Tree's Up!

The holidays have just gotten a bit easier. The boys are now old enough to put most of the tree together by themselves. I just sit back and take pictures and wait until they call for me to put the lights on.

I miss the days of having a real tree. I have to light a Yankee Candle to give me that necessary everygreen scent. But my fear of a house fire trumps my need for a live tree. And besides, this tree was free. Yankee Candles it is! (Light a candle? In a house with 3 curious children? Does this make any sense at all as a way to avoid fires?)

It was a nice, relaxing day. The boys never got out of their pajamas. Obviously, I didn't even comb Nick's hair. And Blake was extremely excited to break out the Playmobil nativity. Nicholas came up with the idea to put a train around the base of the tree. It was GeoTrax, not a fancy Polar Express train, but you work with what you've got.

How cute would this picture be if you could just see Lexi's eyes? The downfall of thick spectacles.

Alexis wasn't sure what to think of a big tree in her space. She couldn't decide if she wanted to touch it or not and then kept blowing on the lights, trying to get them to blow out.

Incidently, I think we can officially call Alexis a walker. It's slow but steady and probably 90% of the time. We're so proud!! It's been a long wait (over 2 1/2 years) but it's amazing how much a milestone like this means when you finally hit it!
(I love the hands clasped behind her back.)

Once the boys put the ornaments on the tree she couldn't keep her hands off them. And so out came the gate.

We like to refer to our plastic gate decor as "safety chic".