it seems that we were behind in "all things christmas" this year...i mean, we had plenty of warning that it was coming...like 364 days and all...but still, it snuck up on me! judging by the amount of christmas cards that we received after christmas...it seems maybe we weren't the only ones!!!!
for ten years, jeffrey and i have always gone to cut down our christmas tree...and about 6 years ago, we decided to start tagging our tree early. just talking about it makes me kinda fidgety. picking out our tree STRESSES. ME. OUT!!!!!! i wish that i could explain it...i just want to pick that lonely little tree that wants to be ours...and not make a mistake! i know...it's certifiable!
anywho, not only does it make actually "cutting down the tree day" so much less stressful, it gives me double the opportunity to run amuck the happiness that is the tree farm photographing my children. let's face it, my husband probably views it as a double dose of torture...but it's a traditionally fabulous time for me!
well, this year...the time for us to tag our tree early...came...and...went...
*sigh*
i cannot tell you how disappointed i was. i was convinced that we were going to have to choose from amongst the left overs...because we were going THREE days after thanksgiving!!!!!!!!!
we arrived at "santa's woods"...and i may have been a bit pale...from first glance, the big ones were gone...
just as i was about to start tearing up, madeline proceeded to burn her fingers with hot chocolate...which brought me back to reality! (a word to the wise...DO NOT - i repeat DO NOT allow your 4 year old and 2 year old to drink hot chocolate at the beginning of said photography session tree excursion...you will be disappointed!!!!) after we made sure that her skin was not melting & reminded ourselves that sweet maddie could hurt herself in a room full of cotton balls, we got our game face on. people, there were brown trees and lots of stumps...like stumps where christmas trees used to be...and probably BIG trees used to be!
devastated...
we like huge trees...griswold style trees...the kind where you have to saw off the top kind of trees...
and in my moment of near defeat, an angel appeared! the owner of the farm, whom we have come to know in the last few years, came up to me and told me that there was probably a tree that we would love on the very corner of the field. i looked around to see if any other customers heard her...realizing we were the only ones there...and proceeded to scream at my family to R.U.N (ok, that's a bit of an exaggeration...but fairly close!!!!)
bless ava's little heart...her tiny little legs could hardly keep up with us...which is why i'm pretty sure she and maddie wore more of their hot chocolate than they drank!
when we arrived at "our tree"...i couldn't believe my eyes. it was absolutely beautiful...it may have even been glowing. folks, not only was this tree HUGE...it was perfectly shaped...and lasted us until january 7th. most definitely our best tree to date.
i'm sure there is a life lesson that is a HUGE as our tree was this year...at least a little bit suggesting that i "don't need to sweat the small stuff"...which is easier said than done for me!
it was a fun day...and way less stressful than i ever would have imagined! decorating it with the big girls gets more fun every year...they are so helpful and i love hearing all of their "oohs & ahs" as they unwrap their favorites - something that i vividly remember brooke and me doing when we were their age!
we were all sad when yesterday came...and we knew it was time to take her down. she was a beauty...and set the bar really high...but until then, we will begin the countdown again...to the most wonderful time of the year!!!!!
