Trees, ornaments, and a silly story

**warning lengthy post ahead. That's what happens when it's late at night and I can actually hear myself think and string together coherent thoughts. ;) Just thought I'd warn you.**

It's starting to look a little Christmas-y around here. We got our tree last week, and we've gotten it decorated.


Decorating the tree is my favorite holiday tradition, because in my family we each get an ornament every year and we remember the years past as we pull out our ornaments to decorate the tree. I love it. In a way it's how we pass down our family stories too.

This year Caroline got Ballerina Barbie because it was her first year to do ballet. It also doesn't hurt that it's a Barbie. Let's just say we'll be seeing a lot of Barbie and her pals around here after Christmas. ;)

(She wouldn't stay still, thus the horribly blurry photo. I was shooting with my manual lens. It doesn't work too well with kiddos that are so excited they can't stay still, even for a quick photo. This is a "hurry up and take my picture" smile.)

Sarah Kate got a Cinderella ornament. Hers doesn't really represent anything that significant. Just another sign that we're (still) in full princess mode around here. In fact, I think there may be just as many princesses hanging on our tree as there are angels and santas for that matter. I'll have to count. hehe!


There are ornaments on our tree that are WAY old too. This year I showed Caroline, who's 4, the two ornaments that I still have and made when I was 4. In fact, one has the initials T.C. on the bottom of it because another kid in my class had the same initials I did. So I wrote T.C. instead. Wanna know who it stood/stands for? Tom Cruise. No lie. Not sure why I chose him. It had to be like 1984 or 85. Risky Business, maybe? But for whatever reason, I used his initials on the bottom of my ornament instead of my own. Need proof?



And it's little stories like that that are shared as we hang our ornaments. It's what makes our tree ours, the ornaments and the little stories behind them.

In other news, this year Little Man helped hang the angel.

He also got his first ornament.

Isn't it cute?! I love the passy. ;)

And, just for good measure, he decided he'd discover his toes this week too.

That's all from 'round here. Be back soon with some scrappy goodness to share!
Hope all is well, and you're enjoying the season! :D