Twelve Days of Christmas: My Favorite Ornament

I'm doing Anna's linky party again.  Today's theme is favorite ornaments!

I love today's theme because it gives me a chance to espouse my love for my favorite ornament: the gay little elf!

This cheerful little cherub has been in my family now for a couple of generations.  After my mom's mom passed away in 1995, we inherited a lot of her stuff, including some Christmas ornaments.  The gay little elf was one of those ornaments.  He actually has an identical twin and before I claimed my half of the pair, we'd hang them on the tree facing each other every year.   My brothers HATE the gay little elf because they think he's dumb looking.  I, on the other hand, find him absolutely adorable and hysterical in equal amounts.  My brothers would always make silly faces or crack terrible jokes about the poor little elf, and we'd have great fun laughing about it all afterwards. Those memories are forefront in my mind when I unpack the elf and he always gets a place front and center on the tree.

Someday my mom will give me her little elf too and I shall have a matched pair.  As time goes on, I hope that the elf will continue to witness many happy and joyful Christmasses from his perch on our tree.

Happy Holidays,
Kelly

Twelve Days of Christmas: My Favorite Person

My friend Anna is doing a really cute and fun linky party on her crafty blog, and I felt like joining in on the fun.  Today her subject is your favorite person.  I'd be remiss if I didn't claim my daughter Sybilla as my favorite gal in the whole entire world!

My little toot has made my life bright, delightfully chaotic, and challenged me to grow as a person and a mother.  Every day she finds new ways to make me laugh, to amaze me, or to melt my heart.  She's almost three and her personality is full of spirit and spunk.  She loves the color green, loves kitties and puppies, and is active beyond belief.  Her vocabulary is incredible and every day I am blown away by what else she has picked up and learned.  She says "please," "thank you," and "welcome" at all the appropriate times and usually doesn't need to be prompted on it.  She knows just about all the colors including chartreuse (said "shuh-shoo").  Her counting consists of repeating 2 and 4 until she's satisfied.  She loves to pick out her own clothes and loves to wear brightly colored things, just like her mommy.  My heart just swells at how incredibly empathetic she is with others around her, and it warms me to my core to see her try and make things better.

As we come into the Christmas season and Billa absorbs it all, I find myself deliriously happy over the simplest things.  It is pure joy listening to her point out "those lights, Mommy!" upon seeing brightly lit Christmas lights.  And I love hearing her talk about "Santen" and asking her what she hopes he'll bring her (the other night it was pizza!).

Sybilla, you are definitely my favorite person in this entire world and I am so happy to be your mommy!

Cheers,
Kelly