It’s looking like I should probably post something.  With all the hub-bub of the holiday season, something needed to give.  Unfortunately, it ended up being my blog posts.  Things have died down around here, so I found myself with some time this morning to share with you one of my favorite memories from this Christmas.

On Christmas morning, the kids woke us up a little after 7.  I am impressed with that time because I can remember being a kid and sneaking downstairs at 4am to see if Santa had visited yet.  We all head downstairs where the typical morning chaos ensues.  It was a whirlwind of paper flying, squeals of delight, and demands to open these new gifts.  It was everything a Christmas morning should be!

Once the commotion was over, I went around with a trash bag to pick up the discarded gift wrap.  Underneath the tree, nestled in the tree skirt, was a small box.  “What is this?” I asked.  I knew of every gift that was placed under the tree and I didn’t recall seeing that one before.  Just some FYI, my husband and I had agreed not to buy gifts for one another.  And I stuck to that, literally.  There was not one gift for him under that tree.  (Relax, he got plenty between his family and mine!)

The little box had a tag on it that read “To: Shannon From: Santa.”  While I opened the box, I gave my husband the classic WTF face.  Poor Kiki is bewildered.  “Mommy, what did Santa leave you? Why didn’t he leave Daddy anything?”

I open the box only to be blinded by this little beauty:

Pink sapphires with diamonds on the side!  Isn’t it gorgeous!

As I sat there dumbfounded and feeling guilty for really sticking to the “not exchanging” rule, Kiki says, “Mom, I think Santa wants to marry you!” Can you just imagine what her little 7 year old brain must have been thinking?  Santa is leaving something like that under the tree for Mom with Daddy right here?!  My husband did pull her aside a little later to inform her that the ring was really from him but he wrote Santa on it so I wouldn’t be mad at him for buying me a gift.

I love my ring, but I still feel extremely guilty for not buying him something in return.  So please, when the next Christmas rolls around, would someone remind me that the “no exchanging” rule is a big fat lie and that I do really need to go out and get him something!

From our family to yours… Merry Christmas!

A huge part of Christmas for us is the family traditions.  We have traditions that we do with my family such as opening presents at my parents’ house on Christmas Eve.  We have our own traditions blossoming within our little family like ordering pizza when we decorate the tree.  And with my husband’s family we meet at a local tree farm, usually the first or second weekend in December,  to find the perfect tree.

This past Saturday we met up with my husband’s parents, his brother, and one of our two nieces.  My SIL and our other niece were off to NYC to enjoy some mother/daughter time at The American Girl store.  We arrived at the tree farm around 10 in the morning with temperatures in the 20’s.  I’m not gonna lie, those temps are too cold for me!

When we arrived, the rest of the family was already out in search of their trees.  We grabbed our saw and hopped onto the tractor for a ride out into the fields.  We were the first ones on the tractor and as a result had to wait awhile for it to fill up.  It probably would have been faster for us to just walk out.  But it gave me the opportunity for some pictures.

Once we found the rest of our group, the hunt began.  Most years find us walking and perusing many trees until we find the perfect one.  This year the temperatures played a part in our decision making process.  Especially since AJ and my niece decided to be renegades and take off their hats and gloves. (Monkey see, Monkey do)!  I shiver now just thinking of that!

In the end, we picked a tree that has some scoliosis going on with its trunk and it’s shorter then we would normally get.  Personally, I think there were some nicer ones picked out but my husband insisted on the one we got.  He kept saying that if you looked at it from a certain angle it looked great.  My point was that if there is only one angle that it looks nice it is probably not worth cutting down.  Needless to say, that is the one we cut down and brought home!  I think our search was over in 20 minutes tops!

Back to the main entrance of the farm we went.  This is my favorite part because there is a little barn with hot chocolate, cookies, and of course, Santa!!  Kiki and my niece sat on his lap.  AJ wanted no parts of it.  But he enjoyed the cookies (many cookies actually!)

After we warmed our bodies with hot chocolate, we went into the next barn where my in-laws bought the kids each an ornament for the tree.  We bought some ourselves figuring this tree could use all the help it can get!!

By the end of the night our tree was decorated.  For all my doubts about it, it actually is a beautiful tree.