O Christmas Tree!
We put up the Christmas tree yesterday. Despite us hoping it would be the first year Bud joined in the decorating of it he crashed out and went to bed at 6:30, and missed it all. He will be placing the star on top this evening, just as soon as his Daddy comes in though.
When I opened our box of baubles and decorations I realised that, this year, I wouldn't need any of those 'filler' baubles from the pack that we bought on our first Christmas in this house. Apart from a few small sets which have been retained, every single decoration on our tree has been bought individually and has a story to tell. As we decorated the tree we talked about where we bought each one, how old the children were, why we decided to get it. I broke Bud's First Christmas decoration last year so I ensured that, when I bought Little Miss' it wasn't breakable. We have a personalised ornament for each year since the children were born, completely unintentionally, I've just been drawn to them. We have ornaments from the first weekend away we took with Bud, when we visited the Winchester Cathedral gift shop with our eight month old son, and two decorations from a big family trip to Keswick a couple of years later. We have decorations for each year, I'm yet to find a 2013 one though. Last year I added the first decoration that Bud made - a painted wooden star at toddlers, I'm hoping Little Miss can be helped to make another to add to it on Wednesday.
Each decoration is special, opening the box yesterday felt like greeting old friends and, as I added our three new purchases to the tree the memories made me smile. Our tree may not be stylishly designed with a particular colour scheme, but it tells our story, one that will grow and change, some years some of the decorations will stay in the box as this tree is absolutely the biggest our house can fit, but I'll keep them all, and enjoy the memories each Christmas when it becomes the heart of our home once again.
Have you written a post, or published a photo, about your Christmas Tree? I'd love to read them. Please link up below by clicking 'Add your link' on the little blue button at the bottom of this post and grab the badge (if you want to) and I will come and see.
