This year my husband told me he wanted to go up in the woods to find our Christmas tree and then decorate it with ornaments we made ourselves. When I heard this I thought, "Are you kidding me? The trees in the woods are Charlie Brown trees and I have a ton of great ornaments in the attic to use. Besides, do you know how hard it will be to make ornaments with a 2 and 5 year old?" But instead I said, "I don't want a scrawny tree and I don't think it will be fun making ornaments with L."
He talked to me about it again a few days later and I told him it was fine but he was in charge of getting it done. I must tell you, I wasn't at all thrilled about this and talked to my friend Kristy about it almost every time I saw her. For the record, she totally agreed with me.
By Saturday, I had convinced him to go to a local tree farm to get the kind of tree he always wants, a Noble. I prefer and always get a Douglas Fir. He hates them because the branches are too thin and weak and the tree is really bushy. I like them because that's what I grew up getting every year.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that I liked the tree M picked out for us. It stands 9 feet tall and has plenty of sturdy branches. You can even hang ornaments close in by the trunk and still see them, it's amazing!
As for the homemade decorations, I was still not sure. We had already spent a few nights making some with the girls and had very little to show for it. I was convinced we would get to drag the ornaments out of the attic. We spent the remainder of Saturday making ornaments and actually got quite a lot made. The girls did a great job on theirs and I was impressed with how creative they were. We all had a great time.
M, K and I made some more ornaments Sunday afternoon and after dinner we trimmed the tree. M put hooks on the ornaments, the girls put them on the tree and I took pictures. They did a great job spacing out the ornaments and the tree looked beautiful. For those of you who know me, I did not feel the need to rearrange them to look more organized. That is quite the compliment coming from someone with OCD tendencies.
Now I realize that M had a great idea all along. I need to be less controlling and more open to his ideas. I let go, he took the reins, and everything turned out great. We all will have great memories for years to come from this wonderful experience.
M and L making ornaments.
My tree ornament.
K making her ornaments.
Daddy helping L hang ornaments up high.
K hanging ornaments.
Isn't L cute?
Here are some cool ornaments M made at work.
My favorite ornaments K made.
Favorite ornaments of L.
M was very creative making his.
Here are my favorites I made.
Our tree all decorated.
All lit up.
I love the look L has here.
Goofy looks from K and Uncle Mark.
Aunt Karen, L and Mik.
L with her Mik and Nathan.
Kim, Luke, N, M, Kendra, L, K, and Mel.
K leaving her gift for Santa along with some cookies.
L with her blue bike from Santa.
K with her pink scooter from Santa.
I love this picture, too cute!
L definitely is a girl of many faces.
