Trimming the Tree

It took me two days to get our tree completely trimmed. On Monday afternoon I set up the tree and managed to get all the lights working. When Todd came home from school I started taking the ornaments out of box and the boys started hanging them. Ryan had been playing with Logan outside, so we let him come in and join in the fun. I have a feeling that Logan may have been one hanging three ornaments on a single branch.

Because I had a chorus rehearsal on Monday night, the boys and I finished hanging the ornaments on Tuesday before piano lessons. This time I was careful to instruct them that we wanted the ornaments to go all over the tree, not just in clumps. Todd took great care in his placement of the ornaments. Ryan was content to play with the ornaments, and occasionally got around to hanging some of them.



Every time I first take the tree out of the box I am struck by how pathetic it is. It is only 6 feet tall, and while the picture on the box makes the branches look full and bushy, in reality they are scrawny and you see straight through to the trunk, including seeing the wires and and the plastic and metal pieces that make up the tree. However, when it gets dark outside and the lights in the house are dim, my Christmas tree is magical.

What makes my tree so special?
The same thing that probably makes yours special--the memories from almost every ornament unwrapped and placed on the tree. My mother started the tradition of carefully selecting a special ornament for us each year as kids. She has continued to give us ornaments (especially when I reminded her that I still appreciated it). Others have contributed to our ornament collection. I have made a number of the ornaments on the tree. It has become quite a hodge-podge, which I love.

Here are some of the ornaments hanging on my tree (it's too difficult to actually name one a "favorite").
1. the delicate bluebird, clipped high on the tree;
2.-L one of my homemade paper clay ornaments; 2.-R the mini cookie sheet which my mom gave me when I was about a sophomore in high school (even then I enjoyed baking)

3. the Christmas kitty that my sister gave to the boys when she lived with us for a short time. It was a gift she received when she was in the hospital recovering from a ruptured appendix. The kitty used to play a Christmas song, but now the batteries have died from overuse and all it manages to get out is a sad whine. Though the kitty is not an ornament, she moves from branch to branch throughout the season.
4.-L Everyone needs a homemade ornament from their childhood. My felt ornament was coming apart, and when my grandma fixed it for me a couple of years of ago she added a star button. 4.-R You can see the back of one of my recent favorites, the litle girl in her nightgown.

5. I love these two baby ornaments for my boys. I think I will have a hard time letting the boys take them away when they have a tree of their own. 5.-L the baby puppy in the swing is for little Ryan; 5.-R I love the little boy checking his stocking by the fireplace. It is the perfect likeness of my two-year-old Todd.
6. I had to include this little birdhouse, because I thought it such an interesting way to hang the silver bell--a Ryan doing, maybe?

I hope you're enjoying the magic of your own Christmas tree. I am definitely getting in the mood now.