our little christmas tree

it's kind of funny to write about our christmas tree now that it's been almost a week since we packed everything away... but i can't not write about all of our christmas happenings! after we got home from disney, we jumped right into christmas mode, and there was either time to enjoy christmas or blog about it. but not both. so i enjoyed christmas, and now you're gonna hear all about it.

we went to get our tree a few days after we got home from disney, and we did not expect that there would be such slim pickings on december 7! we traditionally get our tree the weekend after thanksgiving (and sometimes before!), so we were kind of disappointed this year to be left with pathetically skinny trees from which to choose our tree. now we'd said that we wanted a smaller tree than last year (that big lug fell over twice), and well.... we surely got a smaller one! i just laughed out loud when i clicked back to see just how big that tree was in our tiny living room.

so here we are at lowe's on a pretty cold evening. the kids were loving seeing their breath, so they'd like to show you. except their breath didn't show up on camera. so here's my two oldest kids with their mouths wide open. :)


these were the two best trees we could find. seriously. do i really have to pick one?


the kids were so excited to get our tree... they could have cared less that it was slim pickings! brian gave me permission to be totally cheap-o and ask for a discount. we got 20% off! it never hurts to ask!


brian had nooooooooo trouble fitting the tree through the door! i just laughed when he cruised right in. we usually have to go slow and squeeze through the door.


ethan jumps at every little chance to help daddy. yep! the tree fits in the corner! whew. that was a close one. ha!


something else we did differently this year was to trim most of the tree after the kids went to bed.... they love helping to decorate the tree, but it was their bedtime by the time we we were ready to get the lights and ornaments on. (and they were still in need of catching up on lost sleep from our disney week!) so they dreamed of sugarplums while we quickly strung the lights and hung the ornaments. our little tree didn't take too long to finish!

we left some of the kids' ornaments out for them to hang the next morning. and daddy put the train set up later that evening.


the kids then spent most of the morning going through the kids' christmas box... full of books, nativity sets, puzzles, games...


and a tacky musical christmas tree tie! ha!


i completely failed to get a picture of the kids with their ornaments this year. but i did snap some pictures of the ornaments before i packed them away. i totally broke my rule for this year's ornaments. i am usually pretty picky with my ornaments... our tree is full of old-fashioned, classic, rustic-looking ornaments. buuuuut then we went to disney. and there's a disney christmas store. and now we have a little disney on our tree. which i think is fitting since we were there 3 times in 2010! our family ornament is a very glittery mickey and minnie. aren't they cute?!


ethan picked out wall-e and eva. i love how they are tangled up in a strand of lights.


this cinderella bell commemorates caroline's first visit to cinderella's castle. i had planned on writing her name and 2010 on the bell... maybe i'll remember to buy a silver glitter pen by next december.


i thought these little mickey ears were so cute... and perfect for amelia's ornament this year. when i buy that glitter pen, i'll write on hers too.


so our little tree served us well this christmas. i did giggle every time i looked at its wonky shape.... but it stayed upright and was not home to thousands of bugs. sounds like a winner after all! :)