The Texas Tree (on loan)

I won't even officially count this one, since it's not in my home anymore, it lives in New Braunfels at Bill's parents' vacation house. It actually has more ornaments on it than this now. I'll take a picture the next time we visit (it's up year-round up there).

Tree 9: The Harry Potter Tree!

This tree is new this year. Bill's mother has my Texas Tree in New Braunfels now, so she bought me a new tree to replace it. I decided to move the Wizard of Oz ornaments to the new tree, which left me a 4' tree in need of a theme. The kids decided we needed a Harry Potter tree!



I wasn't sure I would find enough ornaments to fill it, but as luck would have it, I stumbled upon a few ideas. When HP7 came out this summer, we attended a party at Border's bookstore and they had Harry Potter themed merchandise lying about. I found a book called Charmed Knits which had patterns for all sorts of Harry Potter themed projects including Weasley Sweater ornaments! I made sweaters for Harry, Ron, Fred and George, plus my own little Weasley wannabes, Brady, KC, and Abby. I made a couple of Quiddich sweaters and house scarves, too. My dad cut the blocks of wood for me to make the books Harry and company would need for their classes. Finally, I found some real Harry Potter ornaments on sale, "borrowed" a couple of Hedwig stuffed animals from my kids, and a new tree was born!

Tree 8: Abby's Tree

Abby's tree is the newest of the kids' trees. We bought it when we moved to our current (and hopefully last house) in 2005.



Abby has an assortment of ornaments including some flower fairies and carousel ornaments from Grandma.



Abby's favorite color is blue, so she has blue ribbon for her tree and a tree skirt she made herself this year.

Tree 7: KC's Tree

In our old house, when the girls shared a room, we had a boy's tree and a girls' tree. Now that (thankfully) everyone has their own room, the girls' tree is now KC's tree and Abby has a tree of her very own.

KC's tree features lots of doll ornaments. She has the Barbie Celebration ornaments from 1999 until the present, plus the series of Madame Alexander ornaments that her grandmother has given her each year.





She absolutely loves the little glass angel that sits on top of the tree. She loves her so much that she won't even put her on until Christmas Eve (I convinced her to put her on there for the photo).

Tree 6: Brady's tree

Once I started down the path of multiple trees, it was easy to get carried away. I decided each of the kids' rooms needed a tree. I bought 4' pre-lit trees that could sit on the dresser or desk (the kids generally prefer to do homework lounging on their beds or hiding in the gameroom watching TV).

Brady's tree has a sports theme, although there are a couple of stray Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or Scooby Doo ornaments thrown in there. He also has about 10 years of "A Pony for Christmas" ornaments that his grandmother has been giving him since he was little enough to actually want a pony for Christmas.

Tree 5: Beanie Baby Tree

My oldest tree, this one became the beanie baby tree when I realized I wanted a bigger tree for the living room but couldn't bear to part with this one. McDonalds did a promotion for a couple of years when they gave away teenie Beanie Babies with their Happy Meals. With the help of my mom and my Aunt Becky in Maine, we collected a couple of sets of the teenie Beanies and they sat in bags in my closet. I decided they needed a place to be on display, so the idea for the Beanie Baby tree was born.

A couple of years after I started this tree, Ty began producing Jingle Beanies, which were Christmas teenie Beanies with their own ornament hangers! I guess someone else thought this was a great idea!







Halo, the angel bear, sits proudly atop this one.



Unfortunately, this tree will be retired after the holiday. It has lost so many pine needles through the years that the wires are showing. I'll just have to buy a new tree for these ornaments next year!

Tree 4: The Disney Tree

This tree is the girl's favorite, by far. It's one of mine, too!



This one started in 2002, the year we went to Disney over Thanksgiving with Bill's parents. I found a store in the Disney Village that sold Disney Storybook Ornaments. They come about 6-7 to a set, and the set is packaged up like a big storybook. They are so cute! I bought several sets the first year, and I add a few every year.



Of course we have Tinkerbelle on the top:



And lots of other ones in between.


In this spot, you can see everyone from Christmas Carol Mickey to Kermit the Frog. Jasmine from Aladdin, Nala from Lion king (facing backward), Goofy, Donald and Daisy, Frozone from the Incredibles (way at the bottom), and Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast halfway out of the shot at the top right.

If the traditional tree is the least expensive tree, then this one is definitely the most expensive. But I love every single ornament on there. OK, maybe not the ones in the back, (the girls decorate this tree for me, and we all know the rule is the ugly or evil ones go in the back - like the ugly monsters, Jafar, the evil queen from Sleeping Beauty).

This is definitely one of my very favorite trees!!