Tree Day 2012

There she is!  This year's big bundle of Christmas sparkle!  Because last year's Tree Day was kind of chaotic and stressful, I made sure to plan the sucker out better this year.  I knew exactly when the base tree stand was going to be open, which meant we'd be able to get a less expensive tree.

And I already had the Tree Day treat ready to go, which meant we could easily do Tree Day the day after a very busy Thanksgiving.  I love it when a good plan comes together!  Ideally, I love to get the tree up on Black Friday, which is what my family always did instead of hitting the stores.

So we bundled up the Monkeys and headed to base.  Sam was more excited about the pine cones than anything else! We were a little disappointed with the trees... none of our options here in Germany these past two years have thrilled us.  I think it's because I'm so spoiled by NY tree farms.  Thanks a lot New York.

When we finally picked out THE ONE, we strapped that sucker to the top of the car (without locking ourselves out of the car... a story that will live in Tree Day infamy) and headed home for hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls!  The girls were beside themselves with glee!

So we listened to music, decked the halls, dreamed by the fire, and let the girls put a few ornaments up before bed.  I use the term "put ornaments up" loosely.  They are three and two years old, after all.  

Once the girls were asleep J and I finished up the decorating while watching The Polar Express, which he's never seen all the way through!  I tear up every time when the REAL Santa comes out for the elves and kids to see... but I'm noticing an obnoxious trend of me crying at pretty much every movie I ever watch.  So apparently I'm just a tear-prone-pansy when it comes to movies.

But it was so nice to reminisce together as we hung up our favorite ornaments.  We still need one from Germany.  I'll be on the prowl at the Christmas Markets.  I also need to put "make/buy a tree skirt" on my to-do list someday.  And some better decorations for the fireplace wouldn't hurt!

Everything is just so sparkly!  We even hung a strand of colored lights up along our windows!  Lily asks every morning if she can "see her tree lights" :o)

There is nothing like this time of year.  I love it so much!  Let the sugar and family traditions and cozy nights by the twinkly lights begin!

Tree Day - German Style... or, Aiduk Style in Germany

We have our first German Christmas tree up!  It felt like a really long and tiring ordeal because the first two bases we checked didn't have trees for sale today.  And no, we didn't have to get a tree today... I just had my heart set on it because it was Jesse's last day off before a busy busy busy few days and I reeeeeeeally wanted to get a tree. 

Plus I had the monkey bread all ready!

Everyone knows what monkey bread is, right?  (Sugar covered dough balls covered in more sugar, butter, and cinnamon)  My Mommy always made it Christmas morning and I'm thinking of making it a "Tree Day" tradition for us.

As you can see, when you don't cook it thoroughly, the middle is kind of gooey and gross.  But if you eat the outside no one cares ;o)

But back to the tree.  And not being able to find one.  I may or may not have had a mini meltdown in the car because my Tree Day dreams were about to shatter... (I know, I overreact just a tad at times.  It's not like we couldn't go get a tree in three days or something.  But stay with me!) 


The meltdown went something like this, "Waaaaaa I miss America.... waaaaa... I just want to be somewhere where you can cut down a real live fresh tree like in NEW YORK WAAAAAA... waaaaa..."  

So we tried Globus.  But the trees were kind of funny looking... mostly short and stout and a little bald on top.  So we didn't even ask the prices.  We just got some euro from the ATM and hit up the little garden market that's right near Globus... same place we got our plants for the garden!

Not gonna lie... it is the most expensive Christmas tree in our four and a half years of marriage.  55 euro!  If you aren't in the mood to figure out the most recent euro-dollar conversion then just do like I do and add about 30%.  And then gag a little like Jesse. 

I know we could have gotten one cheaper if we were more patient (and by we I mean me!) but I really really wanted to go home with a tree after all the prep and dragging the girls out and hitting the commissary for groceries and driving to two bases looking for a tree place that was open and THEN a meltdown! 

Jesse's so good to me :o) 

And look!  I have a real chimney to hang our stockings on!  And I framed this fun little scrapbook page we decorated at MOPS.  That's about as far as my decorating goes ;o)  

I'm a happy, happy girl now.  We had our Tree Day... maybe not just like I planned, but we had it all the same :o)  We made some more fun family memories and we're all decorated for Christmas!  We even had Lily help us a little with decorating the tree (she ran the ornaments to me after Jesse put the hook on them).  We ate monkey bread and listened to Christmas music and enjoyed a cozy fire all evening! 

I love Christmas.  Thank you Jesus for bringing us a season like this that warms our hearts and coming for the Reason that changes our hearts. 

Tree Day

I call the day we get our Christmas tree "Tree Day" and someday (when I'm not super pregnant and am more motivated to actually plan and do a few things) it will be a lovely day filled with some fun traditions. First, we want to go cut a tree down. This is very important to me...I've dragged Jesse out to do it every year since we got married...but alas, this is not possible on the Gulf Coast.

Instead, you go to places like this...where they help you take out a mortgage to pay for a lovely "fresh" tree. (Wisconsin?? Really? There aren't ANY trees closer than Wisconsin??)

Seriously, these suckers are expensive! It felt a little like we were being robbed...given what we've paid previously in NY. BUT you just *have* to have a nice smelling, fresh tree! And the guy actually gave us a break, which was very nice of him...we got an 8-foot beast for the same price as some of the 6-footers. (And it really is a lovely tree, despite the fact that it cost almost twice the amount of a fresh tree in NY.)

They even helped Jesse load it onto the car after I cut off my arm and leg so we could pay for it ;o) (Note: we did *not* make the same mistake as last year...you know...the one where we tied ourselves out of the car because we went through the windows instead of the open doors with the rope?! One of our more brilliant moments...and an excellent Christmas memory!)

And here's LJ getting ready for bed after her bath. We had intended to have her watch us set it up from the pack n play after dinner...but we didn't realize till then that we had no lights. The fact that we had no lights is actually our Christmas Mystery. We aren't sure WHY we don't have the white lights we've been using...we just both knew for some reason that we didn't have them. We checked around in all the places we now have boxes, but came up empty. And we both had this weird feeling that something had happened to the lights and we'd decided to chuck them and get new (broken, maybe? we'd wanted to upgrade to LED?). Except we clearly forgot to get new :o) And we clearly forgot what happened to the old lights. But we *have* had an eventful year...so we just moved on!

So instead of watching us decorate, Lily got to go with us to Walmart (just down the road) for lights and hot chocolate. Which reminds me that the other traditions associated with Tree Day are monkey bread, hot chocolate, and Christmas music/Christmas movie while we decorate the tree. There was no monkey bread, as Momma was not in the mood for baking. And there was no hot chocolate in the house, as Momma is taking a vacation from being organized, apparently. Oops! :o)

Side note: after putting LJ to bed, we realized we'd bought the kind of lights that have white cords, not green. Um...this just wasn't going to work for me...so after a heated round of rock-paper-scissors where I lost terribly, Jesse went to go exchange the lights for the right ones. (I know...I lost, but he went...one of the many perks of a pouty-face and a laaaaarge pregnant belly! :o) And a good husband!)

So then we drank hot chocolate, watched a movie, and decorated the tree. Ta-da!

And in case you're just desperate to ask (I know some of you are!) no, I'm still not having any real contractions :o)

Hi due date, bye due date!

At least we had a nice Tree Day!