Getting Ready for Christmas

It's been busy around here lately with lots of extra people (several of Brian's family who came to help work on my parent's house) and just lots of general comings-and-goings in all directions.

We did manage to get our tree up and decorated a week or so ago.

I'm getting a little frustrated with our pre-lit tree, which was really nice the first couple of years, but now that several sections of the lights have stopped working, it's kind of a nuisance. We bought some extra strands to add over the non-lit spots, but discovered when we opened the box that they were on a white strand instead of green! The kids said they didn't care and didn't want to wait to get the kind that would blend in a bit better.

As per our tradition that we started a few years ago, the kids got their own special ornament to add to the tree this year. I bought the ornaments last year during the after-Christmas sales and have just kept them in my drawer over the year.

Hayley and Courtney both got dog ornaments:

McKay got a reindeer bell this year (he would love a trombone one, but I can't seem to find one):

And then there's poor Hannah. The first year we started this tradition, she did not like the ornament I had picked out for her (music notes) and burst into tears. That year they got their ornaments on Christmas Eve and she had red-rimmed eyes in all our pictures. (You can read the whole story here.) I had picked out a cat ornament for her this year and she was excited when I first gave it to her until she noticed that the tail had been broken off (apparently something I missed when I picked it out). Again, she burst into tears! I didn't make her take a picture this time with her red eyes, but was able to go to the store the next day and find her a new cat ornament, which she was happy to add to the tree.

It's definitely a hodge-podge tree, but that's one of its charms!

And our cat has decided she has found a new favorite place to curl up for a nap too!