O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree...

The combination of not getting a tree last year & hoping this will be our last year in the condo with it's super-high ceilings meant we decided to really go for it this year with the tree. Lucky for us, WholeFoods only offered two sizes - big and enormous - so our decision was easy. Meet our enormous ten-footer, which almost served up enough holiday fun just in the reaction we got out of Josie when the boys strapped her to our roof.

It took us a good week to take the tree from strapped to the roof to fully-trimmed so these photos cover that whole time. First things first, Josie saw Louie cutting the low branches and knew exactly what to do. She ran over and grabbed her scissors (which are her new favorite thing on the planet) and began her own pruning.

Ahhh- the lights - also known as "the hour or so we regretted getting a ten-foot tree".  Josie provided lots of well-intentioned "help".

 

As you can see, the whole family got into the holiday spirit - including Venus - who loves our homemade (by someone on etsy.com & not me) felt garland that made our tree extra colorful.  (Sidebar: if you aren't familiar with Etsy, do yourself a favor & check it out immediately. All handmade goods by real people in their homes sharing their talents with the world. This has indeed been a "very Etsy Christmas" as we purchased lots of new decor and gifts from there to try bring some "homemade" into our home.)

 

Watch out "Project Runway" - check out our little designer who re-purposed the treeskirt into this chic holiday attire!

 

And, last but not least, a few of the fully-trimmed tree, complete with Josephine admiring it & standing in awe at its sheer volume! (We swear it's growing...)

 

  In the photo above & the photo below she is actually "dancing" with the tree, holding on to one of its branches and singing "la, la, la, la, la" because "why not?"

So far this holiday season has brought so many smiles and we haven't even gotten to the "big stuff" yet. While I can't wait to see her run out here & see the tree full of presents on Christmas morning, it's these "little things" that will always stick out as special memories forever.