Christmas tree bling.

A favorite Christmas ornament.

So I finally got over myself enough to get my house decorated for Christmas, and I'll have to grudgingly admit, it made me feel slightly better to have the tree up even though my kids totally threw me over in the middle of our festive family decorating event to go outside and play with their friends.

"Maybe we can help you later, Mama?" Zachary said hopefully, all the while stealing glances out the window where his buddies were waiting so they could go play a good clean game of Zombie Apocalypse.

Fine, kids.  Leave your poor old Mama to have a festive holiday party - of one.  I cranked up some Willie Nelson, poured myself a glass (ok, it was a bottle) of wine, and got some shit DONE while they were outside though.

It really was kind of fun, though, doing it by myself.  

I got to spend some quality time with all the different ornaments.  It was nice.

For the first year ever, every single ornament on out tree is unique.  Some were crafted by me, some were crafted by the kids, some we gifted to each other.  I can't remember when we started doing it exactly, but every year for the last several years we have all "surprised" each other with a new ornament that means something to the recipient.  The whole family really tends toward geeky, so there are quite a few superhero themed ornaments that grace our tree, and I love it.

I see pictures of other people's trees on Facebook and Instagram and the like, and I love the look of all the gorgeous, matchy-matchy, color themed trees I see, but it's just not meant to be in my house. 

My family isn't shiny and symmetrical and matchy, and our tree isn't either.

It's what works for us.

It would be a disservice to some of our other ornaments to pick ONE favorite, so here are a few (dozen) of my absolute favorites.

1. Zachary's special ornament from this year to celebrate (denounce?) his Minecraft addiction.

2. Cute little elf handmade by Cooper, 2013.

3. Homemade Angry bird ornament, circa 2011.  There's a matching pig somewhere.

4. Cooper's Mickey in Space Hallmark ornament. 2009 I think.  Robert buys the Hallmark ones because I'm too cheap.  

5. My ornament gift from Robert this year.  It's an Elvis record player that plays (nearly) full versions of That's Alright Mama and Santa Baby.  I love it.

6. Robert's Green Lantern ornament from 2011.  It recites the "In brightest day" speech.

7. One of our oldest ornaments from 1990something.  It's the USS Enterprise, and it plays the Star Trek theme song.  I TOLD you we are geeks.

8. Some sort of homemade blob that Zachary made for me in kindergarten.  It smells like cinnamon and is covered it glitter, and if I had to pick ONE favorite, this one would probably be it because my kid made it for me.

9. Cooper's special ornament for this year - Woody from Toy Story.

10. Cooper's Mickey Mouse ornament from 2010.  It makes cute clock sounds.  We have a very noisy tree, by the way.

11. The companion Buzz Lightyear for Cooper's Woody (#9).  I couldn't pick just one.  They're BEST FRIENDS.

12. Robert's steampunk snowflake from 2012.  I really love this one. 

13. Captain America - crafted by me last year.  I made an entire set of 12 different superheroes last year, and I think they will all grace our tree for many years to come.

14 & 15. Handprint snowman.  Zachary's is red, Cooper's is blue.  I covered their hands with paint and had them grasp the ornament, then we added felt hats and scarves.  So cute - so easy.

16. Santa photo ornament - we have several of these from different years.  They're ceramic and kind of expensive, but it seems like a really good way to commemorate visiting with Santa each year.

17. Star Trek's USS Defiant.  This one LIGHTS UP!!  So geeky, we are.

18. Zachary's Batmobile that - you guessed it - plays the original Batman theme.

19. Robert got me this Catwoman a few years ago when Zach was so into playing pretend and I ALWAYS had to be Catwoman.  Meow.

20. The "Hello My Baby" frog.  I know he has another name but that's what I always call him.  This is one of our oldest ornaments, too, from sometime in the 90s.  Robert got him for me.

21. Zachary got me this for Christmas last year at the little shop set up at his school. I may have cried just a little when I opened it.

22. Robin ornament from the superhero set I made (#13).

23. Mickey Mouse I made for Cooper last year.  What can I say?  The boy has always loved his mouse.

24. Thumbprint reindeer ornament - this one is Zack's, but Cooper has one too.  We made these last year and I think they are super cute.

25. This is the pinnacle of my ornament crafting right here.  I made this Pikachu for Zachary last year, and it is my favorite thing I've made for anyone ever.

What is your favorite Christmas ornament?  Does your tree have to match, or is it a big mess like mine is?