In our house Christmas is a BIG deal...partially because I make it one:0) I love everything about the holiday; the smells, the lights, the trees, and yes even the snow(comm'on who really wants a brown Christmas?!) Tradition since Dave and I have been together(10 years for those who have lost count) has been to decorate the night of Thanksgiving after feasting on turkey all day, not the greatest plan as years past would remind us, but tradition none the less. This year I decided to break from tradition and while the boys were all gone in Colorado, I decorated the whole house myself. Yes the tree was a bit to lug up the stairs all by myself, but after an hour and a half worth of problem solving and a little refresher in physics levers and pulleys(thank you Mr. Termuhlen) I got the tree up the stairs and assembled in quick fashion, complete with lights and ribbon. The stockings were hung by the fireplace topped off with some lighted garland and fuzzy Christmas animals from grandma and grandpa Halm.
The reception the night we got home was all that I could have hoped for and more. The light in the boys eyes made the blisters, splinters, and sciatic pain all worth it. Laeth lit up and would not stop pointing. He tackled the bears on the fireplace and proceeded to pull all the ornaments off the tree...thanks...Kale and Barett immediately opened all the cabinets looking for the shelf elf because in their eyes, he was the one who had done all the decorating. If you are not familiar with the shelf elf, he/she is a watchdog for Santa and very vigilant and busy in our house. The shelf elf watches the house during the day to see who is naughty and nice and then reports back to the northpole at night. In the morning, the shelf elf returns, but never to the same spot, to watch again. Since our house is so busy and at times naughtier than most, we have a shelf elf for each of the boys. Kale named his S.H.S(Santa's Helper Snitch.) Barett went old school rhyme time and named his Melf the Elf.
Though the elves whereabouts occupied them momentarily, Kale and Barett were more concerned about their trees. You see, everybody has a tree in our house, even the dog(the puppy Christmas tree), and obviously the biggest one is mine! What this means is that I get the main tree and each of the boys has their own to decorate however they would like. Well, Kale and Barett wasted no time in hauling out the ornaments and decorating each of their trees, Barett with anything he could find(old keychains from Dave's collection were a favorite). Kale opted for a more nostalgic approach and took out all the ornaments Dave's mom and my mom had given us. Laeth was content to leave his tree as is with the lights and the pointing.
Today became a treat because half of the lights on the tree went out...to some this would spell disaster but to me it was a chance to let Laeth help rebuild what he was so intent on dismantling in the first place. So off to Walmart and 500 lights later we were back in business.
