Christmas Tree

Our Christmas tree last year was a bit of a Charlie Brown tree. It was sparse and a bit anemic when it came to supporting ornaments. I don't think any of us (with the exception of Darius) even cared to put up a tree in the house this year.

Several weeks ago my dad took the boys and I for a ride out towards the airport, to cut tree boughs to decorate the back deck. While my dad cut the boughs, I watched the boys run up and down the road (yes, it was safe) and try to pry frozen rocks off the road to suck on. We both noticed the same tree along the side of the road and Dad cut it down. Our plans were to put it up outside on the deck and decorate it with lights.

Darius was opposed to having the tree outside, so we ultimately put it up inside. What possessed us to do it the night before Thanksgiving is beyond me. We didn't get started until after 10:00 and were up past 1:00 before we finished. I will admit that I'm glad Darius took charge and insisted we do it his way because the tree turned out beautifully.

I was a little concerned with whether the boys would leave the tree alone. Last year the tree was barricaded behind furniture, so it wasn't an issue. So far so good. It helps that the needles are claw like and uninviting. Their initial reactions to the tree were adorable. Ben woke up early Thanksgiving morning, just after we had finished decorating the tree. Darius couldn't resist getting him up to show him. Ben's eyes got all wide and he had the sweetest smile on his face. Zach's first look was the following morning and he was very vocal about the tree. He oohed, ahhed, grunted and I'm pretty sure he was screeching something that sounded very similar to tree.

Darius - thanks for not giving in. Yes, it's more taxing on me for the next month to keep it intact, but it's already been worth it. I can't believe I can be such a stinkin scrooge sometimes...we won't even start on the subject of Santa....