The Tree

Noah's side of the family all wanted to go Christmas Tree Hunting a couple of weekends ago. I already had a commitment, so it was decided that Noah and the boys would go with his parents and siblings on the Great Hunt and Berean and I would stay home.

I pulled Deacon and Roman close before they left. "Boys", I whispered, "do not let Daddy get a short, fat tree. If he shows you one say, 'no, Daddy, Mommy says we have to find a tall and skinny one!'"

I do not like short, fat trees. And Noah does. It has been a matter of debate for the last 9 years- basically ever since we lived in a house that allowed "was-living-before-we-cut-it-down trees".

And the skinny part? Well, our living room isn't exactly huge and I prefer to not have 1/4 of it occupied by a pokey, decorative object.

Remember the Winnie-the-Pooh story when Pooh gets stuck and so they use his legs to hang towels on while they wait for him to lose weight?

If something is just hanging out in your living room, it does seem prudent for it to be useful.

But I digress.

I don't even like Winnie-the-Pooh.

After a very long hunt they arrived home with a tree.

Well actually they didn't.

I asked Noah, "where is the tree?"

He said he wasn't sure but he imagined that Bro-in-law had either dumped it on our driveway or would be dumping it on our driveway at some point in the very near future.

And so he did.

Noah hauled it in.

It is a monster and actually a very beautiful tree.

I had the camera out while we were hanging ornaments. Unfortunately I can't post very many pictures of that because we had a naked baby in the house, and she managed to streak her way into most of the pictures.

After the ornaments were on, however, the boys commandeered the camera. I was looking through the pictures and found these.

I like them.

Roman's "R" from last Christmas. They love their own ornaments, especially the ones with letters from their names.

Deacon helping to hang. Yes, it is December and I am wearing 4 layers while my son runs around in boxers and my baby is naked. It is weird. I admit it.

Aunt Elise gave the boys these 2 animals last year for Christmas. They are seen here hanging with my childhood bear. The raccoon and chipmunk move around the tree, they are never seen in the same place twice.

Roman, who is obsessed with babies- especially baby animals, is in love with this puppy that he got when he was an infant. Above it you can see a little bit of one of my favorite childhood ornaments- a bird at a feeder.

Roman's marshmallow with nightshirt is labeled "R '06". My horse is next to it labeled "Julie 1983" Also in view is an ornament we got at a tree farm in IN. The woman's husband had suddenly died during the year and she was selling off the last of the ornaments that he had made.

One of Noah's many baseball ornaments, hanging next to my babysitter bear.

I told the boys that the little boy who gave this to me was an absolute terror.

The boys love the snoopy and Woodstock ornament that commemorates our Engagement Anniversary- and it sits next to a homemade internally painted glass ball.

Deacon's homemade star and the Abelskiver Days commemorative ornament.

Noah's family likes expensive, glitzy ornaments. They are on the top of the tree.

All of our ornaments have a story and I love bringing them out every year and telling the boys about what each one means to me and about the relatives and friends that gave them to me.

This is the first year that they were able to do some of that memory game stuff too- hopefully it will be a tradition that continues for years to come!