our tree

I loved our tree this year.  I loved the character it had.  I have loved seeing it light up our living room every day for the past month. I will be sad to take it down, but it always feels so good to get everything put away and have the house seem so clean and clutter-free.  My mom gets the boys a new ornament every year.  Kaden got the train, of course, and Beckham got the little sock monkey.  It's so fun to add new things every year.  Most of our ornaments don't have hooks on them.  Our artificial tree is so full that I can just shove the decorations in wherever I want.  This year, the ornaments were precariously sitting on the branches and constantly falling off.  A lot of them just ended up at the base by the trunk.  The boys had fun redecorating every day.  Bunches of ornaments hung on the bottom and it made me smile to see their work. 

Decorating is really special when each little item means something. My mom crocheted the Santa who must always have a light shining behind his nose.  My grandma made the cute fluffy Santa with the glasses.  My mom just got me the Santa carrying the tree and bird this year.  He is made from a light bulb--very cute. The carved nativity is another favorite.  It makes me happy, just as it did as a little kid, unwrapping each thing to hang in its own special place.