Trimming the tree

We decorated for Christmas early this year. Okay, we do that every year, but this year we actually put our Christmas tree up before Thanksgiving. Usually, we do wait on that until after turkey day, but this year Kevin and I are flying to New York City the Tuesday after Thanksgiving to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. Since we will be in Livingston until Saturday, we'd prefer not to have to drag all the stuff out and then pack... It was a good excuse to start the holiday early is all I'm saying. This year, Canaan was the most enthusiastic decorator. He loved hanging the ornaments! He ran back and forth from the bins unwrapping, and exclaiming over each one, asking who it belonged to, and if he could hang it up. He had a wonderful time, and it was so cute. He especially enjoyed hanging the ones he has collected each year-- a toy story ornament, his baby picture, a truck, and this year's Lightening McQueen. He has inherited his Momma's zeal for the holiday. Judah also enjoyed trimming the tree. He hung a couple dozen of his favorite ornaments, and happily perched on top of the sub to get even higher to secure his favorites among its branches. When he grew bored with decorating, he removed himself to the couch and watched The Grinch, which was playing in the background. Annie was only 7 months old last year, so this is her first time to enjoy the tree and all the decorations. She loves the lights, and she enjoyed pulling the ornaments off the tree as much as Canaan enjoyed putting them on. We gave her a plastic ball ornament that she played soccer with, kicking it around the kitchen. Her ornament this year is a tennis shoe (tiny and covered in pink glitter with a rubber sole and shoe laces, but too small even for a newborn). She smiled with delight and said, "Shoe!!" She then tried to put it on her own foot, stepping on top of it, and growing frustrated that she couldn't figure it out. Eventually she gave up, and settled for putting on Judah's crocs and triumphantly strutting about the living room. The girl loves her shoes! I told Kevin this was my favorite year of decorating the tree so far.