Oh Christmas Tree...

With our crazy holiday schedule, we try to put up our tree on the day after Thanksgiving. So, once Clara got home from her sleepover, it was time to decorate!

The kids love getting all of the ornaments out each year. This year they started spreading them out all over our coffee table....
And then picking and choosing which ones they would like to put on...
Decorating the tree is such a special family time for us....
... so many of our ornaments have stories behind them. We try to buy them when we go on vacation, so when they would run across one, they would stop and share memories about that trip. Clara also has an ornament for each Nutcracker performance she has been in over the years which bring back special memories. And with being in a Christmas show last year (and again this year for Alex) adds lots of ornaments to our tree. Add to these... handmade paper ornaments from preschool, favorite cartoon characters, ornaments from my childhood tree, and ones my grandmother hand painted.... it makes for one very special tree....

.... and a special time of remembering when we decorate it.