Traditions - in a Pear Tree

Today I laid down on the floor by the tree. As I looked up at the lights they looked like little stars and it was beautiful. The ornaments looked so big from the floor. I imagine the tree must be such a magical thing for the boys. All those fun ornaments and lights sitting on a tree, of all things. Almost all the ornaments have a history and meaning. Brett's family has an ornament tradition that has been going on forever. . .or at least as long as he can remember. Every year around Thanksgiving time his Grandma-ma Long would gift each of the kids an ornament that somewhat resembled that child or events that happened that year. Each year the ornaments are carefully packaged and labeled with the date when it's time to put them away. Now our boys are also getting ornaments and it's so fun to pull out Brett's that were given to him at the same age. As we look at the tree it's like looking at a scrapbook of where we've come, each year holding a new meaning.

Around the Holidays Brett and I always start talking about traditions and what we want to pass on to our family. Last year he told me about their stockings. Each of them had their own special stocking that had a nickname on it. As they got older the nicknames didn't always stick but it became a fun thing to pull out every year and remember. Amy=Namy K, Ryan=Dr.Yan, Chris=Christopher Robin, Kaley=Curlz, and Brett=Bretter. I decided that I would make the boys stockings with their name on one side and nick-name on the other. This became a perfect opportunity to also complete a Personal Progress Project. It took a lot more time than I originally thought, but I enjoyed learning some new things and making these stockings for our boys to have memories with. They're really pretty big, so there's plenty of room for foot growth:)