oh christmas tree,

As we shopped for our Christmas tree this year, we had to be very conscious about our new 8 foot ceilings as opposed to our old vaulted ceilings where size didn’t matter.  Actually our first year at the old house we got a humongous tree & we learned that wasn’t so great since it was such a hassle to decorate.  It really took all the fun out of it.  So the next 6 years we got much smaller trees but they were still bigger than the tree we got this year.  We actually found this cute tree in the back far corner where we were told was the section for the “imperfect” trees so they were at a reduced price.  The funny part is that Matt & I found this tree after circling the whole yard & thought this was PERFECT before the young man explained it’s imperfect lot in life.  The other trees in this area did have some branches missing or a flat side to the tree, but we really couldn’t find anything wrong with this one… except maybe the 2 gaps between branches.  Personally I dig these gaps ‘cuz ornaments hang so nicely.  Anyway we got out cheap & the tree fit perfectly in our new house.  I don’t think I heard Matt complain once while stringing the lights, which is a first.  Of course, he did have help this year.  Sebastian was a great little helper, from stringing the lights to trimming the tree to setting up the train track.  I love to see the transformations from year to year as the kids grow up.

Sebastian decorated most of the tree this year.  With the occasional ornament cluster intervention I really didn’t have to do much of the decorating.  It was great fun to have the kids really help this year.

Well, I use the plural in kids loosely since princess Alexandra was more drama than help.  She would jockey for position with Sebastian when I distributed the ornaments to be hung, but a few seconds later I would hear, “can you please help me put this on?”.  Of course always expressed in a whiney melodramatic manner.  I think she hung all of two ornaments on her own, but that’s ok.  She was part of the tradition & that’s what I love.

Since the kids were so excited to start trimming the tree I totally forgot to string the garland first.  And that’s ok, if it means I have little elves helping me.  And hey, speaking of elves, I got this one from Donna Downey’s blog awhile back.