Let the Christmas Season Begin.

It is tradition at our home to put up the Christmas tree and decorate the day after Thanksgiving.  The boys were SO excited to decorate this year.  As they went to sleep on Thanksgiving night they confirmed that we were indeed putting the tree up the  next day :-)  Since we have allergies to fresh cut Christmas trees we invested in a fake tree a number of years ago and this helps in making sure that putting the Christmas tree up on a specific day happens without an issue.

Since the boys were little they have helped me put up the tree and all the decoration.  Every year they have taken on more of the set-up on their own.  The last 2 years they have completely set up the tree, put on the lights, decorations, and decorated the inside and outside of our home.  I am impressed to say the least.  The only sad part is that I miss going through each decoration one by one and remembering where it came from and what the significance is.  Now I just travel down memory lane as I gaze upon the beautiful tree my boys set up and when it comes time to pack the tree away.

Two things that are amazing to me -

1.  My boys clean up their mess when they are done decorating.  They put everything back where it goes and all that is left is a home transformed into a beautiful Christmas scene.

2.  Alesha, does not touch the tree or anything on it.  She loves to gaze at the lights and I find her standing looking at all the decorations, but she never touches them.  When my boys were little, this was NOT the case :-)

*apparently I forgot to turn these pics before I saved them and blogger won't post them the correct way.  Sorry you will just have to tilt your head for most of these :-)

Tree already assembled.  This didn't take long!

Now onto the lights and decorations

The finished product.  I did not lift a finger!



 When I was younger a friend of our family gave me the stocking below.  I thought it was cute so when I got married I made one for Darin, too.  As you can see I have added one with every child.  Last year I didn't get Alesha's stocking done before Christmas.  I was determined this year to have it completed and I finally did it.  Each of the kid's stockings represent what they they liked when they were young.  Since Alesha listens to music all day every day and sings constantly I thought this would be a good fit for her.

Looks better when it is really dark.  They have added some lights since this photos was taken.