It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas......

I love sitting next to the tree and looking at all the ornaments and reminiscing about the memories that go with them.  For instance, the two tree ornaments above are from Katie and Aaron's pre-school.  A pre-school that was managed by Grandma S.  A pre-school where Grandma and Aunt Judy and myself spent two days a week being with our own kids and lots of other little ones.  I remember Grandma buying all these tree ornaments and all the time we spent putting the two pieces of plastic together after we put the little one's portraits inside.  Grandma wrote the date with paint pens.  They were a new item at the time and she had them in lots of different colors!  Below are more ornaments made at pre-school and elementary school....

I've always loved buying ornaments that had a story behind them or would be a reminder from a fun adventure.  The Santa starfish is from our trip to Sanabel Island in Florida.  My parents took us on a whirlwind trip through all the popular Florida destinations in 1997.   The Pat the Bunny book is very special because Grandma S loved reading this book to my children when they were babies.....

We had a Fisher Price school bus in our playroom that received many pushes around the house while singing The Wheels On The Bus Go Round and Round....

Aaron's love of fishing and watching Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer on VCR tape over and over and over!

Katie playing with barbies into her teen years and Aaron dressing up like all his favorite comic heros.....

Aaron also loved his Hot Wheels as a toddler.   We started buying nurse ornaments when Katie started nursing school......

I do love my tree, it's my dream Christmas tree.  It took me a long time to get to where I could buy a tall, tall tree and get it decorated how I wanted it.  I'll keep it up for a good while.  Probably well into middle or late January!  I wish I could get a good picture of it at night with all the lights off in the room except the tree lights...it is a beautiful sight!

I'm linking up to Sarah's Christmas Tree Party, RomanticHome's Show & Share Friday, SouthernInMyHeart, ItsAHodgePodgeLife, Deck The Halls Friday, Christmas 2010 Tour of Homes by TheNester  and Kelly's Korner Blog, Show Us Your Life Christmas Trees.