Our Christmas Tree!!

We've had the same 10 foot artificial tree since before Gloria was born and I've come to dread dragging it out of the attic each December. I believe this is one of the main reasons I put off decorating for Christmas each year until it's absolutely necessary. Another reason is that, no matter how good their intentions, the rest of my family usually abandons me to finish decorating the tree and the house myself after about 45 minutes. The piles of boxes, pieces of garland and abandoned ornaments everywhere usually finish me off and I mutter to myself that I won't be doing this again anytime soon. At least not until next December when I absolutely have to. This year it was decidedly different. Fully expecting an argument, I told Rob I wanted a real tree this year. A short one- no taller than 6 feet. He thought it was a great idea!! We went to a couple of tree lots yesterday and found this little beauty:

We brought the tree home in the morning and, since Rob had to work all day, I had plenty of time to clean the house and prepare myself for the hard work of decorating. . . alone. When Rob came home, I wasn't quite ready to give up all the cleanliness I'd worked so hard on all day, so I flinched just a little when he started dragging boxes out of the attic. Before I knew it, stuff was everywhere and Rob was putting the lights on the tree. I couldn't help but get a little excited so I put on my favorite Christmas music and started digging through the nearest box. The rest of the evening turned out to be fun and relaxing with the whole family pitching in to help. Rob was at my beck and call, pounding nails and hanging Christmas wreaths and pictures. With Zach's help, he strung up icicle lights all along the front of the house and on the bushes. The kid's even hung colorful lights around their rooms. We all cleaned up the mess together, stood back and admired our hard work. I think I'll get a real tree every year!!