Christmas Tree Dilemma

What do you do about holiday decorations if you have little ones in the home? Do you put up your nice, pretty, and...might I add...breakable collectables? or...do you decorate with handmade items your children create? Or, maybe something else.

The Tappingflamingo is now a Grandmother of three little girls...GaGa is what I am referred as...I love it, lol. 

I am fortunate enough to have at least one of my granddaughters frequent our home...she is two, which means she is learning...A LOT!!!! With toddler learning that means, touch, feel, explore, etc. So, I have a dilemma...and that is what to do about our Christmas Tree this year.

Last year, I went ahead and put a small tree up, and most of the ornaments were not breakable. Little Miss W, didn't seem to bother them that much. This year, I think it might be a bit different. 

I plan to keep my ornament collection way out of reach, and I don't mean toward the top of the tree. 

I am displaying them on the mantle of our fireplace.

I love to collect ornaments from all the different places we travel.

I really like this one from Puerto Rico. I actually display many of my ornaments year round in a curio cabinet. 

Several years ago, when our now 24 year old son was about W's age...he just could not keep his hands off the bright lights and shiny decorations. He knocked our tree down two times. Luckily, nothing was damaged, and we didn't say much to him about it. He was a very good little boy, and normally did what you asked of him, but he just had a hard time with the tree. So...because of this, I am trying to think of alternatives to the ornament situation. 

Years ago when our children were really little, we use to put the tree in a playpen, but I'm not sure that is what we need, besides, the way our house is laid out, not sure that would even work....HECK! Even though we have a nice size home, there is no place for a tree...hence the little tree. 

So....what are your plans? Do you even put a tree up? If you have little ones, what type ornaments do you decorate with?

Christmas Time's a Coming'...soon!

Forty-three days until Christmas! Ten days until Thanksgiving...

Is it too early to put up your tree?

We have not put our tree up yet..this was from last year. Usually, we put our tree up after Thanksgiving.  Personally, I like to celebrate one holiday at a time...although I do decorate for both Halloween and Thanksgiving at the same time. So, why no do Thanksgiving and Christmas together?

So...tell me... when do you start decorating for all the holidays? And...how do you decorate?

GO TEAM!!!!

What are your school colors? Funny thing is, from elementary school to high school, then to Jr. college and university, all but one of those schools had the same colors...blue and white.

I went to St Mary's Catholic school from third grade through the eighth grade and we were the cougars. Go blue and white!!!!

Then in high school, we were the Tigers, and of course our colors were orange and black.

Eventually, I headed west to a church school that was only a two year college. We were the Viking's and our colors were blue and white. Upon graduation, it was off to the big university that the Jr. college fed into, and I found my self, once again, a cougar...and blue and white were the colors. 

TappingflamingoBling is now making fun waterproof adjustable bracelets in school colors. I have most colors, and plan to expand to even more.  

These bracelets are hand crocheted, using high quality wax cording. I hand crochet each and everyone of them MYSELF. 

I'm even thinking about offering fund raiser opportunities.

I know schools are always looking for opportunities to raise some money for athletics, trips, and various other school functions. 

Blue, Black and White...this one would be perfect for the school our two youngest went to.

TappingflamingoBling made several of these camo bracelets for a fund raiser toward a precious little baby who was born with some serious complications. 

I have actually had the opportunity to raise a little money selling these autism awareness bracelets. Our local autism center and Surfers for Autism benefited from these sales. 

If you are interested, you can contact me through my Etsy shop . Just send me a convo, and we can talk about your needs. 

Whether she cruises the high seas on a ship, hang tens on a surfboard or just likes a quiet walk along the shores...Wearing a creation from TappingflamingoBling will keep her favorite places close to her heart and soul.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/TappingflamingoBling

Putting Together Family History Notes

For as long as I can remember, I have been interested in my ancestors. Growing up, I knew very little about my dad's family. Never meeting his mother or father, I was always asking questions about them. My dad, being the youngest of a passel of kids, knew very little himself, or so he thought. He never met his father, but he did know his mother pretty well.

For the past few years, my dad has started to open up more about his family. In addition to that, I have had contact with several long lost relatives with very interesting information. Because of this, my sisters and I want to write a book. My dad is also onboard with this, and being that my dad is 84, I feel a great need to get started. I have interviewed him on several occasions. Using the notes from these interviews, I have decided to go ahead and start to blog about them. My sisters and I are not at a point where we can actually work on a book, but I feel using my blog will help to organized our information.

One other reason for writing the story of these people is so that we can learn from what they went through. I share their stories with the world so that we might understand more why they did the things they did, and why their children do the things and think the way they do. Their children being my parent's generation.

I grew up as the oldest of three girls, and our father made sure we had the very best of things, including education. We were not spoiled, but our parents made sure we had what we needed. They were hard workers and taught us well. They taught us to respect others, especially our elders, and also to respect ourselves. I am grateful for the teachings our parents provided us with. All three of us girls turned out pretty well.

I plan to post a new chapter most Sunday. The stories will be from not just my father's side, but also my mother's side. It will be more of a story of my mom and dad, but I do need to give background on their families, as it is very interesting, and explains a lot as to why we are the way we are.

I once wrote a blog about what I call the 11th Commandment..."Thou shalt not judge." My thoughts from this blog coincide with the story of my ancestors, as we do not have their whole story. There are quite a few gaps, so please do not be too quick to judge. I do plan to fill in what I think might have happened from information we have from those times. I will make sure to let the reader know when things are fact and things are speculated. 

So, stay tuned for more adventures from my family roots; The Lynch/Kublinger/Kiblinger line from my father's side, and the Dudley/Driver/Trautwein line from my mother's side. 

By the way...to those who are related, and have more info or questions...please let me know. I would love to make contact with you, and collaborate.