Christmas Tree

Our Christmas tree is up and decorated.  The kiddos had fun helping with the ornaments and reminiscing with each ornament.  This is such a special time for our family, and our house if full of joy.

The Tree

One of my favorite things about our house is the old oak trees.  The children love them as well.  Today was all about climbing with their friends.  How many kids can climb one tree at the same time?  So many special moments with these trees.

Christmas Tree

With a little help from some adorable elves, our Christmas tree is up and decorated.  It is very different this year, because we have a new tree.  The red 7.5' tree has been replaced by a dark green traditional 12' tree.  It is the perfect height and shape for our curved staircase.  The boys love it, and Ridley can't wait to pull the ornaments off.  It is starting to look like Christmas.

Birdhouses

It was time to do some inside crafting since the temperature outside was over 100 degrees.  The boys painted two beautiful birdhouses, and we talked about birds, homes, and blessings. After they dried, the boys picked out the perfect tree in the backyard

 

 

 

They look very welcoming.  It was really sweet that the boys wanted to hang them beside each other, so the bird family could be close.  Awwwww.

Tree Climbing

Ryland and Reed love to shake this white crepe myrtle tree that is planted by the parking lot at the gym.  Every day when we leave, the boys grab the tree and shake with all their might.  They love it when all the blooms fall off like snow.  

I mentioned that they should come home and try to shake our tree to see if they could make it snow.  Ryland was on a mission, and he went straight to the back yard to try.  He wasn't very successful, because our tree is a little bigger. Then the wheels started to turn...

I kept my eyes on him, because I knew he was up to something.  He drug the mini trampoline over and propped up a sand bucket.  He climbed up on the handles and into the tree.

 

Notice Reed carefully observing in the photo above, and now see how he has turned around looking for me. 

 

After watching Ryland, Reed attempted to climb the tree, but he needed a little help.  Daddy came home just at the right time to help lift him.  The boys shook the limbs with all their might, and it snowed purple blooms.

 

 

Christmas decorating

The Christmas decorating iwas in full force this weekend.  We set up and fluffed the red tree in preparation for the ornaments.  The boys were very intrigued with the process, and they wanted to be right in the middle of the action.

 

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The glass ornaments were hard to keep our hands off of.  Something about being breakable just made them even more fantastic.  The boys loved hanging them on the tree and talking about their meanings.

 

As soon as the tree was finished, the nutcrackers found special places throughout the house.  Ryland and Reed love the nutcrackers and wanted to play with them all.  John Chris told them what each one was and when he got them.  It was a wonderful day of sharing traditions and making memories.

Tree lighting

For the past few years we have watched the lighting of the Christmas tree in Town Square.  In the past it seems like we stood around waiting forever, so we came prepared this year.  We had the double stroller packed, only to be there for about 45 minutes. I was worth the trip though, and it really gets you in the spirit.

 

 

Reed, Benton, and Ryland liked all the lights, but they really just wanted to roll around on the grass. I tried so hard to get a cute picture of them.

A fun place to play

The Christmas tree is up, and it is the coolest place to play. Both boys immediately crawled under the tree and started playing with the branches and light cords. John Chris and I knew the red tree would look dinky in the entry, but we just couldn't even begin thinking about finding a replacement. We talked about ways to keep the boys out of the tree and ornaments, and we decided to give the tree a little height. We added a wrought iron urn to the bottom, and all our troubles and worries were gone. The tree is now the perfect height, and the ornaments are safe from fast little hands.

Decorating the Christmas tree

We finally decorated the tree tonight. We are running a bit behind this year, but we have all been passing around a little sickness bug. John Chris and I talked about our glass ornaments and decided to only put the non-breakable items on the tree. We didn't want any shattered glass to worry about.

The red tree was back again this year, and I am pretty sure this will be its final showing at the Allison house. It has a special place in my heart, but is really small and dinky in this house. The high ceilings make it look short and tiny. I will be so sad to see it go, but we have this year to enjoy its beauty!


Ryland had a fun time sticking the sparkling picks in the tree.

What is more fun than decorating the tree? Maybe jumping on the sofa and climbing on the presents.

Christmas tree

I know it is December 15th, and I can't believe we are just now getting our tree decorated. We pulled it out of the attic about a week ago, but it has just taken a while for us to have a calm night.

We have a pretty gaudy tree, and we just love it. Our whole house is very monochromatic shades of green and tan. POP! Our red tree is a great conversation piece that is bright and fun.

The tree glows really red with the overhead lights turned down.

Ryland helps Dad hang an ornament.

Ryland is a little confused. He wants the ornament back, so he can play with it. He loves to touch the tree, ribbon, and ornaments.