Black Friday Makes Me Happy

Tomorrow I will be at the mall before the sun rises. I am so excited. Shopping on Black Friday is a new tradition for me. This is my third year. The first year I braved the stores with my mom, and it was fabulous. People were friendly, prices were good and I got to bond with my mom. Last year my step-mom went with me. After getting all our goods we sat down to a wonderful breakfast at the Nordstrom's cafe and really got to know each other. It was a turning point in our relationship.

Tomorrow my mother-in-law is waking up at the crack of dawn for some shopping and one-on-one time. I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to it.

From a shopping standpoint I have made a very short list of things to buy. A few necessities for the girls and birthday shopping for my husband. The most important man in my life turns thirty-three on Monday. Happy Birthday to him.

Personally I love early morning shopping because my kids and husband are sleeping. No one is going to notice or care when I spend an hour in Gymboree or Old Navy. Usually I feel guilty about shopping because it is time away from my kids and hard working husband. Black Friday is perfect "me" time, guilt free shopping for the people I love.

Making Christmas Memories with Halloween Candy

We have an abundance of leftover Halloween candy. I thought that since Halloween was on a Friday we would have a lot of trick-or-treaters. I was wrong. This is our leftover candy:

(This is just the top layer, there are 6 more inches underneath)

Earlier this week I had an inspiration. In a month we will be knee deep in Christmas decorations and traditions. One of our traditions is to make a gingerbread house. Every year we feel the stress of Christmas spending. Our tradition of building a gingerbread house begins with shelling out money for the ingredients.

This year I have eliminated that stress by going through our leftover Halloween candy and saving the items that are perfect for decorating a gingerbread house. The M&M's, Sweettarts, Now and Laters, and Skittles are all safely stored away for the day of gingerbread construction. Now the only ingredients that we need are assorted cereals and sprinkles which we will buy in limited quantities from the bulk section at WinCo.


Merry Halloween!

Caldwell Park

The picture that I posted for Wordless Wednesday got a lot of attention. I want to thank my husband for editing the photo. He did a fabulous job. Jeff was also the man behind the camera. I appreciate that. Not only because he is truly gifted with a camera but because while he was snapping away I was playing with my children.


These photo's were taken on the first day of our Christmas Vacation in the middle of our 12 hour road trip to California. We stopped at Caldwell Park in Redding so the kids, dogs, Jeff and I could run and play. I have very fond memories of this park. This is the second time we have stopped here. I think it will be a place that our children remember because once or twice a year we will continue to stop here.

Do you have any places like this from your childhood. A place where you visited infrequently, but is filled with memories? A place that sticks in your mind and as an adult you seek it out so you can see if it is as spectacular as you remembered.

My childhood place is Dennis the Menace Park in Monterey, California. When I was a child my aunt lived in Salinas. When we visited her she would take us to this park. If you are ever in the area, you should visit. It is truly as wonderful as I remember.

Caldwell Park in Redding does not have a great playground like Dennis the Menace Park. Caldwell Park has open spaces with old trees. It is a place where the four of us bind together as a family with the singular objective of having fun. It is a place where we stick together and create our own adventure. Our experiences at this park define our family. We love each other and we enjoy our time together.

When I look at these pictures I realize that I am living the life I always wanted with the family I dreamed I would have.


*This last picture was taken on our July visit.

Home, Sweet Home

We arrived home last night from our rather lengthly vacation. When we walked through our door Belle said to me, "My house! I thought I would never see it again!"

We had a wonderful time, rather than bombard you with all the details, I present...

Vacation Statistics:

We were in California for 11 days.
Drove 1753 miles with 2 kids and 2 dogs.
Visited with 24 different families in 8 towns.
And recorded the adventure with 1061 pictures on our new SLR digital camera

The drive home on New Years Day was accomplished on 3 hours of sleep, took 14 hours, and included 5 doses of cold medicine for the children.

I now have access to the internet, so I can sort through the 259 unread items in my Google Reader. I hope to start posting again soon, but for now I leave you with Picture number 857.

Anything?

Today Belle and I set out for the mall so Belle could pick out a Christmas gift for Jeff. Before we left Jeff pulled Belle aside to talk to her. He whispered something in her ear and then said, “That is what I really want for Christmas, but you can pick out anything you want.”

When we got into the mall, I knelt down next to Belle and asked her what her Daddy wants for Christmas. “I can’t tell you,” she replied. “It’s a secret.”

“Well honey, I need to know what he wants so we can go to the right store.”

“My Daddy said that I can buy anything I want for him and for you and for Ariel and for myself.”

Oh boy, am I in trouble.

After many minutes of negotiating, explaining and begging on my part, I finally extracted the information I needed. We set off for the appropriate store so Belle could pick out her Daddy’s gift. While we were shopping, Belle needed to use the restroom so we put our item on hold and attended to her needs.

While in the bathroom I asked Belle about the gift we had picked out. I wanted to make sure it was indeed the present that Jeff most wanted. “Do you think Daddy will like it?”

Belle responded with an unenthusiastic, “I guess.”

“Honey, I thought you said Daddy really wanted one of those.” I said.

“What Daddy really wants is a doll, a really big doll as big as me,” my daughter explained as her eyes drifted off tho the right as they tend to do when she is lying. I encouraged her to continue talking just so I could see how far she was willing to take this ruse. She continued with, “Yes, he wants the biggest doll we can find, one that looks like Pocahontas.”

“Are you sure that he doesn’t want a new razor to shave his face?” I asked.

“No. Daddy said that I can buy him ANYTHING I want,” she explained impatiently. “Daddy really wants a big Pocahontas doll or a bouncy ball. He told me to buy something for Ariel and for me too. ANYTHING I want.”

I was trying so had not to burst out in laughter, I almost fell over.

I managed to leave the mall with a gift I think Jeff will like. It’s not a life-sized Pocahontas doll or a bouncy ball but, I’m pretty sure Jeff will be okay with that.

Over the River and through the Siskiyous....

It's 10 pm. The car is packed, the kids are asleep, the dishes are washed, the coffee maker is set to start brewing at 3 am. Everything is in order for our early morning road trip. This is our third time making the 10 hour drive to California. We have it down to a science.

I hope that this trip goes better than our last one. After the last trip, we vowed to never return to California again. Obviously that vow was short lived. It's a hard one to keep considering the number of people we love that live in that God-forsaken place. God-forsaken is a little harsh, but let me tell you what happened last trip, and then you can be the judge.

I know you are all busy with your Christmas preparations, so I will reduce it to a short photo essay.

Our car DID NOT look like this when we embarked on our journey.

Nor did it look like this.
To be honest, I don't have any pictures of our beloved 540i before we drove it to California, but I can tell you it was pristine, as you can see from the parts of the car untouched by the accident.The good news: Jeff was the only person in the car at the time of impact.
The bad news: The car was totaled. The accident happened 12 hours before our vacation ended, and we spend a obscene amount of money on plane tickets so we could all fly home. Not exactly ideal when the reason we drove in the first place was to save money.

But that is in the past and what are the chances of something like that happening again? Wait, don't tell me. I don't want to know.

**Update - As I was falling to sleep I realized the my California readers may not appreciate the good-natured way in which I referred to their state. So I would like to say, ah hem...California has many great features which I love. For example Santa Cruz, the Bay Area, Monterey, the San Francisco 49ers and the Sacramento Kings. My gripe with California lies only in the cars that occupy the roads, and in particular Hwy 99 between Turlock and Elk Grove and the car that ran the red light in Modesto.**

Chocolate and Cancer

Someone got us a box of See’s candy for Christmas. I am not sure who this gift is from. I am sure that there was a card that went with it at some point in time, but last night the card was destroyed when the gift was unwrapped. So I would like to say thank you to the giver of the See’s candy. It was a really nice gift to give. All that is left of this delicious gift is little brown wrappers strewn across our living room floor like rose petals. The chocolate was devoured by Hercules in the middle of the night.

Yes Hercules, our dog who was diagnosed with cancer in October. Hercules doesn’t realize that he has lost 15 pounds and shouldn’t have the energy to sniff out the good presents and eat them. He can now cross “Eat a pound of chocolate in one sitting” off his “things to do before he dies” list. I wonder what else is on that list.

All you dog lovers know that chocolate is bad for our four legged friends. It’s supposed to make them sick, it could kill them. Does Hercules know this? Is his midnight snack a suicide attempt, or did he overhear us talking about the health benefits of chocolate to cancer patients and decide to self medicate? Who knows… One thing is for certain, our dying dog has not changed one bit. His body is failing and he is still a trouble maker.

I love you sweet dog, even if you did eat my chocolate.

You you want to hear another story of a dog pillaging the Christmas tree? Read "Someone's in the Doghouse" at Wonderful World of Wieners.

Hugs in Heaven

After writing my Friday post, “In Memory of Oma”, I called my Opa. Christmas is hard for him this year; this is his first Christmas in over 60 years without his wife. During our conversation the only time I heard happiness in his voice was as he talked about my Uncle coming home for Christmas.

For those of you who don’t know, because I have never bothered to explain this, I live in Washington State. My family and Jeff’s family, with the exception of some siblings, live in California – 650 miles away. Jeff and I lived in the Central Valley of California until three years ago. Our family is there, as are our friends.

After my conversation with Opa I really wanted to be with him on Christmas. While this is a wonderful thought, it isn’t feasible. Jeff and I have committed to live within our means. We withdraw a fixed amount of cash from each paycheck and make do on that amount. Because of this commitment we constantly drive cars that need gas; our refrigerator and pantry are empty every Saturday. (I am not exaggerating; I have turned away people collecting canned food for charity, because I don’t have any food to spare.) Our decision to live on a meager amount has drastically changed our lifestyle. Taking a 1300 mile round trip to California is not an option.

The thought of going home for Christmas stuck in my mind. The only thing that would make it possible is a Christmas bonus from work. A Christmas bonus would be a miracle. Not because I don’t deserve one, but because I have received two bonuses already this year. It would be asking a lot to expect another one.

On Sunday I told Jeff, “If I get a Christmas Bonus AND it is over “X” dollar amount, I want to go to California.”

Ever since the words pass my lips, I have prayed and I have asked other people to pray for a bonus. Yesterday my prayers were answered. I received a Christmas bonus and that bonus was two times more than I needed to justify a trip to California.

Have you ever bought someone a present that you know they are going to love? You watch them open it with anticipation. You wait for their face to register the surprise and then the thrill of receiving that gift. I have this vision of God looking down on me as I “opened” my gift. I can see him smiling and feel his love and happiness for me. In response, I want to give God the biggest hug humanly possible.

Three Smiles, Two Girls and One Mommy

Today was a girl’s day. I don’t mean one of those wonderful days when you get a mani-pedi, shop, and drink wine with your girlfriends. I’m talking about a day with my daughters, no daddy allowed. I shouldn’t say he wasn’t allowed, he is always allowed to spend the day with his girls. Today he was doing manly stuff. He put his house flipping skills back to work and tiled our neighbor's kitchen back splash.

What do I have to say about my girl’s day? It was difficult. Today was filled with constant fighting between siblings, disagreements just for the sake of disagreeing, not wanted to share but wanting to play with the same toys and the inability to hear their mother’s voice and follow instructions. My husband assured me that it is always like this and I shouldn’t take it personally.

Now that they are tucked in bed for the night I can say, it was a good day. We had our bonding moments. We went to a Christmas dance recital that our neighbor was in. Belle turned to me in the middle of a tap dance routine and said, “I love all the dancing Mommy.” I don’t know why that brought tears to my eyes.

We made salt-dough Christmas ornaments together. The shapes are cut and baked. We will save the painting for another day. When we were cutting out the shapes with cookie cutters, Belle said to me, “Mommy, you seem so mad.”

I smiled my biggest smile and said in my forced happy voice, “Oh honey, I am not mad. I just have to work really fast so the dough doesn’t dry out.”

In reality I was not happy. Ariel was spreading corn starch all over the counter, floor, her clothing and face. I had to work quickly with the dough and it wasn’t as much fun as I thought it would be. Belle’s comment made me realize that the memories we were creating had the potential to be good or bad. It was my responsibility to ignore the temporary mess and need to produce perfect ornaments. It was time to be silly and enjoy the process.

That was a turning point in the day for us. I would have rather had that moment at 10 am instead of 5 pm, but the rest of the day was stress-free nonetheless.

So my girls are tucked in bed and my heart is filled with love for them and gratitude that I got to share my day with them. Someday we will spend our girl’s days at the mall and the day spa. Until then, I’ll gladly take a day like today.

My kid would NEVER do THAT!

Christmastime is a great occasion to gather together with family. It is during these times that I get to hear the stories about Jeff’s childhood that he otherwise wouldn’t tell me. A couple of years ago I was shocked by this story:

Cousin 1: Do you remember the time we took those little white balls out of the bean bag and stuffed them in our ears?

Jeff’s sister: Yeah, and your parents were freaking out because they couldn’t get all the balls out of your ears.

Cousin 2: Jeff, wasn’t that your idea?

Jeff takes a big drink of beer to avoid conversation. He always gets uncomfortable when they start telling “Jeff” stories.

Jeff’s sister: Hey, do you guys remember the time Jeff stuck a marble up his nose?

Cousin 1: Oh, that was so funny!

Me: What? A MARBLE! How could he fit a marble up his nose?

Cousin 2: Oh, it was SO funny. His nose bulged out where the marble was.

Jeff has now gone to get another beer to avoid conversation.

Me: How did they get it out?

Jeff’s sister: They pushed on the top of his nose to force the marble out.

Me: Who, in their right mind, would put a marble in their nose?

So last night when my Christmas letter was interrupted by Ariel complaining about her nose, I spent a very short time trying to blow her nose before I got a flashlight and looked up her nose. As you know from last night’s post, she went to the doctor to have the object removed.

The doctor extracted this:

It is a bead that had come off her necklace. The removal was fast and easy. Doctors have tools for this sort of thing.

Ariel has inherited Jeff’s propensity to put objects up his nose. I hope she has learned her lesson, but just in case she hasn’t, I am removing all marbles and bean bags from my house.

Christmas Letter Interrupted

Merry Christmas Friends,

As another year comes to an end, we are struck by how much life changes so fast. Belle will be four years old in one short month. She is no longer a baby or a toddler. She is a preschooler, and a very happy preschooler at that. She loves going to her class and being with her friends. Friends she has made on her own accord. It’s amazing to watch her venture out on her own and experience life beyond her parents.

Ariel too has undergone so many changes. She is at that adorable two-year-old stage where her sentence structure is amusing and her voice is so sweet. She still needs her pacifier and blankies for comfort, and to be honest, I am not ready for her to give those things up. As long as she clings to these…..

We interrupt Mommy's attempt to write a Christmas with the following announcement:

Ariel has something stuck up her nose. Ariel is crying and all attempts to remove this object from her nose have failed. Daddy must rush Ariel to the Doctors office while Mommy stays home and worries about Ariel’s nose. Mommy’s attempt to write a Christmas Letter will resume when Ariel’s nose is cleared of all foreign objects.

Thank you for tuning in to today’s “Memories and Musings of a Mommy”, we hope to return to our regularly scheduled posting tomorrow.

The Feast of Saint Nicholas

One of our family traditions is the celebration of the Feast of Saint Nicholas. Saint Nicholas was a Bishop who served God by giving his wealth away to people in need. If you want to read more about his story, I recommend this website: "St. Nicholas, discovering the truth about Santa Claus".

Since this is only our 3rd year celebrating the Feast of Saint Nicholas, I managed to get my dates mixed up. Saint Nicholas Day is December 6th. Our family is honoring Saint Nicholas on December 9th this year.

We celebrate Saint Nicholas Day for a couple of reasons. When I heard the story of Saint Nicholas, I was thrilled to know that Santa Claus is derived from a real man who served God by giving gifts. I want my children to know the story of Saint Nicholas, just as they will know all about Santa Claus. The second reason we celebrate Saint Nicholas Day, is so we can wrap up and give Christmas Pajamas and Christmas Dresses to our girls before Christmas.

This year I wanted to present the story of Saint Nicholas in a way that would be entertaining to my children. I wrote down one of the stories of Saint Nicholas in a format they would like and created a makeshift book for our story time tonight. It was a big hit. I would like to share my creation.

The Story of St. Nicholas

A long time ago there
lived a boy named
Nicholas.

When he was young
his parents became
very sick and died.


Nicholas' parents left him with
more money then he could ever
spend.

But, he missed them very much
and felt sad.


Nicholas obeyed Jesus'
words to "sell what you
own and give the money
to the poor."

Nicholas felt happy when
he gave his money away.



Nicholas grew up
to be a Bishop.


This means he
worked at the
church and
served God.


Nicholas heard about
a very poor man with
three daughters.

The poor man wanted
his daughters to get
married, but he didn't
have any money for
a wedding.


One night Nicholas went
to the poor man's house
and tossed three bags of
Gold through an open
window.

The bags of gold landed
on the shoes that were
drying by the fireplace.


The next morning
when the daughters
awoke they found a
bag of gold in each of
their shoes.


The daughters were
very happy. They now
had enough money to
get married.



Tonight we celebrate
"The Feast of Saint Nicholas"
in honor of a man who
served God by giving gifts
to people in need.









All images were obtained from various websites using Google Images search.

Christmas Poem

I am struggling with gift giving this Christmas. I want to go Christmas shopping but, I don't have any money to spend and I really shouldn't rack up any more debt.

The problem lies in my love language. When I read "The Five Love Languages of Children" by Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell, I was appalled that one of the love languages is gifts. My exact reaction was "I hope none of my children have this love language, how would I deal with that!" I read a little further to find that the gifts love language manifests itself in a child treasuring each gift and remembering who it is from. Then it hit me, "Oh my gosh, that's totally me!"

I remember the sweater my future father-in-law picked out for me the first Christmas I spent with Jeff's family. I remember my dad bought me CV joints when I was 19 years old and my car was on it's last legs, literally. I remember Jeff hawked his ski's one Christmas so he could buy me an engraved locket with both our baby pictures in it. I remember the smell of the Coach Diaper Bag that Jeff surprised me with when I was pregnant with Belle. I remember the huge stuffed dog that my Aunt Gayle gave to me for my birthday when I was in High School.

I also remember the gifts I gave. The first Christmas after my parents divorced, I got my dad a coffee maker from Starbucks. When my younger brother was in high school I pitch in with my parents so we could buy him a car stereo. I remember buying my nephew a stuffed lion puppet when he was a toddler and before he was my nephew. I will even admit that for my first Christmas with Jeff, I bought him a shirt that matched mine.

Admittedly, I don't always picked the best gifts, but I have always given something. This Christmas, I want to find something for everyone and pay for it on credit even though I know I don't have the resources to pay off the credit cards. The only resource that I have is a Disney gift card earned with reward points from my Disney Visa purchases.

Here is a short Christmas poem to my family:

My heart and pocket book are having a tug of war.
I hope you want something from the Disney Store.

My Family as Elves

Have you seen this?


The elfin' greeting presented by OfficeMax®.

Click here to see my family spread some Christmas Cheer (and laughs).

The link will take you to Office Max's website.
This is not a paid post. It is purely for my amusement and yours.

Christmas Stories

After dinner last night, my girls asked me to read to them. Thanks to the boxes of Christmas stuff taking up my entire dining room, we have books about Christmas that have been in storage for a year. It's nice to have fresh material to read. I read them a cute book with a sheep finger puppet built into it. You tell the story of how the lamb went to the manger to see Baby Jesus and perform the appropriate actions with the finger puppet, very fun.

I love reading stories about the first Christmas but, after 5 times of reading that book, I was done. I went searching through our Christmas box for Max Lucado’s “The Crippled Lamb”. This one is about a crippled lamb that keeps baby Jesus warm in the manager. (I need to get some different books or my kids are going to think that Baby Jesus was raised by lambs.)

In my search for “The Crippled Lamb” I tossed a couple of other books on the floor to keep the kids occupied. They let me read “The Crippled Lamb” once and then they brought me a book I had discarded. “The Night Before Christmas”, you know “T’was the night before Christmas and all through the house….”

This book was a big hit. The girls were both worried about Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, “Why isn’t he leading the sleigh, Mommy?” They were enthralled with the stockings and Santa Clause and the presents. The girls even tried to figure out how to put their finger aside their nose, give a nod, and rise up the chimney. We read this book over and over until bath time. Ariel took the book upstairs with her and hid it in her bedroom so she could look at it after lights out.

Why is Santa Clause infinitely more interesting than Baby Jesus? Where is the cool Baby Jesus book where the Holy Infant does more than just lay in the manager? I really want my kids to know that Christmas is about love, not gifts. And when Christmas is about gifts, it’s about giving, not receiving. Should I resign myself now to the fact that just like my childhood Christmas Eve is going to be all about Santa?

What A Difference A Year Makes

Its time for me to come up with a Christmas letter to enclose with this years' Christmas Cards. I took a look at my 2006 letter to give myself some ideas. I thought I would share it with you.

We are excited to wish you a Merry Christmas. We have been very busy; let us tell you about it.

Belle will be 3 years old at the end of January. She loves creating “gates” made from a jump rope, aprons, strings of beads and anything else that ties. We find the “gates” at the bottom of the stairs, between doorknobs, chairs, and kitchen cabinets. Who knew that a she would be able to tie such elaborate knots at her age!

Ariel is now 1 ½ years. She is growing and changing so much. Recently she was “helping” Amy in the laundry room by removing clean clothes from the dryer. She grabbed a pair of her sister’s underwear and said “panties.” This was surprising. We had never introduced that word to her. Now we wonder what other words she has picked up and is waiting for just the right moment to share.

Jeff has taken on a new job. This summer, we decided to buy an investment house, to renovate and resale. We invited Jeff’s brother, Jon, up from California to work on the project. They have been working day and night 6 days a week on the house and it is nearly complete. It has been amazing to see all the ways that God provides for our needs.

Amy has been taking care of the girls and trying to keep the house in a reasonable state of disarray. On Jeff’s day off from the renovation, she goes to her job and takes care of all their office needs. When she gets home that night, she is excited to see her girls, and eager to spend another week with them.

Thank you for allowing us to share our lives with you. We hope your Christmas overflows with all the blessings that God has for you.

Now I have to get to work on my 2007 letter!

How Memories Are Made

This year we decide to cut down our own Christmas Tree. A couple of years ago we went to a Christmas Tree Farm where an employee cut down the tree that we selected. Today marks the first time we paid $5 to the USDA Forest Service for the privilege of finding and cutting down our own tree.

We started off the day by gathering everything we would need to take two girls and two dogs into the forest for a tree hunt. We packed a saw, food, hats, gloves and scarves to name a few. By 10:00 we were ready to leave on our hour and a half drive towards Mount Hood. Since it was a long drive I decided to put the kids in the car without their jacks and boots so they'd be more comfortable.

When we reach the end of our street Jeff realized he forgot a water dish for the dogs. We quickly turned around to get the water dish. Fifteen minutes later we were on the freeway. Jeff turned to me and said, "You made the sandwiches, right?"

"Ha, Ha, very funny," I replied. "I watched you make them, remember?"

Why do guys think it is so funny to scare us like this.

An hour later we had another conversation.
Jeff: You got Ariel's boots right?
Me: No, I thought you got them.
Jeff: I didn't get them, I thought you did!
Me: Your kidding, right?
He wasn't kidding.

We were able to find a snowboard rental shop that had boots. Unfortunately the smallest size they had was a 13. Ariel wears a size 8. Since Belle wears a size 10, we rented Burton boots for Belle and Ariel wore Belles boots. Both kids left the shop wearing boots several sizes too big for them, but at least they had something on their feet.

Our next stop was the Forest Station to get our permit to cut down a Christmas tree. They also gave us a map showing the approved areas to find a tree. The map lead us to a lovely location.

The girls and dogs had a great time playing in the snow while Jeff scouted out the tree situation. The great thing about the forest, is there are plenty of trees. But, we soon found out that Christmas trees don't grow in the forest. Forest trees are built for survival, not hanging cute ornaments on. Forest trees are crooked, not easily accessible and they tend to be covered with moss.

After a lot of hunting, changing our expectations, driving to a new location and hunting again, we found it. A perfectly strait tree growing out of an old stump right by a river. The timing couldn't have been better. The kids and I were tired and cold. Ariel wanted to go home and was refusing to walk.

Jeff asked me to take a picture of our tree in its natural habitat. He was perched on the stump next to the tree when he lost his balance. He fell off the stump and rolled towards the river. Luckily some other trees broke his momentum. The girls and I were a little freaked out. Jeff took a couple of minutes to catch his breath and build up the courage to climb on the stump again. I tried to help Jeff when Ariel yelled at me, "Mommy, DO NOT push my Dad into the river!" I took a minute to explain to Ariel that I love her dad and would never push him into the river.

Jeff got the tree cut down without further incident. We began our long trek back to the car. Jeff carried (actually dragged) the tree, while I carried Ariel and made sure we didn't leave Belle in the forest. Why a child walks so slow when you are carrying their 32 pound sister through the snowy forest, I will never know.

We got the tree home. We even had enough gumption to set it up and decorate it. So here is our Christmas tree. Lovingly selected from the forest and allowed to reside in our house until Christmas is over.