Oh Christmas Tree

As in, "Oh my God it's falling over again."

Those familiar with my previous blog will remember my family's past Christmas tree follies. Specifically last year's "principle tree" which consisted of my entire family pretending that a tree that looked as though it had the mange was actually quite beautiful- just to punish my father who deliberately chose this specimen so that Mom would cave and let him purchase a tree rather than finding one in a cow pasture. (It's Alabama people- that stuff totally happens.) So last year's wasn't great, and this year was going to be different. Actually it started out not being different- my mother and I initially climbed into my Dad's 1995 Chevy AstroVan with a saw and two pairs of gloves and headed for my grandparent's pasture. However, logic prevailed and rather than let my grandfather sit in a chair unbuckled driving through a pasture to find a cedar tree that would invariably die prior to Christmas, we decided to drive to Home Depot and buy a tree.

Behold! The glorious store-bought tree!

This tree was magnificent. Much shorter than the trees of the past (topping out at a measily 8-9 feet rather than our customary 12 ft. and wired to the rafters.) But it was full...and with the childhood ornaments of 5 kids, fullness is a plus. We loaded this tree down- every square inch has something hanging- and it looked great. I think it was the prettiest tree we've ever had. Of course, about 24 hours later, everyone heard a crash and half the ornaments were gone and the entire tree was on the floor. So now, the tree is redecorated with a minor addition. There's now a giant rope tying the tree to the fireplace. But Jo hung some stockings along the rope, so at least it looks festively tacky :-p Unfortunately there are no pictures of the tree's McGyver-esque support. However, there are plenty of pictures of the rest of the evening's festivities. Including the traditional hanging of the "Christmas Germ", the decorating of Bear the Christmas Tree, and a visit from Santa.
You can see them all on my flickr set. Merry Christmas!