"O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree"

We have an unwritten rule in our house, the tree must be up and fully decorated by my birthday, December 14. That is not expecting too much. This year we got a head start and planned for our tree day. Knowing that things get a little cramped around mid December we went the Saturday following Thanksgiving. Wow, are people giving me a hard time about that one. And to top it off, I only had 6 more people left to shop for as of that point as well.

So we rallied up our family of five, bundled with warm pants, mud boots, and hats and headed to the tree farm. We even remembered to bring a blanket along to keep our first choice warm while mommy ran around comparing the other choices to the first. Each child had their desired job and all went well. Everyone even got a chance to take a cut at the trunk. Then, if that were not fun enough, we ended the trip with a loving snuggle from a chocolate lab named, Dakota. You guessed it, everyone reminisced about our old lab, Checotah. Then the man sent us in for the ending treat of candy canes. "Mommy, they even have rainbow ones, " I heard as I ran to catch up. I had to get Dustin to take this picture so there was proof that I was there. Nice picture, bug.

The set up actually went better than expected with the group the age that they are. Don't get me wrong, I did not say it went without a hitch. I said "better than expected". The excitement that each child expressed as they got to put their decorations on was more than I thought it was to be. I got, "Thank you, mommy" from Skylar as she saw each of the ones she placed on the tree. See we have a tradition that each child gets a new ornament each year to symbolize something special that they liked or did in the year. Skylar thanked me as if I bought them all for her this year. I was so pleased she approved. The finished product.