Every year I seem to find another broken ornament. I keep them in a gift box in one of our Christmas totes because I swear one year I might sit down and fix them all. But, this year I’m thinking of new Christmas decorations that I might be able to create with broken ornaments.

Some of my thoughts have included: a wreath, garland, and filling a clear container with ornaments. The last idea seems like a great way to display them while sort of camouflaging the broken aspects. Any ideas?

ANYway… back to the week’s theme, Christmas ornaments!

This is Maggie’s first Christmas ornament, it’s called Party Frog. When I was pregnant with Maggs I was put on bed rest and there was a good chance that she might arrive around Christmas (she ended up arriving on New Year’s Day) there was no way one of my children was not going to have a Christmas ornament, so I bought Maggie’s frog ornament just in case.

Maggie’s nursery was frogs and roses. Mike loved frogs as a kid and I love roses so it seemed like a great combination. This little party frog is one of my favorite ornaments, even if my little frog didn’t arrive until a week after Christmas.

This week I’m giving the history behind some of our family’s favorite Christmas ornaments. This guy is one of my favorites, he cracked me up the first time I saw him. A fish, specifically, a salmon – smoking a fat cigar and sipping a martini.

I bought this for Mike several years ago and most years he refuses to put it away and hangs it on a push pin on the cork board above his desk. You see kids, every Christmas Mikey Claus smokes a big batch of salmon. It’s beautiful and without it Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas. Plus, late Christmas day it makes the most wonderful snack with crackers, cheese, and a big glass of wine.

It would have been ridiculous of me not to buy this ornament for him. The second I saw him I remembered Mike smoking a cigar stoking the coals in the smoker. And, every year when all the unwrapping and Christmas dinner chaos is clear and the house is settling in and quieting down after another fabulous family Christmas Mike makes martinis for the two of us and we dim the lights and enjoy the twinkling lights on the Christmas tree.

I love ornaments that remind me of Christmas traditions, don’t you?

About three years ago my best friend had this great idea to go ice skating with her closest friends for her 15th birthday. It was my first time, and it’s safe to say I’m no natural. There was plenty of falling, and plenty of laughing. Looking back on it now, it’s a really great memory that I will always smile at, even if I won’t be launching a pro-ice skating career anytime soon.

So, being someone with an awesome sense of humor, my mother thought it would be hilarious to get me an Ice Skate ornament that Christmas. Every year that I hang it on the tree, I remember that day and how much fun we all had, and how sore we all were the next morning.