SO...here is some of our Christmas...top tree belongs to my children. I wanted the kids to have a tree of their own. This tree sits in our family room and was decorated entirely by my children. The ornaments (with the exception of some Christmas balls) are/were made by my children. Everyone makes an ornament each year. When I had this tree invisioned in my head...I wanted a tree that years from now, my children will remember making this ornament or that ornament with the 'do you remember when' conversations starting. LOL, this has already started!!! When decorating, I heard a lot of "OH! I remember this...we made this last year!" or the "Look at your picture!!" I guess you could say that our living room tree is kind of formal. We have a huge, mega, monster tree (I don't know what made me buy that big monster!) that I just couldn't deal with this year...I kill myself putting it up and taking it down each year....it is one of those pre-lit trees...and while it is new and ALL lights are working...is very pretty....our monster tree has half of the lights that have quit working...at first, I managed (with NO patience) to undo the burnt out lights and replace them with working ones....the next year, the other half of the lights quit working...I left them and put lights over them...call me lazy if you want....so this year, I 'thought' I wanted one of those aluminum trees..you know the kind that every grandma in America use to have in the 60's or 70's with the light that sat beside it that would glow green, blue, yellow and red onto the tree. Yeah, so cool...about the only place you can find those are on Ebay....we decided to get another pre-lit (yeah, but this one isn't a monster tree...it is only a 6 1/2 foot tall tree) but this one is white...I have never had a white tree before...it is very pretty and very bright! I like it!! Check out the pickle on the tree....the children have a tradition every year (I think the tradition comes from Germany). The pickle is to be hidden among the branches of the tree and the child that finds it get a extra goody for Christmas....I tend to fudge on this...I mean, I do have 5 children and if only one got the extra goody...well...let's just say that wouldn't work! Yesterday was our offical 'find the pickle day'....and yes, everyone found it! I found these little tins at Walmart for $1 that had a chocolate chip cookie inside...one daughter told me that was the best chocolate chip cookie she had ever eaten! Personally, I think her blood sugar was down! LOL! Check out the stockings on the mantle...I love looking at all those stockings! There was a time when that mantle was awful lonely....as was my heart....I had desired children for as long as I can remember....and it just didn't happen for us year after year after year...but, look at that mantle now!!! And there is room for more! Did you see the toy soldiers?? I found those at a yard sale for $3!! My oldest daughter was given the job to 'repaint' them...didn't she do a fabulous job?! Check us out up top...yep....all of us...minus the dog. This is our school picture...being a homeschool family, when the annuals come out each year, they have the families pictures in it too....which I think is really cool. It gives us an excuse each year to have our pictures taken. Don't my baby bears and Papa bear look good! If you are wondering how the name Mama Bear came about...that is what my dear husband calls me....Mama Bear. I wear that name proudly!