One of the trees is left-over from my apartment (over 11 years ago) and it has moved with me about four times now. It's a nice size for our family room, so I continue to set it up every year. I decorate it with mostly red and gold ornaments to coordinate with my kitchen that is nearby.
We also have a big, full-size tree in the living room that we set up in front of the window for everyone to see as they drive by. We bought that the first year that we moved into this house because we decided that we needed something a little more substantial for the bigger house. This year, while Steve was traveling, the kids helped me set it up.
Attempting to organize some of the branches:
And finally, the kids have their "own" tree at the top of the stairs near their bedrooms. This was a tree that Steve's parents were planning to throw away because it was old and falling apart. Steve, never one to pass up something for free, brought it home one night -- three years ago -- and used some "liquid nails" to revamp it. For two years, it stood, full and proud with lots of lights and ornaments on it.
This year, as I was pulling it out of the garbage bag that I had stored it in for the last year, I had my doubts about whether it would survive this holiday season.
Helping to hang the ornaments:
Admiring their handiwork:
Just a few more ornaments:
The plastic stand was broken and, despite my quick thinking and engineering, it fell over by the end of the first night. Ornaments went tumbling down the stairs and Sam got choked up over the thought of not having a Christmas tree at the top of the stairs this year.
That night, I ran into the Family Dollar store in town while Samantha was at dance class, and purchased a tree to surprise the kids. While it is about the same height as the previous one, it is not nearly as full. But the kids love it and it is perfect in that space.
Over the next couple of days, we got all of the trees decorated with lights, ornaments and garland. In fact, the whole house was almost completely decorated (and that is no small feat!) by the time Steve made it back into the state. The second that he set foot into the house, Samantha was ready for him -- asking if he could help her with her "special job" ... putting the tree topper in place.
This will probably be Sam's last year putting the angel in place, as she is getting to heavy to lift up there. Sophia will take over that job next year ... and then eventually Jack. Sophia wanted to know what her special task would be and I told her that she could help hook up all of the "clickers" on the trees so that we don't have to continuously plug/unplug them in. She was pleased with that role.
As for that tree that didn't survive the holiday season, well, we still have it ... in pieces. I chose to use my wire cutters to cut up all of the branches so that I could use them to decorate my shelves/mantle/tops of cabinets, etc. It worked out perfectly.
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