Dinner tonight=Cupcakes and Hot Chocolate

Yes, that was our dinner but what better way to spend your night watching the movie Elf? We were definitely eating a "Buddy the Elf" dinner and the best part was that Emma did it all! Today we put up our Christmas tree which is always a day filled with a little stress, for me anyway..this year it came in the form of "we don't really know where we are going to get our tree, let's just keep driving until we find a Christmas tree sign..." well, that's not really how I operate but I have learned to let go, a bit..and wouldn't you know, we ended up at a great tree farm with beautiful trees...it's amazing what happens when you let go, just a little.

Owen, my middle son was the most excited about getting the tree, he always is..he loves to help pick out the tree, carry it to the car and help Steve bring it in the house. Sometimes I forget that he is getting older, stronger and more willing to help and more importantly, happy to help..I still see him as that adorable, chubby cheeked little boy and the truth is that he is my little man now...and he takes that role very seriously. He was truly disappointed that the colored lights did not work after we untangled the mess ( I am not a very organized "putting away the lights" person...) so I said, "well, this year Owen we will just do white lights on the tree." I have to admit, I love simple, white, clear lights and I was not that disappointed that the colored bulbs bit the dust but I could see the disappointment in Owen's eyes and the words that came next sealed the deal.."what's Christmas for if kids can't have colored lights on their tree?" So, if you are a mom you know what I did next..yep, sunday night, ran to Walgreens and purchased 8 boxes of colored lights, how could I not?

As I was putting the lights up with Owen my thoughts were not of how much I am going to miss the white lights but rather how much I am going to miss when there is no one here to ask for the colored lights...so this year we have colored lights, on our tree, around the front door and lampost because after all, what would Christmas be without them?

K