Christmas is Coming!

I really really really tried to hold back on getting our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving this year because usually the tree starts to stink (to me) by Christmas day, even though I'm exceptionally diligent about watering it. When I saw that we were going to be having a rainy day on Saturday, I couldn't resist and we headed out to Houston Garden Centers to pick a tree. In the past we've always gotten a Noble Fir tree, but hoping that another type wouldn't stink as fast or as badly, we decided on a Frasier Fir this year. It's a little more expensive, but looks very similar to the Noble. I was actually hoping for a different look all together but the lot we went to only had Noble and Frasier this early. The Frasier is a bit more filled out and the branches a bit more delicate.

Poor Zoey had been coughing most of the night, she was feeling pretty sick but she was really really insistent on going get a Christmas Tree. Last year she had a decent understanding of what Christmas was all about, but this year she is really gung ho and excited about everything revolving around Christmas. The tree, lights, decorations, everything. She insisted she felt ok and so we loaded up in the van and went get the tree. Once we got there, he-who-cannot-be-contained aka Ian had a blast running around amongst the trees and very vehemently did not want to leave once we got there. Zoey decided after being there maybe 10 minutes that she really was sick and was ready to go home. I did manage to get one shot on my camera before the battery gave out.

Clearly, not a very good shot. Yes we are shopping for a tree on Black Friday in shorts and sandals. I think it was about 74ish outside. Nice. I love Houston.

The chosen tree, decorated mostly by Zoey. She was so excited even though she was so sick. She would hang some ornaments, go rest for a while and then come back and do some more. I guess I should probably trim the top a bit. My vintage star is pretty far away way up there. The lights are pretty sweet. They are LED and you can choose to have multi-color or just white or fade back and forth between them. The kids pretty much fight all day long over the ornaments. It typically goes something like this:

Ian takes ornament from tree.

Zoey freaks out and starts screaming and crying

Ian runs around the house with the ornament

Zoey catches Ian and tears the ornament from his hands

Ian screams and cries because Zoey took the ornament

Zoey hangs the ornament back on the tree.

Rinse and Repeat. I think I'll be happy as long as they don't end up pulling the tree down on themselves a midst the fighting.

Zoey also helped me put up some decorations around the house. The stockings are hung by the chimney with care.

My favorite new outdoor decoration this year. I've been really wanting a Nativity scene but just hadn't found the right one. When I saw this one on Amazon I had to have it. I bought it in October! As a mom, looking at all the traditional Nativity scenes, Jesus is always just sitting in the manger while everyone looks at him from afar. I can tell you that is not the truth, a new mom wants to hold and snuggle the kid she just incubated for the last nine months. Add on top of that that he is the son of God, well, this scene made so much more sense to me and really invoked feelings of love and tenderness. The set was a little pricey but my artistic skills are nil. I never could have hoped to put together a set this beautiful. It was so easy to assemble and is quite durable and from a small family business. Worth it 100%. Once all the rain dries in a couple days, we'll add more lights and decorations to the house. Brandon envisions our home being visible from space, but the fact that he is afraid of heights, that won't happen, I do all the outdoor decorating.