After Church we went on the hunt to find our tree! So thankful for Brittney and her girls for coming along with us and assisting in the process! :) I first went to Lowe's and they didn't have a single Nobel Fir Tree in their lot...they said they'd sold out of them and wouldn't have anymore in until Tuesday. Brittney re-conned the local Boy Scout lot for me, but they were super expensive. While I was driving back, she called Home Depot for me and hit the jack pot! Their lot was at least 5 times the size of Lowe's and they had more than enough trees in every size category to choose from.
Once we arrived at Home Depot, it didn't take us long to find a nice tree. One of the guys who worked there was nice enough to help us out. He went and picked two different trees and cut them open for us to look at and compare! It only took two trees and we found "the tree" for this year. It's a tad smaller than we normally get, but I wanted one that was on the smaller side, so that it was easier to work with on my own. Below is a picture of myself and the kiddos with "the tree" and then the next one is with the kiddos and the "helpers."
After we picked our tree, we got in line to pay for it and to have the bottom freshly cut and the tree bagged! There was a sweet couple behind us and as we were walking to our cars, the husband came over and asked us if we needed any help getting the tree onto our car. I thought that was super thoughtful and it was very much appreciated. We didn't actually need help because Brittney had her truck and we just tossed it in the back, but I sincerely appreciated that that gentleman was kind enough to offer to help.
Once the tree was in the truck, we decided it was definitely time for some lunch. So we loaded up the kids in our cars and drove them to In-N-Out! We decided to eat there and to just enjoy a nice lunch out together! We had so much fun and everyone enjoyed the food!
After lunch, we went home. I put Hudson down for a nap and Madison went into her quiet time. Brittney dropped her girls back off at home and she came over and helped me get the tree in the stand (I bought a new one this year) and then she helped me get it in the house. Thank you again Brittney! I had so much fun with you today and really appreciated you taking time to not only help me find the perfect tree, but to also help me get it in the stand and into it's perfect spot! Here is the tree before it was all decorated.
This year, I decided to put our tree where our old cat tower used to be. Hudson is a very busy little man these days and is quite mischievous, so I thought having the tree out of his reach was probably best! Thus, we came up with a new spot! I think I like it here!
Last year, my parents bought us new colored, twinkling lights for the tree because I was having trouble finding them. Then, they decided to get a fake tree (gasp) and so they gave us their old colored, twinkling lights as well. So, this year, I bought a smaller tree than we've ever had, but I used more lights than I ever have. We normally use around 4 strands of lights. I used either 5 or 6 strands this year (and they are the same size strands as the ones I normally use). I LOVE all of the lights.
Once the lights were on the tree, I went and told Madison we were ready to hang the ornaments. We had so much fun doing this together. She has gotten much better at placing ornaments in just a year's time! Alex and I like to collect ornaments from everywhere we've lived and everywhere we've visited. So, when we put the ornaments up, it's sort of like looking through a scrapbook. Pretty much every ornament we own, tells a story! We had about 7 new ornaments to add to the tree this year. I LOVE ornaments! I actually had to not put them all up this year since we have a smaller tree, they simply wouldn't all fit. I made sure the really important ones made it up. Madison and I took pictures of each other putting ornaments on the tree and we both talked about how we missed daddy and wished he could be here with us helping, but we also talked about how we are so thankful that we have all of these wonderful memories to think about and hold onto until daddy comes home!
Part of me felt bad that we decorated the tree while Hudson was napping, but reality is, that I don't think we would have been able to accomplish very much if he'd been up and trying to help. Hopefully next year, he'll be able to help us :) Below is a picture of our finished tree. I think it turned out pretty nice, if I do say so myself!
When Hudson woke up from his nap, I brought him over to see the tree (unfortunately I didn't have anyone there to capture the moment on camera) and his eyes lit up. He was so excited to see the tree and all of the twinkling lights.
We had an early dinner tonight since the kids had AWANAS. Once they were finished up, we headed off to church. Tonight was Store Night. All semester long the kids earn points which are converted into AWANAS dollars and then once a semester they have store night and they get to buy things with their AWANAS money. Tonight, Madison bought a tin Hello Kitty purse and a hot pink bubble wand. Her Sparks team also came in first place tonight for most points and so they were given the chance to go to the treasure box and pick out a candy. Madison picked a pack of Starbursts. She also received her second green jewel tonight. She is working on finishing up her requirements for her third red jewel, so hopefully she'll receive that next week.
When I drop Madison off at her Sparks class, I also take Hudson to his Puggles class. Tonight I was able to snap a picture of him walking to class wearing his cute little Puggles backpack.
Isn't it just the cutest?!?
Hope you all have a great start to you week!
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