Christmas Tradition . . .

I am a Christmas tree snob. It's true. I like our large {artificial} tree in the family room to look a certain way. And that means its ornaments and other decorations follow a color scheme and are placed "just so" on the tree. It's an outward manifestation of my inner anal control freak. I'm so healthy I can totally admit it. What it also means is that all the ornaments my kids have made at school or church over the years are not invited to play on mommy's tree.

But before you write me off as the meanest mom on the planet {oh, wait, I am that}, here's a Christmas tradition we've had for years that solves the problem. Each year our kids get out their boxes of ornaments and decorate A KIDS TREE down in the basement. Just like a kids table at Thanksgiving, the kids tree just makes sense. There are enough ornaments between the three older kids to fill an entire tree AND since it's in the basement, they get to enjoy it where they spend most of their time playing!

When we take special trips we frequently pick up an ornament for the kids to put on the tree. Here's one from our last trip to Disneyworld:

Here's an ornament my mom made years ago to honor my dad's West Point heritage. Isn't he a crack up? Seriously, she made an army of them - look at all the detail. Mom, you're crazy! But my kids LOVE this ornament!

My favorites on the tree are the ornaments handmade by my kids, like this wreath out of puzzle pieces by RedDog.

Or this wreath out of macaroni by Hannie B. It's kitschy, I know, but I can still see the look on her face when I opened this on Christmas morning when she was a Kindergartner. She was so proud of her creation, so to me it is priceless!

I think my favorite handmade ornament is this one - a little peanut Baby Jesus made by Big C at church. The kids love putting him front and center on their tree. When RedDog was little we had to tell him not to eat this ornament!

Here's the kids tree. They decorated it last night for Family Home Evening. The Hubby and I looked on and reveled in the laughter, remembrance and joy that this tradition brings each year. And we are excited that this tradition will keep on giving. As our children leave home to start their own families, they will get to take their collection of ornaments with them. Some lucky boy who marries Hannie B will get that gold macaroni wreath! Awesome, right?

Tomorrow I'll tell you about the tradition that's under this tree.

{ps. Want to start a kids tree of your own? I got this tree for 60% off at Target at the end of the season last year. It cost me on $39.99!}