Oh Christmas Tree

Saturday morning we headed out to the Christmas Tree Farm to get our tree for the year. There had been much discussion over who was going and how many were going...last year was nothing short of an horrific experience owing to my desire to find the perfect tree and Kailin's tantrum prone two year old unreasonability. We vowed that this year we would bring no children at all. As November wore on and it became clear that Kailin's attitude toward Christmas this year had come full circle and that she was entirely ecstatic about the whole thing, we both agreed that Kailin would come with us. Colby was another question. Part of me said that it would be a much more enjoyable experience if we left him home but the mom part of me said that he's part of our family and to go off and enjoy a family tradition without him wouldn't be fair. In the end, we didn't plan ahead enough to get a sitter for him and I decided that I would keep my cool at all costs and that if we came home treeless on Saturday it was no different than if we hadn't gone at all. We packed snow pants and boots for both kids (remembering that last year we'd had a hard time with cold (and the dropped mitten incident)) and headed off.

Kailin was BESIDE HERSELF with excitement! She took in every single detail of the whole event. Colby, sadly, fell asleep on the way and was much less sure! Still, we rode the tractor out to the fields and hopped off. Kailin picked every tree as the one for us. Steve and I did laugh about some really huge ones and some really Charlie Brown ones. One of the guys at the farm said that you should look for the tree you want regardless of it's size. Since the farm we use charges per tree and not by size, he said there was nothing wrong with cutting down a tree and then just cutting off the portion of it that you want. Good point. Anyway, if they charged less for small trees, we might've picked up a Charlie Brown special for the kids room! Steve took some time to teach the kids about burrs. Partly for the wow factor of something natural that works like velcro and partly for cautioning Kaillin against getting any in her hair! Both kids were duly wowed. Ha ha.

Colby was mostly hanging in there when we found our tree. Steve cut it down and we started to carry it up to the wagon stop when Colby decided he wasn't ready to go just yet. In typical almost two year old fashion, he just stopped. I could see him, so we said goodbye and walked on. One thing about Colby - he'll call your bluff. He became engrossed in some plants and didn't give a rat's rear end that we were leaving without him. He said "No!" quite sassily a few times and it became clear that I'd have to go and retrieve him. About that time a good Samaritan whose tree choosing companions were "going to be awhile" (according to him) came up with a tree cart and helped us lug our pick to the wagon stop. Just as we arrived, so did the wagon. We climbed aboard and off we went. Kailin was still elated at the experience and I just soaked it in. I watched her boots lying between Steve's and just reveled in my blessings. That sounds sappy and cliche, but truly I did. I thanked God right then for blessing me in life.

We got back to the big barn and headed in for some hot apple cider while they shook our tree and netted it. The kids loved the cider and we ended up back outside to get out of the way. Kailin noted that one tree with a particularly long top (it turned out to be ours) looked like a helicopter as it jiggled on the de-needler machine. She was right! Steve took Colby to get the Jeep and Kailin and I went in to pay. It wasn't until after they'd swiped my card and I'd signed the slip that the cashier commented to another cashier "Well Discover does work in this machine!" The other cashier said it would later reject. I said I'd go get another card and while I was at the car, I put Kailin in. I went back in and thought to ask what would happen if by chance both charges went through. I didn't mind paying with another card, but I didn't want to pay twice! The cashier asked an older woman whom I presume is one of the owners and she said that they do take Discover. So now we either got a free tree or we paid only once, but either way is okay with me.

I went back outside to claim our tree and the same older woman had now come outside. As I grabbed our tree she commented, "wow - now that's a big tree!" Hmmm... I had thoughts of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation where they unleash the tree and the branches bust through all the windows. As many know, our luck with trees is not good. Three years ago our tree flew off the roof of the Jeep as we drove it home and for the past two years, we've had issues with it falling over out of it's stand. So window breakage is probably not out of the question for us!

The trip home was uneventful and the whole trip was a very fun family affair. I will look back on it and smile - and I will try to remember times like those when the times are rough and the kids are anything but angels. We brought the tree in while the kids napped (in theory). I was a little worried that maybe Colby would feel a need to cover his head at all times, but so far so good!

This was a great way to kick off our Christmas Season. It is truly a new experience to see this holiday season through the eyes of an excited child and I'm going to do my best to enjoy each and every moment of it.