On the 11th day of Christmas, my favorite thing would be...

I personally enjoy a Christmas tree stuffed chalk full of as many ornaments as its branches can hold. I always say: the more, the better. (I'm sure you're all really, really shocked by that!) Our tree consists of white lights, gold poinsettias, cinnamon scented pine cones (I have an unhealthy, year-round love affair with cinnamon EVERYTHING that reaches critical mass around the holidays.) gold, silver, and white ornaments, white porcelain ornaments, and several keep sake and hand-me-down ornaments from years past. I love to receive ornaments as gifts from special friends and family members. I never forget who gave them to me (I think I get that from my Grammy. I swear, she could tell you who was and was not present at our Christmas dinner in 1985 if you asked her! - I'm not that good per se, but I try...) and they make me smile every time I see them hanging on our tree.

We started a fun tradition about 2 years ago when I bought a metal scroll case (above) that says "Santa's Letter" at Roberts (on clearance - .80 cents baby!). Kortland writes a letter to Santa and puts it in the scroll case about a week before Christmas, and when we get up in the morning, Santa has taken the letter and knows what Kort wants for Christmas! (Even though he already knows anyway...of course!)

I also love handmade ornaments. Heaven bless preschool and elementary school teachers for helping my little angel makes these darling (though often hideous) little treasures. I'm totally Kortland's biggest fan. I keep every paper he so much as scribbles on, so these yearly gifts are absolutely priceless to me. You can't see this ornament all that well, but it's just a store bought glass ball ornament that Kort dipped in a bunch of different colors of paint. Very lovely.

I was obsessed with fake birds when I was little. (I was weird... I know.. got it.) Due to the fact that real feathers were used to create them, they always seemed really really life like, and I just loved them. So I really love this bird; It brings back all sorts of great memories from living in the Monroe house (ages: 6-12) It's the only bird I put on my tree so as to not make myself look like a crazy cat lady before my time... but drop by my house, oh I don't know, 40 years down the road, and you're likely going to find about 20 cats, way too many baskets of yarn, and a very bird-y tree! (Which leads me to: Kyle, please live forever... or at least long enough to keep me from having, well, ANY of those things... ladies first okay?)

A busy boy!

Man, Kort loved putting up the decorations! He was thrilled.

Adding the finishing touch!

A story, if you will..

Kort's little neighbor friends (2 brothers, ages 4 and 6) came by to play "Super Smash Brothers" the other day, and stopped for a moment to gaze at the gloriousness of our newly decorated tree. And this is the conversation Kyle overheard:

Neighbor kid: "Hey Kortland, which ornaments are yours?"

Kortland: (laughs...a little confused.) "None of them, they belong to the tree."

Neighbor kid: "I know, but which ones are yours?"

Kortland: (another nervous "he he he" as if he's being asked a trick question) "They're all the tree's ornaments. They belong to the tree."

Ha ha ha ha ha!

My kid is so Gandhi...

or Leo DiCaprio...

or...Al Gore!