New Old Traditions

Growing up, it was a yearly tradition for my family to take a trip to Kraynaks in Pennsylvania, where each of us kids were allowed to pick out our own Christmas ornament. I remember painstakingly combing the aisles of Christmas decorations to find the perfect ornament. Today, those same ornaments adorn our Christmas tree and provide me with so many memories of those trips with my family. Today we took Maribelle to our favorite Maryland Christmas store to pass on that very same tradition.


Although she wasn't in the best of moods (she's cutting three or four top teeth and has been having a heck of a time!), she was pretty amazed by all the shiny, sparkly offerings. And she wanted to touch all of them. Which is exactly what I wanted! I had grand visions of her gravitating toward a beautiful, whimsical ornament (possibly one of Santa, since he's her new bestie, except not in the flesh form). And initially she had some great contenders for ornament of the year -- one was a sparkly motorcycle, and the other was an equally as sparkly wolf perched on top of a mound of snow. I mean, hey, they wouldn't have been my first choices, but I'm all about encouraging her individuality at a young age.

However, neither of those ornaments will be found on the Moorhead Christmas tree this year. No, of course not. Because somewhere along the way, Maribelle got her hands on a small box of German incense cones. And she wouldn't let go, no matter what sparkly baubles we tried to entice her with. So, the decision had been made: A box of German incense cones was exactly the festive touch that our Christmas tree had been missing.

Once we got to the cash registers, my sentimental self had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that a box was going to live on in history as her first ornament (although it is a pretty charming box, if I must say). I debated with Jeremy about whether or not I should just go back and grab the motorcycle or wolf that she originally had in her hands. But no, there was no taking this box out of her little hands without the entire store thinking we were somehow hurting her. So, this jolly little box made it's way home with us. And now, I'm tasked with the chore of turning it into an ornament befitting for a tree.

You better believe I'm turning to Martha Stewart for help on this one.