Christmas Tree Extravaganza

I cannot stop giggling about this. I never imagined that the sock Jackson's school asked for would become the Baby Jesus.



So, last night we had the Jones Family Annual Christmas Tree Hunting Extravaganza. I have great memories of my family going to get our tree growing up, so I like to do it up right. The Moore family highly prized a good tree and we always got the biggest, fullest one we could fit in our living room. So that is what I carry in my heart when we go to find our Jones Family Tree.

Every year Curt threatens to get us a fake tree. One year we got a nice pre-lit tree but Beckham was a puppy and he ate (chewed and swallowed) the light clusters off the bottom two feet of the tree. That one goes on our porch now. I'm actually allergic to pine, so I'm always slightly tempted to give in to this sacrilege, but when it comes down to it we get a real tree. They're just so much more festive!

Okay, so I thought last night would be so fun. The last two years with Jackson have really been neat and now he's older and understands more. I always take my camera to document the process. Well, we had a boy who hadn't napped, a camera battery that died before one picture could be taken, and two parents who were at odds about the price range of tree we should be looking at. The garden center we were at advertised "Most trees $35," so this became Curt's expectation. Well, the first tree I pointed out to my husband ended up having $189 on the price tag. Once I knew that, of course I didn't ask for that tree, but maybe that will illustrate the difference in our taste. That was not a good way to start off because it put us both on the defensive.

I was ready to fight for a middle-ground tree. I like the trees where the branches are sticking straight out and not up. Those were doable, in my opinion. Then the Lord reminded me that at lunch that very day, I praised myself TO MY HUSBAND for being such a submissive wife. Ha ha ha ha! There is so much wrong with that statement! Seriously, I am laughing so hard at myself today. (I'm not telling whether he agreed with me or not.)

So I submitted to my husband and the $35 tree. It was hard, y'all. I really like a grand tree. But I was highly aware that the Spirit of Christmas was not being displayed in my person. I put a smile on my face and said, "I love it!" I'm not sure how believable I was. But one thing I know is that God blesses me when I submit to my husband. If He wanted to, He could give me the grace to believe it was the most beautiful tree that has ever graced any home and He could even take away its ability to make my nose run. On the other hand, if I fought for the one I really wanted and got it, he could make all the needles fall off by next week and it might have some kind of termite living in it that would infest my house. YOU JUST NEVER KNOW. Or maybe the blessing would just be that I wouldn't be in a fight with Curtis. Which is a very valuable thing in itself. Hubs did very cheerfully let me buy two live wreaths when we were checking out, so that was a bonus. Incidentally, together they cost more than the tree.

So the Jones Family Tree of 2008 is up and decorated in our living room. Of course, its placement took some compromise and working together. The couches have been rearranged and everything. But it looks great and Curtis and I are still in love. Jackson did not get to decorate it with us due to his extremely sour mood and having to go to bed early, but his expression this morning when he first saw it was priceless.

Here are some pics of Jackson investigating the tree. He was immediately drawn to the little red and silver ball ornaments that I just bought. They're not breakable, but don't tell him that. He's not allowed to play with them and it's killing him. He keeps telling me how he wants to bounce, bounce, bounce! them.





The tree is prettier in person, but I think that's true of every photographed Christmas tree. I apologize for most of the ornaments being clustered at the top. That is of course because of the boy. Also, check out the old school tinsel that Curt requested this year. Well, I'm saving the rest of our pics for BooMama's Christmas Tour of Homes!

Gotta run. Time to get ready for our Babymoon/Mega-Date Weekend!

PS - Jackson told me his head boo-boo was itching this morning, so I took a look at it. I hadn't seen it in a while since you really have to dig through his thick hair and he puts up a fight. But today I saw it...and I almost threw up in his hair. It was so disgusting! Little boys and their scabs! Ugh!