I couldn't let the season go by without a picture of our tree. I can't recall that I've taken many pictures of our tree in years past, and I'm kicking myself for it. I pass by the tree all day long, and I find myself thinking over and over again about how each tree we get has it's own personality. Maybe that's stretching it, but the trees we get every year are so different, so they must at least say something about our family for that particular season.
For example, last year was a season in chaos and transition. Eli was just 4 months old when Christmas rolled around. As you may know, I don't handle changes or sleep deprivation well. By the beginning of December I'd gotten mastitis 3 times. The thought of hauling out all the decorations and dealing with a big tree was just too much, so we got a little Charlie Brown tree. One strand of lights and a couple of ornaments and we were done! It was really cute, and the diminutive tree made it seem like we had hit the jackpot Christmas morning with all the presents dwarfing it.
We've had crappy trees from Lowe's, and beautiful trees from local Christmas tree farms. We've had fat trees, skinny trees, long needles, short needles (but always end up dry needles!).
I have to say this year's tree is the fattest we've ever had. It didn't look that fluffy at the farm, it was actually one of their smallest. At first I dubbed this tree "Our Last Real Tree." I've been thinking about going the route of the pre-lit tree. It seems so much easier. Mike is staunchly against such artificiality. Until he attempted to set this chubby tree into our $5 tree stand we've had for eons.
The tree fell over 3 times. He was covered in sap. Elena took it all in, learning exactly what Ralphie said in place of "fudge" in A Christmas Story. A new stand was purchased in haste at Target. Mike dubbed it the "*%@@C#!! Tree," which seemed pretty close to "Our Last Real Tree."
As the days pass, we seem to have forgotten the inconvenience. Now it's just a fat, pretty tree, decorated with years of favorite ornaments. As hokey as it sounds, it's fullness reminds me that in spite of lean times, our little family is full of blessings. We have home to shelter us and our tree. We have a daughter who's greatest joy is creating gifts to put under the tree for Mike and me. We have a son who toddles around the tree this year and calls it "ga ga." We will share this season with family and friends that we adore.
How can an artificial tree compete with that?
