Oh Christmas Tree

It's no secret that around Christmastime I get dubbed the Tree Nazi.  I love a pretty Christmas tree.  So a few years ago we got the kids their own (artificial) tree that they could decorate however they want.  But our main tree - my tree, which sat on display in the front window, was a different story.  Only Mom could touch it, and everyone knew it.

We've been really happy with our pre-lit, artificial trees the past few years.  But for whatever reason this year I decided that I wanted a fresh tree.  And to keep the cost down, and to add to the fun, I decided we would go into the woods to find it.

Brian wasn't on board at all with my big idea.  But he could see it was important to me, so he agreed.  Lucky for him, I changed my mind about going into the woods on the morning we were going to leave.  We'd had a lot of snow that week, and there was supposedly about three feet of snow where the trees were.  And since we don't have a snowmobile or snow shoes, and since the forest roads aren't plowed, and since the trees have to be located at least 300 feet from the road, and since I'm 5 months pregnant, and since we have a bunch of little kids....I could sort of admit that my great plan might not be as much fun as I'd imagined.

We ended up going to a market that had Noble Firs - any size - for $19.95.  I had it in my head that we would be getting a "natural" looking tree, so I picked out the least-shaped one I could find.

I also loosened my strings and let the family decorate the tree.  In fact, I barely hung any ornaments.  We did, of course, have to move some things around after the kids went to bed since some of the branches (specifically around Noah's height) had about 100 ornaments in one place.

But you know what?  This is one of my favorite Christmas trees ever.  It smells good.  It's not too perfect.  It reminds me of my family and it makes me smile.