Days of Christmas: Day 11

As I thought about what I wanted to post about today, I had a strong desire to make today's post very, very Christmasy since it is officially only two weeks until Christmas. So, I looked around my house and considered "what in this house brings me the most Christmas joy?"

And, of course, that thing is my giant rubbermaid tub of Holiday ribbon for gift-wrapping:
(yes, apparently, I am exactly like my mother)

I'm only sort of kidding. That tub does bring me great joy. And, the neat thing is, I didn't buy any new ribbon at all this year (until yesterday when I went to Joann fabrics to get a sewing notion and found all holiday ribbon to be 60% off--how was I supposed to say no to that?--but, my total ribbon expenditure was $4 for 5 rolls. So, I feel fine about that).

But, really, I think it's reached the time of the season for me to share with you a little about the BotTron family Christmas tree. We think it's important that our Christmas tree have very little to do with Christmas, and very much to do with our family. So, allow me to show you around.

This first ornament that I've chosen to share was selected by Littletron on our trip to Colonial Williamsburg earlier this year. That trip was our first vacation as a family, and so it will always hold significance for us. This drumming military jingle bell will remind us always.

If there's one thing Sparklebot's family loves to do at Christmas time, it's to watch old Christmas specials over and over again. Hence, our Abominable Snow Monster ornament:
This next ornament speaks for itself I guess, but again, it represents our first Christmas together as a family.
You're probably sensing a theme.

Troubletron and I got married this year:
Sock Monkey. Represents the real monkey we wish we had as a pet.
Ah, and of course, the evil Santa. Troubletron keeps trying to hide this guy because a) Troubletron thinks Santa is a child molester and doesn't want any Santas in our house, and b) I think he thinks it comes alive and does things at night. I can't say that second part isn't true.
The story of that evil Santa is that my mother, Snowbird, once attached it to a Christmas gift for me. It was really weird, so I kept it. And, I always will.

Of course we have a bird to represent Marzipan.
I hope you're noticing the homemade garland in all these pics. I made it from pom-poms and beads and, while it looks sort of silly in these close up pictures, it looks pretty awesome when you take a step back.

This teal/pink/green paisley ball ornament was purchased on the first trip I took with Troubletron ever (way before we got married). We were hard up for cash, but wanted a memorable overnight stay, so we opted to stay in a cozy cabin in Luray, VA. Scenic Luray. That's right.

While there doing some antiquing (read: looking at stuff that was old and dusty, but not really antiques), we overheard many a ridiculous conversation regarding the merits of John McCain. It reminded us that, though Northern Virginians are pretty liberal, Virginia is actually a red state. That made us very upset. So, we bought this blue ornament.
And, lastly, we of course have the obligatory ornament-from-childhood, hand-crafted by Troubletron some 25 years ago. I'm told it used to be red.
It may not look like much, but it's been bringing me joy since the second week in November.
All the big presents are for me. Bwahahaha!