Advent Adventures - Tree Drama

Back to our Advent Adventures of 2013...

We left off with our beautifully FAT

Christmas tree making its

debut.

I was in the shower the following morning,

and one of my children came up

to inform me that the tree had fallen.

Sigh...

mega sigh...

I was in the shower...

I knew the tree wasn't going anywhere else,

the damage had been done...

so I took my time getting ready 

and getting myself downstairs

to assess the damage.

Do no adjust your computer,

no, I did not forget to flip this picture.

This...

is what I came downstairs to.

With the help of my older boys,

we set it up right.

Then I carefully picked up the broken ornaments,

and vacuumed EXTREMELY well!

A couple of times.

Soaked up what I could of the gallons of water

that were in the tree stand.

Then decided I deserved

this 

BIG

CUP 

of 

COFFEE!

Much to our surprise,

when we got home from scouts that evening...

the tree was again,

on its side.

We figure we had overloaded one side of the tree

with ornaments.

So we picked it up,

again,

cleaned up broken ornaments again,

put a call out to friends to borrow a carpet cleaner

to suck up the second dumping of gallons of water

in the SAME spot on the carpet.

(after I had soaked up what I could with 

NUMEROUS towels)

And I am pretty sure I sat down with a big glass

of 

WINE

after that one.

Thankfully,

those were the only two episodes we had of,

falling Christmas trees.

Advent Adventures - The Great Christmas Tree Hunt

If you have been around a while,

you know that my family

cuts down our own tree...

year

after

year

after

year.

We have been doing it

since our oldest (now 9)...

so for 10 years!

Whoa!!

We even did it while living in Texas!!

  Seen here: 2011

And here:  2012

As you saw in the last post,

we decided NOT

to hike up to the 

NC Mountains 

for our tree this year

and opted for a local farm.

You also saw,

that we attempted to get our tree

by head-flashlights...

and it did NOT

work!

After the late night

tree hunting was a bust!

We headed back out,

bright and early the next morning...

The Hunters...

 Yes, 

this is the one mommy wanted.

But daddy 

claimed it was too tall.

Ok, daddy,

what about this one?

Nope, he says...

still too tall!

UGH!

I lack the "eye" 

that tells me exactly 

how big trees are. 

They look great in the field,

but the hubs always says they are too big.

So since I have to go short...

I like short and 

FAT!

 Ms Priss stopping to pose for the camera.

 Wild thing

NOT 

stopping to pose for the camera!

Then the ground,

or a blade of grass,

or his feet,

or all of the above...

stopped him.

We finally found our tree!

Then he decided to perch the littles IN the tree!

We did actually break a limb,

good thing we were taking this one home with us.

Then the cutting began!

This is a group deal.

We all take turns,

but daddy usually does 

95% of the work.

We all just really pose for pictures.

Haha!

We got it home,

And into the house...

Then the transportation wrapping came off!

And the decoration wrapping went on!!

That is a FAT tree!!

Let the Christmas Season Begin...(almost)

Hey - 

atleast I am up to December...

almost!

Thanksgiving weekend included multiple trips 

to Raleigh for us.

First, Thanksgiving Day,

Then, Saturday for the last

NC State Football game of the season

(which was a pitiful season so we

weren't really sorry to see it end)

The kids got a hold of some face paint...

and I didn't stop them...

but I didn't help them either.

Alexis chose green,

not sure why.

She looks a little 

Hulk-ish to me here.

Thankfully we weren't playing 

a green team!

Jackson looks a little scary

and 

zombie-ish...

 And Rico,

well...

I got nuthin.

This was taken after the game on the way home.

Since it was the last game,

and daddy's birthday weekend

and we couldn't get rid of our extra tickets...

we took the littles with us.

On the way home,

we decided to go ahead

start the Christmas season!

We headed to a local tree farm to get our tree!

We seriously,

seriously 

debated trekking to the NC mountains

to get our tree.

But, when we started 

looking at the limited time we had

we decided that 

it wasn't worth the extra money

to make the 5 hour drive

stay in a hotel

and 5 hour drive home

for a tree.

So we stayed local.

We headed out to

Daniel Christmas Tree Farm

We went straight from the game

and 

on the drive out there,

it was getting dark...

quick.

We were almost there

and decided we would give it a shot.

They outfitted us with a couple of 

head flashlights for the boys...

Then Mr. T decided he wasn't in the mood

to go Christmas tree hunting 

in the dark...

so he BEGGED to 

get back in the car

and 

GO HOME!

In order to keep the event a happy one...

we gave into the cranky monster

(and the fact that it was TOO dark

to properly hunt a tree!)

We headed home...

The start to our Christmas season

would have to wait 

One.More.Day

Thanksgiving Day - A Brief Pictorial

The festivities started off with a little 

spectator exercising

for Uncle Jack.

Here with the oldest 3 neice and nephews

Then the youngest 2 jumped in, including

his daughter in his arms!

Then we ate...

And took a few quick posed pictures:

from left to right:

middle sister - Courtney

baby sister - Melanie

adopted sister - Teena

(aka my bestie for almost 30 years!! - WHOA!)

me

our mom

Nana & Papa and all the grandbabies!

(This was the best of 13 takes!)

My daughter attempting to mimic my sister.

And the FIRST

photo of 

my folks,

my sisters

and 

I

in AGES!

Probably since the middle sis 

got married

over 5 years ago!

Then my middle sis, her hubs (Uncle Jack)

and their daughter took off

for his folk's house down the street.

So we settled in for some quiet time.

Then the crew that left,

returned with their entourage,

which included the godparents

of my two littles

(who also happen to be the middle sisters in-laws!).

Making real whipped cream (by hand) for desserts!

Lucy is taste testing for them.

Uncle Jack had previously worked out his legs

so he decided to work on his arms

(well one arm anyways)

The hubs blowing out his 

beautiful,

yet really dry,

Butter Pecan Birthday Cake.

Then we played our second edition of our
Thanksgiving Turkey Bowl!

quick huddle of "the other team"

victory dance?

(but we were on opposite teams)

Jackson hawking down his prey...

That was such a long day...

but so worth every minute!!