Trimming the Tree

Decorated the tree tonight. I only lost my temper twelve times. Noah and Emma each had an emotional meltdown, Tyler had two; and Chance hurt his back. But it's done! Merry Christmas!

The pictures aren't great; not unusual when we do anything indoors in the evening.  The lighting is terrible.  Chance purchased these elf hats and reindeer antlers last year on clearance.  The antlers light up and are fun to see in the dark.  He was so excited to give them to Emma.  She sobbed for 30 minutes because she didn't want to be a reindeer and only wanted to be an elf.  After that the boys started fighting about their hats so I took all of them away until they could appreciate them.  About 30 minutes later Emma decided that she didn't want to be an elf afterall and that reindeer antlers are where it's at anyway. 

Every year, one child has the honor of placing the the star on top of the tree.  They rotate each year, but for some reason, we cannot remember who did it last year.  I'm hoping there is a picture somewhere.  Anyway, all the kids insisted that it is their turn this year so we decided to let each of them have a turn putting the star on top.  That didn't help Chance's back pain, but no more fighting and no tears.  So, even though we had a load of drama and fighting over ornaments the night ended happily with a few shots in front of their masterpiece. There wasn't any rhyme or reason to their decorating, but the tree turned out pretty good. The house feels a little more cozy now. 


P.S.  Don't ask me what Emma is wearing.  She is growing out of all her clothes and that was the first ensemble she put together that didn't show her tummy or underwear.  Tyler has on a weird outfit because he's 10 and doesn't care about outfits.


"You call this a happy family?  Why do we have to have all these kids?"
~George Bailey, It's A Wonderful Life (1946)


Song in my head right now:

So tonight we pray for what we know can be

And on this day we hope for what we still can't see

Its up to us to be the change and even though we all can still do more

There's so much to be thankful for

~Josh Groban, Thankful