I'm stubborn about having a real Christmas tree. Ben doesn't care - he'd actually prefer to pull a plastic tree out of a box each year. But that just doesn't work for me. Maybe some day when the physical effort of a real tree is too much for us I'll change my ways.
Our trouble this year was space. I kept going back and forth in my mind about what size, if any tree at all, we should get. The boys made that decision for me. They demanded we have a tree, their excitement was contagious so I decided we'd make it work.
Friday after Noah got home from school I took the boys to find a tree. Ben couldn't come along because he was headed out to some basketball games. So it was just the three of us - my first time cutting a tree down without help from Ben or my dad!
We did great! Noah was in charge of the map and telling us how much each tree cost (according to the tag on the tree and the chart on the map). Levi measured how big the trees were. See, before we left home we stood in the corner of our house where the tree would go and held our arms out to see how wide it could be.
And then we found it! The perfect tree! I didn't really tell them to get together to pose for this picture - but suddenly they were ready. Noah was prepared to be helpful with his work gloves. Levi, not so much.
While I sawed the tree down, Noah helped to steady it and Levi made sure my camera was out of harms way. Then it was time to haul it back to the barn. During our journey, in which I carried the trunk end of the tree and Noah carried the top of the tree, I had to take a couple of breaks. My arms were shot from sawing and so I needed to rest two times. After the second break, Noah told me that I was weak because I am old and he hadn't needed a break because he young and strong. Thanks Noah, thanks a lot. I feel so, so much better.
After a good long shake, our tree was put in our truck ready to come home with us.
Except for last year (when I got a tiny -yet real- table top tree from Dillons), I've gotten all my Christmas trees from Pine Creek Farms just outside of Goessel. This barn always looks this way and I love it.
Today we took the tree from naked to decorated. Levi helped me unwrap the ornaments and it was wonderful to hear him explain each one with excitement.
We had to move a piece of furniture out of the way to make room for this big tree, but I'm glad we did. It's good to have a real tree glowing in our house. It was fun to go out with the boys to find it and bring it home to enjoy.
The Christmas tree tradition is growing at our house. This is the first year I remember the boys having such distinct opinions about it. It's lovely that it worked out.
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