Our Christmas tree has been set up since the week after Thanksgiving and I had planned on posting about it after I had rearranged the dining room a bit and done some nicer decorating on the chandelier and the table next to the tree. Well, that hasn't happened and the view of the tree is partly obstructed by the pile of Amazon boxes and sewing materials piled on the dining room table (yes, I took on sewing projects for Christmas, and so far I am on schedule and don't regret it...imagine that!) and Tessa is making sure the tree is getting plenty of attention. So I decided that this is how it will be this year and nothing is looking any better and in fact is looking worse and Christmas is nine days away. So here it is!
I have had a loose theme of blue ornaments in the past, tied together by a box of very cheap generic balls and stars that my mom bought me at IKEA back in my apartment days. It kind of missed the mark compared to other themed trees though, because I had green and red beads. Last year I bought light blue beads on clearance and I really like the look this year.
Over Thanksgiving weekend, we helped put up the tree at my parents' house and Ben was enthusiastic about it so I knew he would love our own tree. He hung his ornaments in little clumps around the tree and then spent several days taking them down and re-hanging them again.
I still have my cute little desktop tree from college and this year I put it in his room. He likes it. It's like a nightlight!
Of course like most Christmas lovers, my favorite part of the Christmas tree experience is rediscovering my old and new favorite ornaments. Although it made me sad, I kept a few of the more special and breakable ornaments off the tree this year instead of risking losing them. I want them to be around for years so I thought it would be best to keep them safe this year! Between a one and two year old and Allan nothing is safe this year even ornaments hung on the high branches.
I have several favorite ornaments and some of them are new and commemorate our first house and the babies' first Christmases. Allan even had a few! But here is my old favorite that I have liked for many years.
I think this one has been feature in the past but the background of it is simply that I remember being at a year round Christmas store in the lakes country of MN and getting to pick out an ornament and my aunt helped me pick this one. And that's it!
Tessa has been gradually ransacking the bottom of the tree, if you can call a ransacking gradual, and usually is grasping one or two ornaments as she toddles around the house. The IKEA cheapies can be found strewn about most rooms of the house and she also discovered a metal Christmas tree with a bell attached that she loves.
Tessa's damage cannot compare to the mess that nine month old Ben made of the Christmas tree back in 2012. Here is a classic photo to help you remember:
He caused the whole bottom 1/3 of the tree to be bare that year. Also, notice the cluttered and crowded look of the higher branches as we tried to keep the ornaments safe. I think it helps that our tree is now in the dining room instead of right where we hang out all the time in the living room. Also...that plant...how I miss house plants! One of these years I will be able to have a plant again...
"Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree, thy candles shine so brightly!"
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