We started with the small tree in the back Family Room. All three of the older kids were involved and followed my simple rules perfectly: please be careful opening the boxes and always seal them back up and put them in a designated area before getting out another ornament to hang.
This tree houses most of my red/gold ornaments and then any that signify the kitchen (baking/mixing/cooking). The tree itself is now 15 years old and the pre-strung lights are all burned out, but I have since put new strands on it (over the old) and hope to keep using it as long as I can. It was my tree when I was living by myself in an apartment -- while going to grad school at MSU -- and then it moved to my house, then Steve's house and then this house.
So many memories on one little tree.
We let Jimmy put a single ornament on the tree and he has since told anyone that walks by that that is "his ornament."
It's Sophia's year to put the angel on the big tree and Steve wanted to let her practice with the tree topper on this one first. Good thing too because her balance was certainly lacking!
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For something different, I asked Jack if he would like to put our smallest tree down in the finished basement -- where his room is. Normally, I put it at the top of the stairs where the other kids sleep, but I have a different decoration up there and I thought that this would help add a little Christmas to ALL areas of the house.
Of course, he was more than a little excited. He set right to work assembling it.
I basically sat back and let him do the whole thing. I retrieved the lights, tree skirt and appropriate ornaments (pool balls and Detroit Tigers baseball bulbs) and let him finish it all.
In process ...
(I don't seem to have a picture of the finished tree and will need to take one soon. Jack is definitely happy to have it down there and is the first to plug it in every day).
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The next day, we set to work putting up the main tree in the front Living Room. I rearranged furniture and then asked the kids to help bring up all of the branches from the basement. I have found that it is easier to make a few trips with them, rather than try to lug the multi-million pound box up the stairs and back again. And when the kids are willing to help ... well ... it makes it even easier.
Samantha did most of the assembly, calling out which color/letter branch she needed.
Jack crawled around and located them for her.
And then Sophia brought them over. Talk about total teamwork!
Even Jimmy was involved.
Then the decorating began.
We did have one broken ornament and I was truly disappointed about it, but several minutes later, I realized that the ornaments are not as important as these memories right here. Samantha told me this year that her favorite Christmas memory is setting up the tree and decorating it. The kids LOVE sorting through the ornaments and remembering which ones are theirs. They love the hot chocolate part of it too!
They hang the ornaments on this tree wherever they want and I rarely move them around. It's so special to them and I hope that they always look forward to this part of Christmas with me.
More teamwork.
Jimmy loves his annual ornament from Grammy and it is at a perfect height where he can see it whenever he wants. It's a dragon in memory of his 2nd birthday theme.
Putting the final touch on the tree -- the angel.
(It will be Jack's turn to put it up next year!).
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