O Christmas tree

In very much a Grizwald family fashion, we put up our first Christmas tree.

As we have been traveling a lot recently, Mike actually went out and bought the tree and put it up last Thurs and we decorated it on Sat.  I had given him strict instructions that the tree was to be no less than 6 feet tall.  And apparently we were late on the 8 ball because we had to go to 5 stores (Mike 4 without success, me 1 with success) to find a measly 2 strands of white lights.  I know some people might not find colored lights nearly as offensive as I do, but hey, I was raised on an 15 foot plus Christmas tree with more white lights than the Milky Way.  Who knew how stressful it could be to put 2 strands of lights onto a 6"1' tree?  Ellie of course broke our pickle ornament within seconds of us getting it out.  It was just a small fracture, but there were enough green shards of glass to...well I don't know what a lot of green shards of glass will do.  I was also accused of ruining the whole experience because of my strong (and likely oppressive) views on the Christmas tree (although there were no other suggestions or opinions offered).  Needless to say, the tree is up, and next year hopefully it will be an overall more enjoyable experience.

We did go to a holiday party at work and as we were sans sitter, Ellie got to come.  And get all dressed up.

It did get cold here for a few days.  Ellie looks so cute in her owl hat.

The dress got a reprise for her holiday breakfast at school.  Which I am proud to say I made it to.

Ellie and her teachers Ms. Teresa and Ms. Shekinah

By this point I had decided it would be best for me to sit back and take pictures.

The final product!

But I do love having the tree up!  It really wouldn't feel like Christmas otherwise.  Except for the daily infusions of baked goods, candy and treats brought into work by the nursing staff.  And Maestro sees to have chilled out a bit and isn't going as nuts over the tree as I thought he would.