My oldest daughter came home last week, telling about the beautiful Christmas tree her friend has. It was just like a designer tree, she said, all gold and silver ornaments and ribbon. They have a different tree every year. "But I still like our tree better," she said. "We have a tree of stories."
That is a perfect description of what we have. Our tree is a sight to behold, alright. It's a merry mish-mash of colours and styles. I don't know if we have any two ornaments alike, but the ones we do have are special, and every one of them has a story.
There are several Popsicle stick creations, lovingly assembled by all three kids in their time. My favourites are the triangle reindeer, and the rickety, lopsided Christmas tree (at least I think it's a Christmas tree). There are a few paper snowflakes, and one lumpy cotton ball thingy that may have been a snowman at one time. Some ornaments are hand me downs from the grandparents, decorations hubby and I scrounged for our first Christmases. There are crocheted snowflakes and plastic canvas doodads from Jonathan's side. I saved some tiny golden bells. There's also the one pink ornament, broken and repaired and broken again, salvaged from the infamous "Dusty Rose Christmas".
We have "Baby's First Christmas" 1994, 2000, 2005. There are ornaments collected from all our travels: New York, Ireland, Scotland, France, England, Norway, and many more given to us by family. There is big Mickey Mouse eared decoration that our daughter bought on a choir trip to Disney World.
The most special are the things that aren't really ornaments at all. Three pairs of baby shoes from each of our kids, and one little boot that belonged to hubby. The pacifier that our son just wouldn't give up. Some tiny Christmas teddy bears. An old key our youngest likes to call Santa's Magic Key. Special pictures of our family. This year I'm adding a fork and spoon that belonged to Jonathan as a child.The kids do the bulk of tree decorating. It's fun to see them re-discover the treasures every year, finding their favourites, laughing about when they made this one or that one. It is a tree of remember whens, a tree about family, a tree of stories. And that is the best kind.
I love this! We have a number of tree ornaments that hold snippets of family history.....!
ReplyDeleteWhen my daughter moved into her first house last year we picked out various 'heirloom ornaments' - she wanted her tree to remind her of Christmases of her youth.
This meant new baubles had to be bought to replace the gaps left - and so new stories will no doubt be created.... ;-)
Wonderful! Our tree is the same, all made up of old things my brother and I made as kids in school, antique ornaments from my grandparents, and all manner of found objects. :-)
ReplyDeleteI love going to someone's house at Christmas, admiring a tree ornament, and hearing the story behind it. These trees are like little bits of family history and lore. And of course adding new ornaments can be quite fun as well.
ReplyDeleteFound objects - I like that.
Our tree is the same way - a mixture of every type of ornament imaginable. And it looks really cool that way.
ReplyDeleteYour tree of stories is a great idea, Laurita. And it doesn't get better than baby shoes on a tree...cool idea.
ReplyDeleteAwwww great tree and an excellent post!
ReplyDeleteMy tree is only 2 years old. I need to start with some stories!
E.
Oh, baby shoes! And the dummy! What an AWESOME idea. Angus loved his pacifier, too. We had to literally pry it out of his two-year-old lips.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favourite ornaments on our tree is a little red "jelly bean house" from a lovely girl named Laurita all the way out there on the east coast. It's a very, very special one.
But gee, I wish I had of saved Gus' dummy. ( I do have his belly button cord that fell off.. maybe I could put a ribbon on that and hang it up.)
Those are the best decorations Laurita! The baby shoes are a great idea.
ReplyDeleteI like the new view out the Calling Shotgun windshield!
Merry Christmas to you!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE your tree. Mine is shiny and sparkly, but yours sings.
ReplyDeletexoxoxoxo
Merry Christmas to you Laurita!!
Cathy, Funny, I’ve got this funny little moose ornament that a very good friend gave me. ;) It is a household favourite (partly because of the open back flap of his pajamas).
ReplyDeleteI love getting ornaments as gifts. They always remind me of the person who gave them to me. And that’s a great gift in itself, isn’t it?