How can it nearly be Christmas already? The months have seemingly flown by, but the time arrived sooner than we thought to set up our Christmas decorations. Truth be told, we actually put it off for a bit. Under normal (what’s that?) circumstances, we’d probably have started on Black Friday and the following weekend, but this year we had only just returned from our vacation in Disney World.
Late or not, we were excited to see what we could do. We have a house now, and its living room has a bay window. This, we thought, would serve nicely as a backdrop for the tree. On one side would be our Nativity scene, and on the other our Christmas village. While this did work out, the ledge wasn’t quite large enough for the entire Nativity scene; we had to leave out the Wise Men, making for a little more historically accurate scene. 😉
After our window lights were strung and the ledge was properly decorated, it was time to set up the tree. Last year we put up a live tree, but that was a mistake for several reasons (not the least of which was our allergies). So this year we’re back to using the fake tree, which Namine is now tall enough to put together almost entirely by herself. (She just needed a little guidance with inserting the trunk pieces into their slots.)
Namine had made a “Best Family Ever” ornament, which itself was a small version of a poster she hung in the office which she and I share for school and work, respectively. She had wanted to hang this ornament first, beginning the celebration of our first Christmas in our new home. Jessica and I were happy to oblige her.
After that first ornament, the three of us set to decorating the tree with our literal boxes full of ornaments. We discovered quite a few that were missing their hooks, and we had no spares. This was no obstacle for Namine; she fashioned a new one from her box of paper clips quite easily and dexterously. She had the experience doing so in making her first homemade ornament, and was more than up to the task.
The very last thing, as it is every year, is to place the angel on top of the tree. Since Namine was given the honor of first ornament, Jessica had the honor of putting the finishing touch. (And it is her angel, after all.) So concludes the Eiches’ Christmas decorations!
Well, maybe not quite. We didn’t put up any lights outside — it’s too cold now for that — but we do have a couple outdoor, lighted penguins. Apparently we no longer have all the little stakes with which to secure them in the ground, but what we do have are large rocks. So I stacked those around their bases to keep them from blowing away.
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