These Are a Few of my Favorite Things

We went to Holiday lights at the Zoo last night.
In the rain.
The "90 percent chance of rain" rain.
Um,...we didn't beat the odds (shocking, I know.)
And yes, those are real sharks swimming by. The kids got to touch some too.
(See our raincoats? Clampetts.)









Party pooper!

















I love this candlestick. I made it. You can too. It requires a retro lamp fixture that you take apart, then glue the plate to the base (with epoxy or another strong glue). Add a candle to the top (the big candles look great but I didn't have one handy) and voila! The more retro the lamp, the better.



Okay, so. I discovered a REALLY FUN carnival started by my new blogging friend, Dionna. I even took it a step further here, because ya know, there are some ugly ornaments on my tree. Do visit her blog to see how you too can participate. And now, without further ado...

The 2007 TONI'S FAVORITE CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS awards!
FOURTH PLACE:











My fourth place winner is more of an idea, not the ornament itself. It's about buying an ornament annually for each of our children, and one in remembrance of Carl's mom who died of cancer back in 1995. This is one of the many ornaments we're collecting for our children.

THIRD PLACE:












I love this ornament for several reasons. First, it's CUTE! Next, it was created by an Alaskan artist and is a souvenir from our cruise to Alaska back in May of 1999. And finally, it symbolizes a time in our lives when God's hand was about to move in an enormous way. The week before we left for that cruise, we said goodbye to two foster children who were reunited with their birth parents. The day we got home from that cruise, we had a message on our answering machine. The message informed us that the mother of our foster children was making an adoption plan for her unborn child, and she asked our agency if we would adopt her baby. We were literally and totally blown away. That baby is now our oldest daughter. Needless to say, this ornament is precious to us.


SECOND PLACE:










These two ornaments (the star and the peppermint candy) were made for me by my grandmother in her advanced years. I actually have about 12 handmade ornaments from her and they are earthly treasures.

FIRST PLACE:











Is it awesome or what?
Don'tcha wish you had one? You know you do.
Oh, stop frantically searching Ebay, folks. It's truly a one of a kind. Priceless!!!
Whaa??? What is it??? Aw, c'mon now. Don't let envy blur your vision. Why, it's the North Pole, of course. Created by moi, yours truly, ME, back in the first grade. Look carefully and you'll see that it's a split level (just like my house back then) with a window and a door, complete with door handle (though, silly me, I should have known that Santa only needed a chimney to come and go). I know. I knooow! It rocks!!!


AND NOW (drum roll please), a few of the WORST ornaments on the tree.














There are no words! She's missing an eye, for crying out loud.





Um,...need I say more? He's,..he's...what, scary? YES! And why are these still on my tree? Let's just say, I've been outnumbered by a family of ornament pack rats. Wah wah!






Now it's your turn. With Christmas close at hand, I challenge you to share the best and the worst of your holiday splendor as well. Let me know where to stop by when you've posted. Don't forget to stop by and add your name to Dionna's Mr. Linky as well. She came up with a really fun one, y'all. Now jump in!

Toni