a tree that was just right. It may not be the most perfectly shaped tree in the world, but that's what makes it perfect for me. Ted had mixed feelings about cutting down a live tree, but when he actually put blade to tree trunk, it came down pretty fast. Well, I just hope it wasn't a Talking Tree...

And here's that same tree in our living room. It's the perfect size for our big window. We haven't decorated it yet, but I have a box of handmade Christmas kitsch ornaments from Yia Yia and her friends who run a Christmas bazaar every year, so I think our tree's gonna look mighty fine once we're done with it.

Go see other folks' Best Shots on Tracey's Picture This.

Seeds of Change

Our church, Berry UMC, is part of the Chicago Fair Trade coalition, and yesterday was our semi-annual Seeds of Change marketplace, a fair for local artisans to sell their products as well as other fair trade vendors to sell goods from around the world.

There were also performances during the event, including WNEP Theater's Soireé DADA. Cadence was a bit puzzled and quite captivated by the trio of white-faced decked out DADAists walking, dancing, singing, shouting and otherwise soireé-ing around customers and vendors alike.

This is whole different take on DADA than what we're used to in our family, where DADA generally refers to TED.

Anyhoo, it was a very enjoyable day, and there seemed to be a pretty good-sized turnout, despite the snowy then rainy weather. Our friends Jenn and John and Ada showed up too, so Cadence had someone to play with for a couple hours. I found some really cool ornaments made by a woman named Erin (I think) who used scraps of clothes she didn't want anymore. It's got me thinking I'd like to do some stitching of my own. We're hoping to get a Christmas tree this year, so we'll be needing some ornanments. It'll be Cadence's first tree, and I think she's gonna love it, considering one of her favorite books is about these teddy bears who go and find a Christmas tree, bring it home and decorate it.

I didn't have a Christmas tree growing up because my dad believed that it was a pagan symbol. I was always embarrassed that our family was so different, and I knew some of my classmates thought I was weird. I guess that's why I want so much for our family to have a Christmas tree. I want Cadence to have memories of going to a tree farm and picking a tree, of playing Sufjan's Songs for Christmas while decorating the tree, of making our own ornaments and decorations for the tree. You know--normal, wholesome memories.

I guess you could say I'm planting my own little seeds of change in my family.

Best Shot(s) Monday--The Easter Edition

Every Easter since Cadence was born (actually, since Ted and I have been together), we go to Ted's parents' house for Easter dinner. Cadence seems to have developed a little tradition of her own.

Here she is playing Grandma & Grandpa's piano on her very first Easter. Does she not look like a natural?

Here she is at last year's Easter dinner tickling the ivories again. A little more hair this year--enough to warrant a barrette (barely).

And here she is at this year's Easter dinner, getting ready to carry on her yearly Easter performance. This year, she has enough hair for PIGTAILS, not juste a barrette.

She's also able to climb onto the piano bench all by herself now. Not to mention, she looks HUGE compared to the previous two years.

Just take a look at those dangling legs! She looks like she's big enough for piano lessons (not gonna happen). Well, if she keeps practicing her little Schoenhut, maybe she'll have a big piano someday. But probably not one as big as the one at Grandma & Grandpas. Unless she plans on sleeping underneath it every night. Excuse the fragments please.

Well, being big enough to get on the piano bench by herself also means she doesn't have to stay on there helpless while her mama takes endless photos of her. Oh well.

Go see other folks' Best Shot Monday here.