Tree trimming!

Next year remind me not to show the kids the tree till it is fully arranged and lit.  I forget how many times children say, "Can we put the ornaments on NOW?". I even had them put the tree together this year by themselves, yet waiting for me to finish the lights was apparently torture!  

Next year I am going to cover the whole thing in saran wrap as seen here like my friend Monica suggested, lights and all, to save the hours of ornament questions. Sorry to whine, but we three have been fighting the whines all day, How do we fight the whines?; by beating it over the head with TOGETHERNESS and JOY DAD GUM IT! 

Dorathea took a rare and much needed two hour nap and when she a woke, WA LA, the tree was lit and ready for ornaments!

I bought receipt tape (from an office supply store) and use it every now and then to write verses to stick on my walls.  I need to keep certain beautiful words around me.  I liked this trend of using "Happy Holidays" ribbon as a tree garland, so I wrote out "Glory to God in the Highest and Peace on Earth Goodwill to Men".  I like it!

 Dorathea is holding an ornament of her baby photo.  

 These two have reached a new milestone; I didn't have to rearrange the ornaments after they put them on the tree!  They have learned how to evenly distribute them!  Its the small parenting victories that make me happy.

 The larger lights are ping pong balls placed on the lights.  I saw this pin 

and picked up a pack of 10 ping pong balls at the Dollar Tree. I slit a hole in them with a knife and just stuck them on 

I hosted a baby shower this weekend and wrote the Wordsworth poem below on the mirror with dry erase marker. I'm not ready to erase it yet.

The box below is another Pinterest find. I just placed the tree base in a stack of bricks inside the planter. 

This chalk art was for the party as well and is from this pin.

  I am in love with them, even if I whine about their whining.  I love that my family just enjoyed throwing two parties with me last week, and then happily helped me host my Dad and brother overnight last night. Sometimes it's the quieter hours at home that are harder.  Right now the house is quiet and peace has won the day.  I love my job even if it's hard and sometimes whiney,

-Allison