Christmas Cactus Craziness!!

I am sure that most of you have heard of the Christmas Pickle…..

Traditionally, it was hidden on a Christmas Tree, with the finder receiving either a reward or good fortune for the following year.

Well, many years ago we decided to add this tradition to our Christmas mornings except there was one big problem…..I couldn’t find a pickle.   I searched in store after store but could not find one and this was prior to the days of internet buying.  Then one day I stumbled on to this ornament…..

…..and thus the Arnold family tradition of the “Christmas Cactus” was born!!!

Now to the story of this Christmas……

The kids (ages 26, 28 and 28)  had left the room so that the Cactus could be hidden.  While Michael was trying to hang it on the tree he accidentally dropped it and couldn’t find it.   So he told the kids to come on in and look for it…..

Almost at the same time, both Brian and Jenny yelled “there it is” and the scuffle was on….

You notice that Amber used her head and got out of the way!

Well, this year, the cactus got the worst of it…..

But both Brian and Jenny emerged with a portion of the cactus and both claiming victory.…

Notice the ornament that was pulled off of the tree and got stuck in Jenny’s scarf!!

Typically the Cactus Gift is some sort of kids game that they play for money (everybody wins something), but this year my efforts were foiled by the lack of one Size C battery…..

Oh well, the money was awarded anyway and this will be put back for next year…..with batteries!!!!