Monday, December 15, 2008

'tis the season

Every year I tell myself that next year, I will have all of my Christmas shopping completed by the first week of December. I will have our Christmas photographs taken and all of our Christmas cards written and mailed out by the second week of December. On the work front, the only paperwork that will be required is a time sheet that I need to complete indicating the last two weeks of the year, I'll be taking off on vacation.

But every year, it seems that none of those things happen.

Instead, around the third week of December, I find myself totally buried in "other" activities when I remember that I still have a tree to buy and decorate, Christmas photographs to take, Christmas cards to write, presents to pick out, work to do and the only way to successfully cope is to bake cookies!


The good news is we do have a Christmas tree.

(And four dozen gingerbread.)

It's a five-foot number that I picked up one day last week while Charlie was out of town on a business trip. I had contemplated buying two trees, a smaller "children's tree" that they could decorate ... and a larger tree that would hold all of our heirloom ornaments. But once I saw what the children did to their smaller tree, I reconsidered the larger tree.

Each and every ornament on their tree has been carefully placed, removed, placed, tossed, kicked around, placed, removed, placed, removed, strung up on random cabinets throughout the house, placed all on one branch, removed and tucked in to assorted bags at least once.

But the kids love that tree.

It's become a ritual for them to dress up in various clothes (or not) and re-decorate the tree every day. They will hold hands and dance around it wearing bathing suits or a magic cape and hat. I doubt there is a Christmas tree that has been handled decorated as heavily as our tree. It will be a Christmas miracle if it has any needles remaining come December 25.

Saturday, I took the girls to see the Nutcracker.


We were joined by the "girls" of two other triplet families. There are four of us moms who have been getting together since our triplets were infants, and as nice as it is to see our children grow up together - it's even nicer to have the friendship of women who face many of the same trials and tribulations.

When my girls saw how all the little children clustered under Mother Ginger's dress, they tried to recreate the scene while we were standing in line for the restroom. One minute I'm talking to my friend, the next minute, I am wondering why my dress is hoisted up to my hips and my girls are standing beneath it.

We had a great time and are excited about yet another new Christmas tradition.

Although, I really do think that white tights on men should be outlawed.

14 comments:

  1. Cute idea. Although the manger and reindeer sliegh, etc are still being worked on, we're past the redecorating tree phase. Which I hate to say but now I'm thankful...I have a "my tree" and a "their tree".

    Cute pics of the girls. (In total agreement about the white tights!) Love, Marg.

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  2. The girls looked so precious in those darling Christmas dresses. I haven't taken Christmas photos for my cards yet either. I did bake cookies yesterday, so clearly we are on the same page! :)

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  3. The pictured with the girls in those beautiful coats with the umbrealla are gorgeous!

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  4. THe girls look absolutely adorable in their beautiful matching coats. And it's wonderful they have a new tradition to enjoy.

    I particularly loved the circle around the tree with the top hat, cape and bathing suit.

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  5. The picture of your girls are precious!!!!!!!!!

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  6. Elizabeth and Carolyn are too adorable! Merry christmas and happy ne year to you, Charlie, Elizabeth, Carolyn, william and Henry! P.S> I love your blog! You could publish it as a memior one day!

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  7. Going to The Nutcracker with my mother and grandmother was a tradition of mine all through my childhood (now it's unfortunately been years since we've gone). Such a lovely tradition, and a classic story.

    The girls look so adorable in their Christmas outfits!

    I agree -- the white tights on male ballet dancers is just... ugh. haha. They must wear protective gear in there too, non? Always have quite a package to display... LOL.

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  8. Those are beautiful pictures of the girls!

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  9. The visual of the girls trying to imitate Mrs. Ginger's dress cracks me up!

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  10. I LOVE THE CHILDRENS TREE. wHAT A GREAT IDEA. yOU CAN SAVE ALL THOSE FANCY ORNAMENTS FOR WHEN THEY ARE ALL GROWN UP--BUT THIS IS THEIR TREE AND IT IS WONDERFUL THAT THEY CAN ENJOY IT. THE GIRLS LOOKS SO HAPPY TO BE ON THE TOWN. ISNT MOTHERHOOD FUN?
    COOKIES LOOK GOOD TOO.
    NONI

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  11. My children harassed me about putting the Christmas tree up, and once 1/3 of the box of ornaments were out storage, the children complained about the decorating of the tree. I think that getting a smaller tree is the way to go.

    I love that second to last picture. That should be the Christmas card, if I'm able to vote :).

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  12. When I came to your blog tonight I was expecting to see, once again, the "BEST" Santa/Kids picture. Every year, I send that picture off to Ellen... but she never shows it on television. Please post the "BEST" Santa/Kids picture for everyone to see! You know which one I'm talking about...LOL!

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  13. Looks like tons of fun!

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  14. Your children are so beautiful and precious! We have twins (boy and girl) who are 3-1/2 years old. Sending you positive vibes and energy galore for this holiday season and the year to come. You're a wonderful mother and an inspiration to me!

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