O Christmas Tree - Part One

Oh happy day, happy day! We FINALLY purchased a new, artificial Christmas tree last weekend. YAY! You may be wondering why I am so excited about our new addition...let me tell you. The tree we had (which is now sitting in the garage waiting for a new home...like the dump!) was fondly referred to as the 'Charlie Brown Christmas tree' for the past SEVERAL years. Yes, several years. Jon has been promising me a new tree for at least 3 years, but like good (cheap...I mean frugal) stewards of our money, we tried to wait until after Christmas to get a really good deal. Well, the past two Christmases have been spent in Illinois and there was no point in going out the day after Christmas to find a great deal when there wouldn't be room in the van to bring it home. And by the time we got home from Illinois, all the trees left in the stores were...worse than the sad little tree we already had at home.

So, this was the year. Two weeks ago, the kids and I had to make a trip to Hobby Lobby (did you hear the boys groan?) when what to my wondering eyes should appear? A half price sale on Christmas trees...and yes, I did cheer! WOO HOO! But of course, this was on a Saturday...the last day of the sale...and it was already late...and Jon was busy moving his office into our bedroom...and by the time I got home, I realized it was not to be. But then, last Saturday I saw the Hobby Lobby ad and what do you know?! The trees were again on sale half-price. So we took the back seat out of the van and headed off to find the perfect tree! My only requests were that the tree be at least 9 ft. tall and it HAD to be pre-lit...this was a must! Our old tree was 7.5 ft. and was fine in our house in Texas, but when we moved here 5 years ago, I realized how pathetic our little tree looked amongst very high vaulted ceilings in the living room. So, for the past 5 years, I've settled with the tree in the dining room where the ceilings aren't so high (and it doesn't look so ridiculous) and that way, it sat in front of one of our front windows. So whenever we came home in the dark, we'd see our little lit-up tree...the closest thing to outside lights the kids would ever see on our home. I say I've 'settled' the past few years because I LOVE having the Christmas tree in the living room where I can admire it. I couldn't admire it when it sat in the dining room. Well, not from the couch anyway. Not to mention I like to be in front of the tree to open gifts...which meant we had to sit in the dining room to open gifts in front of the tree. It just didn't feel right.

Fast forward...yesterday was the day we put up the new tree. We normally put up the tree the day after Thanksgiving, but we're heading to Illinois for the holiday and we won't be home that day. So, I decided to put it up before we leave. Now, normally putting up the tree is not exactly an enjoyable experience. First, I would have to drag the heavy box upstairs while shoving the dog out of the way step by step. Then, I would get the tree up and start on the lights. The twins would unravel the strands for me and plug them in to make sure they worked. Inevitably several strands would be dead and after replacing fuses to no avail, I'd have to quit working to make a run to the store for more lights. I'd get home and continue on the lights. The kids would be taking out all the ornaments while I worked on the lights. So, while I'm neck deep in the tree (getting all scraped up) (and getting more frustrated by the moment because most of the branches in the middle were broken and I had to use the string of lights to rig it up) the kids are each coming to me saying, "Mommy, look! It's my such & such ornament!" or "Mommy, when did we get this one?" or "Mommy, this one is broken. Should I throw it away?" or "Mommy, here's the one I made in pre-school!" or (my favorite), "Mommy, here's the one YOU made in pre-school!" Yes, I still have an ornament that I made in pre-school. It's in pretty bad shape, but I still remember making this ornament and how beautiful it was. Obviously, some of the noodles have not survived the years, but this ornament was a masterpiece in its time. Really. Margaret, I don't know if you read my blog, but if you do, do you remember these? If I remember correctly, we made these the same day that Wild Willy got into the purple paint (or maybe it was blue) and painted his hair with it. This makes me wonder...did Willy's mom know his nickname was Wild Willy? And let me say, the nickname was MORE than appropriate for him. But I would just be mortified if my kids had nicknames like Crazy Caleb or Awful Abbi or Jerky Jacob.

Anyway, while the kids are coming to me with their excited comments, I'm thinking to myself, "Can't you see I'm busy trying to put this ridiculous tree together?! I've seen those ornaments before. I see them every year! Where is Jon? Why isn't he helping me? Doesn't he know this is the HUSBAND's job? I give up. No Christmas tree this year. It's not worth the hassle. Seriously." But what comes out is something like, "(exasperated sigh) I'll look when I'm done. I'm TRYING to get the lights on." While I'm thinking, 'Can't you see that I'm busy and frustrated and need some peace and quiet?' THEN, after I've successfully put all the lights on and rigged up the broken branches so they'll stay in place and I'm ready to give myself a high-five, I turn around to find...the kids have all the ornaments out...and they have NOT put all the plastic and tissue back in the boxes like I ask them to do EVERY YEAR. I am one of those people who keep the boxes each ornament comes in and I write the year it was received and from whom. This makes organization so simple. But when the kids don't put the plastic and tissue back in the appropriate box...it's utter chaos. So THEN we (I) have to spend some time finding the plastic for this box and the box for this plastic, all the while explaining to the kids (again) that if they had done this one little step as they went, we could be decorating the tree by now.

After all this, I hope you can understand why I haven't taken pictures of us decorating the tree since...2001. It's been 8 years since I've had a peaceful enough time putting up the tree that I've even had the inkling to get out the camera and photograph this memorable experience. While I enjoy the finished result, the 'putting up the Christmas tree' has not been a fun, sweet time that I've wanted to document.

Until now.

Can you see my smile?

It's pretty big!

To be continued...I know. Don't you just hate that?