It's Show and Tell Time!

My new blogging buddy, Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chick is having a Christmas Tree Party so I decided to join in the fun and show my tree's "stuff." I know there are lots of perfectly coordinated and beautiful trees whose owners are the most amazing decorators I've ever seen. (See Sarah's site above - AMAZING! - The girl has got a gift!) Oh, so beautiful! I'm am definitely not one of those people! My family's trees are always hodge-podge, but I LOVE it that way. There are only a couple of ornaments on my tree that are not deeply rooted with memories and nostalgia. Everything I put on my tree reminds me of Christmas's past. So here is what I have, I hope you enjoy!

Every year since the kids were born we have purchased an ornament for them. By the time that they grow up and have their own trees they will have started a collection for themselves. Here are a few of those ornaments.

Daylor has always loved trains so he has a bunch of train themed ornaments. This is my favorite!

Duglin's Tree truck. I love blown glass ornaments.

Hmmm....wonder who this ornament belongs to?

I had to throw this one in just because I think they are sooo adorable and easy to do! I have one for each of the kids and goodness knows I am a sucker for initials! (No, I didn't do these myself. I was too lazy that year.)

Here are some ornaments that have been given to me or purchased over the years to commemorate certain events in our families lives.

We purchased a sandcastle to mark our first family vacation in 2007 to Destin.


My mom also gives each of kids and Da hubby and I ornaments every year and the two above are a couple of my favorites she has blessed us with.

This ornament is practically as old as I am. My Meema and Peepa had purchased these types of ornaments for all the grandchildren and had them on their tree. After Meema passed, Peepa gave them to each of us. It is priceless to me.

I also get one of these every year for the family:

Here are a couple or ornaments I have just for fun.

I got this at our church's Worship Team Christmas party. I love the toe on it and of course it's *S*P*A*R*K*L*Y* !! Glitter makes me happy. All it needs is a heel and it would be perfect!!

Now for my runner up favorites. Let me say I am SOOOOOOO glad I started this and every year we continue the tradition. Since Daylor was born and then after, we take a family picture in front of the Christmas tree, put it in a ornament frame, and date it . I love it because I adore seeing how much the kids have grown every year, but more than that, how I have a different hair style in each one! OK, so I'm kidding about the hairstyle thing, but we all love unwrapping them every year!! I wish I could show them all to you, but that would take 4EVER so here are just a few that we have.

OK, now for my ABSOLUTELY, ALL-TIME FAVORITE, YOU TOUCH-YOU DIE ornaments! These are the ones that reduced me to a sobbing puddle when the tree fell. I just knew they would be gone. Thank the Lord only one had the holder part break (which I was able to repair)! The rest were safe and sound. So here they are!

We hand and foot printed the kids every year from their 1st to their 3rd Christmas's. I ADORE these. If there is ever a fire, it will be one of the things I will grab on my way out the window! The one below is Perri's footprint when she was 5 weeks old. she had the tiniest of toesies! (She has long made up for it since!) The print itself is only 2 1/4 inches long. After her stay in the NICU, it was the first place we took her in public.

One more note. Do you remember this picture from my past post of when the tree fell?

Out of these, I mourned this one the most. It was Duglin's first Christmas ornament. (Sniffle.)

I am happy to report that super-glue is going to be added to my "Thankful For" list next year.

So, I guess if I had to name a theme of my tree it would be Unforgettable Memories. Definitely not something you would see in a magazine, but perfect for us! PLEEEEEEASE comment - I would love to come visit your blog and see your ideas, too!

Merry Christmas!!