The Legend of the Christmas Tree

Oh the christmas tree! Can you think of anything else that kicks the season off more than putting up and decorating the tree. The boys always ask what day  we will be putting ours up. I usually have to put the DAY on the calendar. I wish I could say it starts off like a hallmark moment but well..... not really. I have 873 ornaments that need to go on the tree so that is about 5 tubs of ornaments that must be taken out of storage. The tree is a prelit 7' artificial tree (we all have allergies) which is way too heavy for me to put up by myself. I actually empty all of the ornaments out of the tubs and organize them as to what part of the tree it needs to be hung on. Once I have that chore out of the way then we begin acting out more of a hallmark scenario... kind of , remember I have 3 boys. We always have some bickering over who is doing what to the tree.  The boys love hearing the stories that go with each ornament. Each one usually reminds us of a special person or time in our lives. I keep all information (who and where it came from ) in my ornament journal so that I will not forget as time marches on .

The boys enjoy listening to the inspirational story of the tree which they know so well due to this wonderful book I bought years ago . I always read it the day before the tree decorating ceremony begins at our house . You can find more info about it here.

While  we work on the tree, we enjoy some gingerbread and sugar cookies that are shaped like bread twist and apples. You will understand why they are shaped like apples and bread twist once you read the story. I am always amazed at how the tree can cast such a magical spell on our family. It is the one night that I can count on peace and silence at our house. :)