O Tannenbaum (or, Have Yourself a Sappy Little Christmas)

You guys asked for pictures, so here's a picture of our resident tree expert choosing our Christmas tree. Yes, he makes his decision based on smell, and no, no one questions his judgement.


Is there anything more intoxicatingly festive than having a tree, an actual green, sap-dripping, pine-smelling tree, in your living room? Forget the lights and the ornaments and the bingle balls and who-foo fluff (uh oh, someone's been watching too much Dr. Seuss already), the smell of it alone is enough to make me joyful and triumphant.

But then, because it's Christmas, and because I do have a tender and unyielding love of all things shiny and glittery, we trimmed that tree like nobody's business. We oohed and aahhed over the ornaments: the hand made ones, the picture frames, the various farm animals, the big red ball. The kids hung theirs all together in a little clump, like they do, but didn't notice when I quietly rearranged them later. We listened to the same Christmas songs we listen to every year, and they were touching and magical all over again.
It was one tiny little day of our lives. And not even a holiday or milestone kind of day. Just a day to spend together, loving up our perfectly perfect tree.