We're Festive!

After 4 Christmas's in Hawaii where Christmas trees are expensive and often foregone for a more tropically decorated palm tree - we have our first "real" and "real big" Christmas tree as a couple and as a family. This is an odd little piece of Herbert Family Trivia that I hadn't put together before now, but it struck me as I was decorating our lovely tree this afternoon. We've had small artificial trees, and teeny tiny potted trees - but never in 12 Christmas's have Paul and I had a big real Christmas tree. We do now!

Our lovely tree is 8 feet tall and holds every treasured ornament we own. And this year there is already one new extra special one. I finally mailed the ornament I picked out for my secret ornament swapper, so I allowed myself to open the one that arrived for me! It is the most entertaining ornament I've seen in a long time. I'll get a picture up shortly, but it is a clear glass ornament with a painted snowman on the outside. Inside are itsy bitsy pieces of round Styrofoam that stick to the sides of the glass by static - and look like snow! The boys love it and of course wanted to "bounce it," Mommy was a party pooper and declined their request with a little lesson about "no touch" ornaments and "okay to touch" ornaments. A big mahalo (a Hawaiian Thank You) to Aubrey and her beautiful family in Colorado, http://aubsfamfive.blogspot.com/

And lucky me, the boys picked out the tree themselves while I was at a special shopping event at Banana Republic. When I got home refreshed from a little independant outting, the tree was picked out driven home and set-up waiting for me to indudge in my favorite activity of putting on the lights and ornaments.

It's Christmas now, the ornaments are on the tree.