Oh Christmas Tree

Growing up we always had a real tree. We would drive out to "the tree place," pick out a tree and visit Santa. We would invariably visit my cousin Paul and his family who lived nearby. The result was usually me in the back of a car, pressed up against a window, getting pine needles up my nose. I LOVED it.

Then at some point we purchased a fake tree. It's a beautiful tree and although I missed the aroma of a real one, I don't remember missing it beyond that. It was nice to stay home and spend time decorating and arguing with my mum!

Since moving to Maine I have always had a real tree. Before we had the kids we would chop one down, now we go to our local nursery where they are pre cut and tied to the car for you! So much easier with little ones. Toby has enjoyed picking the tree every year and I am loving the scrapbook opportunities it provides, I don't see us going fake anytime soon.

This years tree touches the ceiling, I like them tall. Aside from that we did a few things differently this year. We chopped off much of the bottom so that Charlie couldn't be tempted by too many ornaments, both Husby and I agree that we like the way it stands far off the ground. Much more room for presents! We purchased LED lights as our old C7s were extremely hot to the touch and failing a little more each year. After two strings blew out, we ran to Target. Seriously the best $35 I have ever spent. They are absolutely gorgeous colors, the perfect length for a tall tree and stay cold! We also have the tree standing more into the room than we usually do, so you can see the full shape of it. After crawling under the tree to retract a child last year, I decided it would be easier if we could all get behind it if needed! We also used Tinsel, as you can see, I did not buy nearly enough!

The fragile ornaments are at the top, the softer ones are in the middle, and there are jingle bells around the bottom to alert us to approaching little hands. The small one has discovered a love of the tree since we put him in his 80s style rolling chair.

Around the base of the tree you can see a sample of our Christmas reading. Since the tree is in our reading nook, we have moved Toby's little chair over so that we can all sit around the tree and read. It really is the most wonderful time of the year.