Let me guess… Halloween? Fourth of July? Not in this house! We are way duded up for the holidays. One of these days I’ll post a pic of the exterior in all it’s lit glory. It’s something to behold. The Schwan’s guy was very impressed when he stopped by earlier. ;) Anyhow, this is our downstairs tree. The “fancy” one. It’s a fake tree that I LOVE because it’s 7.5 feel tall, pre-lit with 1500 lights and the branches just easily fold up for easy take down and put up. We did this one all in red and golds. I think it turned out really great and the pictures don’t really do it justice. You’ll just have to take my word for it. It’s gorgeous. Especially when it’s all lit up. You wouldn’t believe what we paid for that tree. And I mean that in a good way. 
Thank YOU, Sam’s Club! The ornaments were pretty reasonable too. This is the first time we’ve done a “fancy” tree, and we were pleasantly surprised at how reasonably priced some of this stuff was. Michael’s and Walmart, I’m telling you. Anyhow, for a fake tree, this one is marvelous. I love this tree, every time I look at it. It’s truly spectacular. Money well spent, if you ask me. Now we just need to fill up the empty tree skirt underneath with some brightly wrapped presents! I guess that’s next on my list. :P Not a huge fan of the wrapping. We have some more things to do, like wrap the bannister in the staircase with lighted garland and hang our mistletoe (no, not the dog, even thought that *is* her name). But I say we’re doing pretty good, don’t you?
This one is our upstairs tree. Yes, we have two. We *were* going to use our old fake tree but I think the thought of having to set up all those branches and then light the damned thing was giving both K and I hives. Home Depot happened to be selling real trees for $18.88 and up so that’s what we got this one for. With tree stand? $25. Not bad a’tall, I say. We decorated this last night, with all our usual ornaments. Homemade, ones we got when we were first married, ones we got BEFORE we were married… lots of memories on this tree. Plus it smells fantastic because it’s real and all. We set it up in front of the loft window so you could see it from the interstate. K saw it on the way home and said it looked fantastic from the road. Excellent! 
H especially had a great time decorating this one. And K, being a kid at heart himself, let him fall asleep under the tree (with the Christmas lights on, of course) in a sleeping bag, listening to Christmas songs on my computer. Then he tucked him into bed a couple hours later when we ourselves went to sleep. Lucky kid, huh? Anyhow, one of my favorite ornaments on this tree is the one we got last year on my birthday. It’s hooked up to the lights and has these changing lights inside it. The best part is the angel holding the little baby. That’s Jackson’s ornament. I had K put it somewhere prominent so I could see it easily from my computer.
So I *think* we’re mildy ready for the holidays. Virtually all our presents are bought (except for the ones for ourselves), my Christmas cards are nearly done, the house is mostly decorated… and all before my birthday (next week)! This *has* to be a record. :)
This is me. I'm a thirtysomething stay at home mom to three kids. For years I was a stay at home mom to one kid and trying very hard to have more. It took a LONG time (ie: 6 1/2 years), but finally Liam arrived and charmed us with his blue eyes and ginormous, round head. Then we got a shock: I was pregnant again and this time it was a GIRL. Our hearts and home are full at last and now that we're done having babies, we get to relax (snort) and watch them grow (not too fast now, you hear?). Thanks for coming by, feel free to dip into my archives, read my About and History pages (just don't do Jackson's Story without tissues!) and make yourself at home.
