December 6: A Special Ornament

Every year I buy the kids a special ornament...something that reminds me of them for the particular year, something they're interested in, or just something that I think they would like. I really like the personalized dough ornaments, but I'm a little late ordering them this year. I found these two ornaments and I think they're perfect for 2011!

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Reid's ornament is a pickle! His absolute favorite things to eat right now are pickles, and when we got to McAlister's Deli he'll eat at least four pickle spears. I saw this pickle ornament and immediately thought of Reid. I thought a pickle ornament was strange, but little did I know that there is a story behind this "pickle" ornament. An old German Christmas tradition is that someone hides the pickle ornament in the Christmas tree and then on Christmas day, everyone looks and tries to find it. The person who finds the pickle first is said to have good luck and fortune for the coming year. 

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LilliAnn's ornament is a Christmas themed Dora the Explorer. Besides Curious George, Dora the Explorer seems to be on our television more than anything else. Lil LOVES anything "Dora"...actually, her very first word was "backpack!" She'll say, "I wanna watch Doooora!" and "Doooora pretty!" She loved this ornament so much that she kept taking it off of the tree and saying, "It's my Dooooora!!!" and "I wuv her," then she would hug and kiss the ornament. 

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I hope to always continue this tradition of getting my children a special ornament each year. It's so much fun to look back at all of the ornaments and talk about the special meaning that each of them have. My mother always bought me special ornaments every year and now they're on my own family's traditional Christmas tree! Although some have been broken and don't look so good after years of wear and tear, I cherish each of them and look forward to the memories they bring back as I place them on my tree each year.