Christmas is hands down my favorite holiday! I love family time and traditions, both of which are a huge part of the Christmas season in our house. If you have read my bio, you already know that I love Christmas trees. I have a number of artificial trees, my goal is to have 1 in every room of our home. It sounds crazy, but I guarantee you it is magical! I LOVE white lights and greenery.
My love of Christmas trees is the inspiration for the name of my blog. I LOVE how warm and cozy my house feels with all the white lights and decorated trees. We store all the trees in the attic (still set up) during their “off season.” Not too long ago the cable man had to look at something in the attic and commented “wow you guys have a forest up here!” So, Housing a Forest was born.
I have had the artificial trees up for a number of weeks, but we just put up the live family tree. There is something special about a real tree. I would love to have all my Christmas trees real, but that is just not practical. The family tree is nestled in a corner of our dining room, and is the center of many special traditions. This is the tree that is the home to all the special family ornaments; the tree that we will be sleeping under as a family in a few short weeks; the tree that we makes my house smell wonderful; the tree that we will be placing all the gifts under and the tree that will be the backdrop to all Christmas morning present opening photos.
Ornaments are one of the special traditions in our house. Each year the kids receive an ornament in their stocking and I make sure to write their name and year received on each one. The kids love sorting through their ornaments and finding a special spot of the tree for each one. We also have a collection of family ornaments. These are gathered on family trips as a memory of the vacation. It is fun looking back through the ornaments and remembering all the places that we visited together. The year is written on each of these ornaments as well.
I love how many traditions are centered around this tree. It makes me smile each time I walk past it! I enjoy each of the ornaments, and how they each have a special meaning. Even with all the beautiful trees in our home, this one is still my favorite. I love how many special memories it holds.
What beautiful ideas. You create a whole magical world in your home during Christmas – what amazing memories you children will have!