It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

We finally got around to getting our tree up tonight. Actually we've had our tree up since Sunday, but we didn't put the lights or decorations on it until tonight. Pete and I have been dealing with some sickness that's just made the evenings hard, so we weren't feeling up to doing it, but we figured we needed to do it soon, so we went ahead - at the urging of our kids - and did it tonight. It's always fun to get out the ornaments. I still have some that I got as a kid and I have memories tied to each one. The kids are starting that too. Each year they've gotten at least one ornament, so they look through the bins for their special ones and hang them up. I am still pretty good at remembering which one belongs to which child, but as the years pass, I'm starting to get a bit forgetful, so I may need to create their OWN bin of ornaments, so we can keep them straight. I hope they have a whole collection of them by the time they grow up and leave our house. And, I hope that each one will have a special memory like mine do. I think Hallmark ornaments are the best. They have the date on them, which helps give them an idea of when they got them. I have two Hallmark ornaments that I got from our neighbors Betty and Frank when we lived in Royal Center. And, both have the dates on them - 1977 and 1979. I must have gotten them the first years we lived there. I was only 3 and 5. There's another one I got from them, but it's not a Hallmark ornament, but I'm guessing I got it in 1978. Hard to believe that after 30 yrs they are still gracing our tree. Yes, the angel only has one wing now and the snowman is missing a hand, but other than that, they're in pretty good shape. Hopefully they'll last and I can give each of my kids one to keep. Anyway, 'tis the season and we finally have gotten about halfway there. Just have to get the outside Christmas lights up and we'll be ready!