My instagram feed is full of beautifully decorated Christmas trees right now. They might as well be professionally decorated trees, they look that nice. Perfectly placed matching ornaments with a graceful ribbon running spiral down the whole tree. I’m still wondering if they were taking pictures from the cover of dwell magazine and putting it in their feed.

Then I look at my own tree and I smile. The tree is crooked and we’re missing a couple lights. The kids insist on putting every ornament we own on the tree – including Steve’s 2nd grade masterpiece his mom kept all these years – and because the kids put the ornaments on it’s a little bottom heavy. We have homemade, gifted, souvenir and collectible ornaments gracing our tree. Every time I turn around the kids are rearranging the ornaments and I always know where Bennett has been because there will be a cluster of 6 ornaments on the same branch! It’s a hodge podge of sorts that I’m sure hurts the eyes of many but I really love it.

I love the excitement in the kids as they watch me unwrap the ornaments shouting with excitement which one is their very favorite. I too have my favorites and I carefully place them at the top of the tree to avoid any casualties. And aside from the few I put at the top the rest is free reign and the kids have a grand time. The best part is, when we’re done and we turn off the lights and the tree glows, it is the most beautiful tree you’ve ever seen. Will it be gracing the cover of any magazines…nope. But my kids are pretty proud of it.

And we kicked off the season with a special reading of Christmas Day in the Morning by the glow of the tree – that book gets me every time!