I am a live tree type of girl.  There is nothing like picking out a tree, bringing it home and having that feel and smell.  That is Christmas to me.  But if you recall- we have had a few Christmas's where things just did not work out.  Before Paige, we didn't really get a tree.  We still spent most Christmas mornings at my parents house (Especially when Mikaila was so little- she still required us to be there at 7am).  

The first Christmas with Paige, I can't remember how we got our tree.  In fact, since she was born the morning after Thanksgiving- I can't remember a whole lot about that Christmas- Blame it on the lack of sleep.  The 2nd Christmas we went out to the mountains and cut down the perfect tree as a family.  I had really hoped to make that a family tradition.  But then the next year, money was a little tighter and it did not work out.  So Justin took me to Home Depot to get an "Affordable" tree.  I actually cried.  How are you supposed to pick out the right tree when they are all wrapped up?

Last year, once again it was not going to work for all of us to cut down the tree together, but I asked Justin to cut one down while he was dropping the nephews back to their house in the mountain.  He came home with 3 Christmas trees- all of them reminding me of a Charlie Brown moment.  But he had some good intentions (Saving money), so- even though we could only put about 1/2 of our Christmas ornaments on the tree- I tried to make peace with it.

So this year, I was getting my tree.  The Sunday after Thanksgiving we headed to a local lot and picked out a beautiful tree in our budget.  I was so excited.  We hung ALL of our ornaments.  Our house looked & smelled like Christmas

  

 On Tuesday Morning- I was looking for a necklace that Paige had "Borrowed from me".  We looked behind the chair in her bedroom where she "hides" when she is doing something she should not.  No necklace, but we did find several ornaments.  While putting them back on the tree, I realized- despite care from us- our tree was DEAD. With over a week an a half til Christmas, I knew we were going to have to do something about it.  So, while at Wal-Mart for something else, I bought a 6 1/2 foot prelit fake Christmas tree.

That night, Justin was HAPPY.  He has wanted a fake tree since he laid eyes on my parents beautiful tree.  Our tree is a lot smaller and much more fake looking, but it will not die and we did not waste more money on a real tree.  So we took the ornaments off, took the old tree out, vacuumed the needles, set-up the new tree and put the ornaments back up!  Then we passed out our Christmas gifts for the neighbors, had dinner and finished with one last homemade gift for Christmas!  What a night.

Overall- I am happy.  However, the first thing Paige wanted to know is if it spins like Nana's.  So our plan is to use this tree for the next few years- put away the money we would spend on a real tree and then buy a bigger, better tree that spins on Christmas clearance. 

This really fits in with the theme of this year for our family "Redefining Blessings!"