Oh, Christmas Tree

-
We still, and probably will always, have a live Christmas trees. Maybe it is not the easiest or most environmentally friendly choice, but I love it. The smell is something I look forward to all year long. This year, Griffin was so much help. He helped Bruce big time with putting on the lights.Lucy was happy to eat her "O's" and watch the show, Sunshine was happy to be the vacuum cleaner. Even though Sunshine is a solid 12 1/2 now and sleeps most of the day, whenever all 4 of us are in the room together, she is sure to join us. I love that she still does not want to miss family gatherings. We are so thankful to get yet another holiday with her.

I always put up the ribbon, I think it really adds that extra "something".

Griffin was so much help in hanging the ornaments, he did the bottom third of the tree. Every year for Christmas, we have given him his own ornament and so has my Mom so now he has his own little stash. This year he was really into looking at each one, talking about what it meant, how old he was when he got it. When we plugged in the lights it was like turning on his Christmas spirit. He was soooo happy, all smiles. We spent a lot of time talking about what he wanted for Christmas (oucho the dinosaur) what Lucy might want (he thought a rolling toy) and what he would leave out for Santa and his flying deers (cookies and broccoli). We sat for a good half hour in the dark, with only the tree shining and enjoyed our hard work. It was really special.

Comments

4cheeseheads said…
I enjoyed reading about the family bonding time you had while decorating the tree. We are the same and will always buy REAL trees, not those fake ones.

But this year we are missing out on it all. We are not going to be in Michigan for Christmas and didn't put a tree up. We are leaving next weekend for a 2 week Florida vacation to Fort Myers Beach. My mom, Carli, Mike and Riley will all be there too. I'm sad the kids don't get to experience the tree this year but instead I'll replace it with some cheesy Florida type Christmas celebration stuff (I'm scared what that may be?).

Anyway, your tree is gorgeous (as always). Griffin is a great helper and when I was a kid my family sat in the dark next to the newly lit tree and watched it too. It brought back nice memories for me when you mentioned that you do that too.

Love ya all.
Chanley
1:41 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Griffin is 19.

-
Image
My heart is all jumbled up on this big day.  Last July, Griffin moved to Muhlhausen; Germany to attend university and live with his love, Alicia.     He has regaled us with stories of exploring Berlin, using the train system on his one hour/each way commute every day to school,  embracing the traditions and holidays of his new community,  learning to live independently and all the responsibilities it entails and perhaps the biggest challenge of all...becoming fluent in German.   I am so proud of him.  This is what we raised him for, to be independent, to have big dreams, to work hard to make your goals a reality.  I am stunned by his bravery, joyful at his quest for adventure and impressed by his commitment.  And today, like most everyday, I carry a deep ache to hug my son, to go to bed and know he is tucked in safely just a few feet away, to make him a birthday fruit pizza and snap pictures when he blows out the candles.  I will content myself to video chat with my guy tonight and spe
Read more

Dr. Seuss Party, Part 1 Decor and Food

-
Image
I have to say,  Bruce and I totally knocked ourselves out to throw Lucy the best Dr. Seuss 4th birthday party that we could and I am pretty proud of the results!  It was a wonderful day for her and hopefully for all her friends that came. Our kids have LOVED the story The Lorax for a while now and were so excited to go see the movie.  Bruce had a brilliant idea to make his own truffula trees .  With some PVC pipe and spray paint he put these together.  I made the tops out of tissue paper (tutorials widely available).  Of course, once I got started on them, I just had to make some extras to hang around the dining room.  I used the extra paper to make a super colorful one for the front porch.  These were so easy and cheap to make, I highly recommend them as party decorations for all different types of themes!   I printed out some of my favorite Dr. Seuss quotes and gussied them up with some fancy paper cutters (Thanks, Lisa!)  and hung them around the dining room
Read more

Watch out world, here she comes! Lucy is a very sweet 16 today.

-
Image
  Our baby girl is 16 today.  This has been an extraordinary year for her.  She has dominated her academics, was a leader on her future problem solvers team, and was part of a marching band that competed in finals at the State level.  She is interesting and kind and bold in her own way.  We are so proud of the person she is becoming!  All that AND she recently received her acceptance email to the Gatton Academy !!  It is a two-year residential STEM program on the Western Kentucky University campus in Bowling Green, KY.  It's basically college with training wheels.  This was a goal she started with Grandad Lowbridge many, many moons ago and although we will miss her like crazy....I can't wait to watch my daughter SOAR!  Birthday Interview What activities/sports/clubs were you involved in this year? Marching band, academic team, literature club  What pets do you have? Cookie and Juniper  What do you want to be when you grow up? something to do with biology? Where is 1 place you r
Read more