wordy wednesday...reflections

One of my traditions to end the Christmas season is to take the ornaments off the tree and take a photo of the sparkles and reflections in the glass of wine. While removing the ornaments and putting them away, I think about the ornaments and week plus that all my kids were here:

One set of ornaments are embroidered felt letters from the Sundance catalog. I'm going to have to order two more for next year! One will be for my little grandson who will make his entrance to the world in February. I don't know his letter yet; his parents are down to two names and they're keeping their lips sealed. The other letter will be a "K" for my son's girlfriend. 

The tree topper mitten is my dad's from when he growing up in Chicago. Fur on one side, leather on the other, and lots of warm fuzziness on the inside to keep fingers warm in those cold Chicago winters.

The old painted styrofoam ball glued onto an ice cream cone ornaments that my kids made have pretty well disintegrated (I still have a few, just not on the tree) are now being replaced by ones made from some kind of modeling clay made for toddlers that Little Grandson makes at his daycare.

The Empire State Building ornament always sparkles. The ESB is my north star whenever I go to New York City and start wandering around the neighborhoods. I've seen some pretty cool things just wandering without a plan and always finding my way back.

And then just thinking about having the whole family together: the numerous pots of coffee, the overflowing trash bins, the refrigerator bursting at the seams, the daily dishwasher fills and empties (T and I run the dishwasher probably twice a week), the driveway that looked like a parking lot, the full table, how all of my kids are great cooks and shared their culinary creations, waking up to Little Grandson banging against his crib and just chattering away, the Christmas books and other books from my kids' childhoods and sharing them with Little Grandson, and just how my kids and their spouses/significant others get along so, so well. 

The Christmas decorations are put away until next December and the house is so quiet. The memories sparkle and the trash trucks have a couple more overflowing bins to pick up one last time!