Getting ready for Christmas

We had such a nice time celebrating Christmas this year. It was nice to know we'd have the best of both worlds--staying at home for Christmas and traveling to see both of our families for New Year's. We got to do lots of fun things with the boys--making lots of holiday goodies and going to parties and shopping for each other. We also watched a slug of Christmas movies from the library and on YouTube, making Wesley even more of a movie junkie than he already is. (The first thing he does in the morning is point to the DVD drawer and then to the TV saying, "That, that, that." I promise we don't actually watch that much though!)

In honor of our huge, new living abode, we get a huge, new Christmas tree. We went to Jack's Creek Tree Farm and opted for a huge White Pine, which was on sale, as opposed to the Frazier Fir we usually get or the Leland Cypress that most everyone in the South seems to favor. As you can see, it barely fit in our car yet our awesome Corolla triumphs once again! (I also got a fully-assembled play kitchen in the trunk and brought it home the other day. Who needs a minivan?!)

Here's our tree all decorated. It turned out OK--it looks good in this picture--but it actually was an interesting tree. I don't think we'll get a white pine again. The branches are too flimsy to hold anything and then when you put ornaments on the branches farther in, they area totally obscured by the soft, grassy pine needles. Hmm. And, as you can see, it was a little too tall, with multiple branches touching the ceiling and the star situated just near the top as opposed to on the top. Plus, it was so fat and full that it took up like 1/4 of the room with its girth and had such a presence that sometimes it felt like an awkward 3rd person in the room that I was leaving out of the conversation. Still, the boys loved it and routinely tore down the bottom third of it. It looked beautiful on Christmas Eve and brought the Christmas spirit in our home.

And finally, what kids like Santa when they're this small? I must admit most Santas we see make me feel a big edgy too. The mall here actually has an excellent Santa with a real fluffy white beard and friendly smile and who the boys might have a better chance with, but he costs $25 for a photo, no personal cameras please. So here we are at a different community event and Henry was brave just long enough to tell Santa he'd sent him a letter and to please not forget his younger brother Wes who is too young too write.