One of our traditions that I think I have already mentioned, is to put up our Christmas tree on the day after Thanksgiving (unless we are visiting family, then it goes up as soon as we get home!). We do NOT put it up any earlier (of course, this could change if Brian was ever to be deployed around this time of year).
In recent years, Austin has had a blast helping. This year, was no exception! He was a big help getting the different branches of our tree sorted, then put onto the right tier. I think his favorite job is putting the top piece on! While I would LOVE a real tree, our lifestyle just doesn't allow for one right now. We will be travelling a lot and with a baby, a real tree would be more of a mess than I want to deal with. Maybe in a few years I can finally have a real tree!
This year, he also was a PRO at putting ornaments on. He knew just where to put each one and I didn't even have to spread them out after he went to bed! He did an excellent job spacing them out and not clumping them together.
We normally start with hanging our brand new ornaments that Bill and Mary gave us. This year, since we hadn't gotten them yet, we picked out a couple of Disney ornaments since we had just gotten back from there. Austin hung a Pluto Ornament that he got 2 years ago and Colten hung a Pluto Ball that wouldn't break if he threw it before I could help him hang it on a branch. :-)
I hadn't really gotten done with the lights before Colten needed to go to bed, so we let them put on their first ornaments (for a picture), then put him to bed. I finished the lights and then let Austin go to town with the rest of the ornaments.
Last year, we had two trees. The second one was a decorative tree in the dining room with specific colors that all coordinated. However, we didn't know how Colten would be with the trees, so we decided to only do one in case it was a full-time job keeping him away from the ornaments. Our tree is a hodge-podge of ornaments given to us throughout the years and I love it that way! It's always so fun to remember what year we were given each ornament and what the significance was. Some were even ornaments from our childhoods, either made or bought for us.
I really like how I did the lights this year. I put two strands of our lights on a twinkle setting and the rest of them are on continuously. It's different than what we normally do and sort of seems magical with the twinkle. :-) Maybe another day, I'll get a picture of it with the flash turned off so the lights show better. So far, Colten is doing really well with the tree. We only put ornaments that wouldn't break and could be hung on the tree without the metal hangers on the bottom. That way, if he did pull a few off, they wouldn't hurt him. He has pulled a few of the Disney balls off, but I haven't seen him bother anything in a few days.
This year, he also was a PRO at putting ornaments on. He knew just where to put each one and I didn't even have to spread them out after he went to bed! He did an excellent job spacing them out and not clumping them together. We normally start with hanging our brand new ornaments that Bill and Mary gave us. This year, since we hadn't gotten them yet, we picked out a couple of Disney ornaments since we had just gotten back from there. Austin hung a Pluto Ornament that he got 2 years ago and Colten hung a Pluto Ball that wouldn't break if he threw it before I could help him hang it on a branch. :-) I hadn't really gotten done with the lights before Colten needed to go to bed, so we let them put on their first ornaments (for a picture), then put him to bed. I finished the lights and then let Austin go to town with the rest of the ornaments. Last year, we had two trees. The second one was a decorative tree in the dining room with specific colors that all coordinated. However, we didn't know how Colten would be with the trees, so we decided to only do one in case it was a full-time job keeping him away from the ornaments. Our tree is a hodge-podge of ornaments given to us throughout the years and I love it that way! It's always so fun to remember what year we were given each ornament and what the significance was. Some were even ornaments from our childhoods, either made or bought for us. I really like how I did the lights this year. I put two strands of our lights on a twinkle setting and the rest of them are on continuously. It's different than what we normally do and sort of seems magical with the twinkle. :-) Maybe another day, I'll get a picture of it with the flash turned off so the lights show better. So far, Colten is doing really well with the tree. We only put ornaments that wouldn't break and could be hung on the tree without the metal hangers on the bottom. That way, if he did pull a few off, they wouldn't hurt him. He has pulled a few of the Disney balls off, but I haven't seen him bother anything in a few days.
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