Not so wordless wednesday on Thursday

Decorating the Tree!

Ok, so this was supposed to be posted yesterday for Wordless Wednesday.  The truth is...I forgot.  I was working on a crochet project, which was of course giving me difficulty and before I knew it, midnight was here and I still needed to make lunches and feed the guinea pig.

I love decorating the tree.  My mother was a perfectionist when it came to the tree (Ever have lights taken off 4 times before it was declared ok to put on decorations?) and I inherited a little of that desire for perfection.  Not nearly as bad, thank goodness.  But I did spend a good amount of time rearranging the ornaments the kids and husband put on.

It's awesome to see how the number of ornaments have grown over the years.  Our first tree in 1999 was probably the most pitiful little tree ever.  It was (literally) bought from a gypsy in Cork, Ireland.  They didn't have any tree stands, at least not something we know as a tree stand.  Instead, we bought a little tree pot, which was filled with dirt and the tree placed in that.  We had no saw, so there was no fresh cut, and it's no doubt as to why by the end of the holiday the poor thing had barely a needle left on it.

My aunt had sent a bunch of cute ornaments, and I bought a few generic ones from a pound shop that I later donated.  I made paper garlands, and ornaments, and I can't even tell you what was on top.  Probably some cheap star...but it was our first tree, shared only with our roommate from Taiwan, and I'm pretty sure we were the only students in Dean's Hall who had a tree.

As the years have gone by, we've accumulated quite a few ornaments- handmade and Hallmark.  I have all but the first year of the Mischievous Kitten series (I'd love the first year one!) and the Penguin Pals series (not all of them, sadly.)  But here are some of my favorite ornaments on the tree this year.

40 years of Buffalo Hockey

I believe this was from last year.  We actually have quite a few different Sabres ornaments, including the silly Blue and Gold slug candy candes and a #10 Tallinder signed ball.  I guess this year we'll just pretend it's Erhoff's ornament.  My favorite, not pictured, is a cardboard December 14, 2005 ornament that was given to fans attending that game.  Angry goat head, ftw.

Lilia's 1 year ornament.

This was the series I decided to use for Lilia.  Odd fact, but Lilia is just about the oldest one can get when she had her first Christmas.  Born December 27th, she was almost 1 year old before she had that first Christmas experience.  I'm always a little jealous of those that get to enjoy their babies on Christmas morning.  I spent the Christmas of 2006 sad because I was very pregnant and very disappointed that Santa didn't see fit to send me the only present I wanted that year.

Lilia's "first" ornament

Which brings us to this ornament.  Bought in Ireland that year, it was supposed to be Lilia's first ornament.  Because she was due December 22.  So there was absolutely no way she wouldn't be here for Christmas.  My own naivety amuses me.  It's an enjoyable story I get to tell her each year.

Mommy's First Ornament

1978.  The year I was born, and this is my ornament.  I can remember hanging this ornament up every year since I was old enough to put decorations on.

Tiggerific Christmas!

This tigger was bought from DisneyLand Paris in 2000.  There's also a Pooh one, but Tigger is my favorite.  It survived a trip home in a very heavy suitcase, and many moves later.  And it was placed on our first tree as a married couple.

I love my tree, each and every year.  It's such a nice collection of us then, and now.  And I love how it just grows with us.  And when the time comes, each kid will have their own collection of ornaments that they will use for their own trees.  For some reason, that makes me all happy.