tree pucks

This is my mantle. Simple. No huge candlesticks. No big collection of greenery. Although I believe there are some truly beautiful mantles out there, I choose to go simple. I also think it's pretty important to keep the special stuff where we can easily see it & breakables out of the reach of little kids.

In between the stockings and water globes, I put our collection of pucks. Not hockey pucks - tree pucks. We cut the bottom off and I decorate it to celebrate the year. (By we, I mean HE!)
2001 - the year we got married - thus, the hearts everywhere.

2002 - just another year in the life. Then 2003 we moved into our new home - 5 days before Christmas!!
2004 - We were splitting at the seams - literally! I was a month away from my due date and felt ready to burst!!!

2005 - Yay! He's here! Conner loves it that he finally sees his name on this one.

2006 - not my favorite creative attempt, but there it is.

2007 - once again, bursting at the seams and pregnant with #2. Isn't it funny that both times I was pregnant the tree slice was cracked??! We didn't even plan it that way, honest!

2008 - and here she is! Our little angel is in the collection finally.

2009 - this year's tree puck. Obviously my drawing talents are limited... star - tree - holly. What would you put on yours?

The only problem is I think I'm going to need a bigger mantle soon... or I'm going to have to figure out another way to display them. It's getting a little crowded up there!

o christmas tree...family version

Our "big" tree is in the family room. It is a real tree - yes, we trudge around with the kids, spin it, test it for width, straightness, and a million other factors and then just pick the first one anyway. :) Luckily, the weather was AWESOME this weekend, so picked a winner without a lot of frustration & freezing.

It is not your typical designer tree, because that's just not how we do it around here. Every single ornament on that tree tells a story, and hopefully someday my kids will be groaning "I know, mom, can we just hang it or do we have to hear the story AGAIN?" And because I don't want you all groaning "enough already" I decided just to post a couple favorites.This is a clay dough ornament that my aunt brought back from Ecuador for me when I was 2-1/2. Her face is a little cracked, but she's holding up pretty well!!

Ornaments bought at the Eric Carle Museum on our big trip this summer. Special vacations earn special ornaments. (From past years we have a Scottish flag, boots from Fort Worth, starfish from Seattle, Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, etc.)

This was a special present to my husband the first Christmas we were together. We'd been dating about a month. The ornament is a cocoon, and I wrote something cheesy (let's be honest) about how I hoped our relationship would grow. Luckily it did. :)

I just crack up at this one - it was from my son's 2nd Christmas, and this was his favorite song to sing! (Just the fa la la part, of course.) We're going to try and teach it to Abby this year.

We have a few of the Hallmark ornaments - a drummer boy for my son, a Fisher Price Family Farm - we have hearts & pregnant mama ornaments when I was expecting the kids - glass globes with pictures inside - a glass cube with roses from my wedding bouquet - snowmen with our names on them - glittered preschool picture - and so many more. I love that our tree is a mish mash of memories - even if it makes the kids groan someday!

How do you decorate your tree? Do you have a favorite ornament?

o christmas tree...peace version

We have two Christmas trees... oh yes we do. We have one small one (sitting on top of a box) so it's just the right height to be seen in the front window. It's a fake tree, and it's smaller, so it always gets put up first. (As in as soon as possible after Thanksgiving!!!!!)It's "MY" tree - but that probably means something different to most of you. It is not your typical "perfect" designer tree. It is my "peace" tree. It has blue and white lights (shocking, I know) and only blue, white and silver ornaments. However, it's not as matchy-matchy as you might think.It has a dove that Conner made last year in preschool. It's a fun foam body, paper folded wings & tail feathers.It has a few doves that I made using a Family Fun pattern a few years ago. (If you look at the big tree picture you will see them in a ring around the bottom - perfect kid grabbing height!)

It also has a lace dove from my mother-in-law, glass etched balls, and a heart that says "peace" on it. There are some glitter-covered balls (took a picture, it didn't turn out. use your imagination.) and some plain shiny balls. Those are all higher up on the tree.

I love this tree because it's blue :) because it's pretty in my front window :) and because it is a symbol to me of part of the spirit of Christmas... finding peace in your life, peace in Christ, and peace in the world.