Getting Into the Spirit

We finally got most of our Christmas decorations up this weekend. I say finally because we usually put them up Thanksgiving weekend, but have been so busy this year we didn't qute make it. We're finally almost finished decorating now though.

My kids decided yesterday that my husband and I are "cool." Three years ago, when we were home from Germany for Christmas, my mom wanted a pre-lit Christmas tree. My dad was always responsible for stringing the lights on the tree, and since he died that year, she wanted something that she thought would be easier. So P. and I set out to find her the perfect tree. It wasn't easy. So many of the prelit trees we saw that year were kind of sad looking otherwise. She likes really full trees, and she like the kind that have the more bluish-colored needles instead of the bright green ones. She and I have very similar tastes, so I knew exactly what she would be looking for. Most of the ones we found were kind of skinny and they were all the bright green. Finally I found the perfect one at Lowes and we bought it and brought it home for her. My husband and my sister's husband put the tree up and it was absolutely gorgeous that year.

Why am I telling you this story? Well it turned out that a prelit tree wasn't easier for my mom after all. My mom's small, and this tree is 7 1/2 fee tall, and far too heavy for her to put up by herself. Even now that she's with her boyfriend, he has serious back problems and can't really wrestle with it either. So when we got home from Germany, she told us that if we wanted the tree we were welcome to it. Since I wanted to find one for us anyway, I said of course I wanted it. So P. put it up in the formal living room, and the kids decorated it. It is absolutely beautiful!

Now...the reason my kids think we're cool? We still have our old artificial tree that we've been putting up since J. was a baby. P. wanted to put up a smaller tree in the family room so we could have a tree to enjoy when we're in here since this is where we spend most of our time. So he put that one up in here but didn't use all the branches. It's a full tree too, and would be too big for the limited amount of space we have. I was a little doubtful, but it looks really nice. The kids came downstairs after their bath, saw that there was a second Christmas tree up, and A. proclaimed "Wow, you guys are cool!"

I found the cutest decoration for my front door at Walmart yesterday. I needed a new wreath, but we found some really cute ones that have little characters. One had snowmen, one had Santa and Mrs. Claus, and the other one had a little puppy. At first glance I thought they were cute, but still had my heart set on a big, pretty wreath. When I got closer to them though, I changed my mind. They have motion sensors and sing! So then I decided that would be just the perfect thing. Then I just had to decide which one I wanted. The snowmen sing "Winter Wonderland," Santa and Mrs. Claus sing "Home for the Holidays," and the puppy sings parts of various songs like "Deck the Halls," "Jingle Bells," "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," and one more that I can't think of off the top of my head. I then had to decide between the snowmen and the puppy. Santa and Mrs. Claus were cute, but I wanted something more upbeat. I ultimately decided on the puppy because the snowmen sing an entire verse and chorus of their song, which I really thought was too long. So we put him on the door, and I really get a giggle every time I open the door. My mom and her boyfriend came over yesterday afternoon to pick up their dishes from Thanksgiving. She reached up to "pet" the dog on my door and he started singing and really startled her. She was cracking up when I got to the door to let them in.

All in all we had a pretty good weekend here, especially yesterday. Now I just need to get the kids to go through their toys and decide which ones they want to donate. I told them they need to do that if they want to get any more for Christmas. They just have too much, and there are so many who really don't have much at all.