Christmas Decorations, Part 2

Decorating the house for Christmas is always an adventure, and I probably got more into it this year since I pretty much completely missed out on it last year.

It all starts with the tree, which is the easiest thing to put up.

At this point it's time to get out the ornaments, which is the cats' favorite part of the season. They're convinced that every year I erect a tree in the living room and hang all kinds of toys on it just for them.

Over the years I've acquired a lot of ornaments, and I've noticed that they tend to fall into "collections."

I've got lots of figure/ice skating ornaments...

And many, many Star Wars ornaments. Hey, everyone has a stormtrooper and some Ewoks on their tree. Right?

And since I've played the drums/percussion for many years, I've got a lot of drummer boy ornaments. Dad painted the one that's pictured center top.

And lots of Hello Kitty, Sanrio, and Care Bears (and other cartoons and 80's icon) ornaments.

These Murray Kiddie Car ornaments are replicas of the larger kiddie car models that my Dad collected for years. I have them both on the regular tree and the miniature trees.

And then there are the ornaments that have been given to me over the years.

I've had these two small trees since I was very little. My brother and I each had one, and then when I moved out I inherited both of them and have been decorating them each year since. The toppers are old, too. The angel was one that I found after a Christmas parade when I was younger, and I made a new dress for her. Mom and Dad made the mouse when I was an infant.

There are a few decorations scattered here and there around the house, mostly on tables and counters.

Most of the decorations that are around the house are nutcrackers. I love nutcrackers and have a growing collection of them. This year Mom and Dad added a new one- a nutcracker with skis in honor of my recent snowboarding trip (they said they looked for one with a snowboard, but no luck...I like the ski guy very much!).

I also got a few lights up on the front porch- that's the first time I've had lights up on my exterior since I bought my own house more than 7 years ago.

Poor Griffin...all the decorating work was just too much for him, and he had to take a nap.