Friday, December 2, 2011

The ChristmasTree Mishap~

Last Year's Upstairs Tree -
First a little background on my husband and I. I grew up in a very casual environment and didn't really develop a sense of design or creativity. My husband on the other hand is really creative. He writes well and could write a novel. He is an artist. He enjoys arranging our home decor and he is great at hanging pictures.
When it comes to Christmas trees; he is really good at decorating them. This comes from his boyhood. He had a brother in law that decorated trees at the ZCMI store and my husband would often help him.  My family on the other hand  would bring the tree home and throw the decorations on.  At first I used to be frustrated when I would arrange something in our home and my husband would re-arrange it. However it always did look better his way. Over the years I have been doing more of the decorating and have learned a lot from him. He has encouraged me in this endeavor. When it comes to Christmas my husband usually doesn't have time to really help me with the tree; but if he did I can assure you it would be extra beautiful. This year we decided that we needed a new tree for our downstairs family room. Some of the old tree's lights were out. We put this tree up before we left for Missouri for Thanksgiving.
One thing about me is that I have a stubborn streak.  I want my Christmas Tree up and the house decorated before December 1st; not the day after.  Regretfully, as soon as we arrived home from Missouri my husband packed his bags and was off to Dallas, Texas for two days of meetings. Due to the fact that I have had a back problem; I wanted him to get the Christmas decorations out and the upstairs Christmas Tree up before he left. He didn't have time. 
I thought to myself. I will surprise him by getting the decorating completed while he is gone. I asked a young man in our church to come over and help me get the decorations out and the tree up. We got the tree up and as he left; I kept looking at the tree and thinking, it just doesn't look like the same tree. Yup; you guessed it; it wasn't; It was the old tree.
Old Tree
I was so perplexed. So my surprise won't be completed. I just don't have the energy to try and take the old tree out and get the other tree put up. Besides, I know I shouldn't attempt it anyway due to being in Physical Therapy for my back pain. However, I did manage to finish the downstairs tree. Our downstairs family room tree is decorated with stuffed animals so it is child proof and easy to do.


Downstairs Stuffed Animal Tree ~
Now I want you to know that when he comes home he will be upset with me for trying to do it all. Since I don't take counsel easily; he will think I dragged the decorations and Christmas Tree up from the basement storage which I usually do.  Since I won't be sharing how I did it right away; it should be interesting. With the rest of the decorating that I have done I will note subtle changes over the next few weeks. It's OK; his way really looks the best and I love him for it.

Our Cabbage Patch Dolls
My husband and I have a tradition that every year we try to get a Santa gift that is unusual. One year we gave each other a cabbage patch doll. It was so fun because we didn't know that we both were doing the same thing. Here is a picture of our Cabbage Patch Dolls at the base of our stuffed animal tree. I bought them new outfits this year. We also collected Garfield's for a number of years; so I have several of them on this tree. 

Blog Awards
I recently received a blog award from Our Life's Adventures Blog. This is one of my favorite blogs to follow. Anna-Marie home schools and has such fun adventures with her children. Check her blog out. Thanks for the award Anna-Marie.
The Rules
.Thank the person(s) who nominated you and link back up to them
.Tell Readers 7 things about yourself
.Pass this award onto your favorite newly discovered bloggers and let them know.

1. I love chocolate
2. I am not a morning person
3. I love to read romantic novels written by a PG authors
4. I enjoy going to movies with my husband
5. I enjoy writing family histories
6. I love to journal
7. I love country music; especially Faith Hill
I am passing this award onto the following new blogs that I have been following. Please stop by all the blogs listed and maybe you will find a new favorite.


A Moment With God

Some May Call It Destiny

Hello Dolly

The Mount of Laundry News

The Book Guardian

19 comments:

Susan Anderson said...

My sister's husband is an artist, too, and an architect. All their married lives, he has been the arbiter of taste. At first, she didn't like it, but what's happened is that she has acquired excellent taste herself. Now, she appreciates what he does to the home.

He is a production designer for movies now, and when they sold their last house, you should have seen how he staged it. The first people who walked in wanted it, because he had made it like something out of a movie...the stuff cozy, welcoming dreams were made of!

=)

John said...

My family decorated like your family, and I cannot decorate at all. I wish I could. Nor can I ever bring myself to spend the money on house decor.

I love your tree story. I like stuffed animal tree too. That is very cute.

amber and james said...

I think you decorate good! Your house is always so clean and organized, and I know you do a lot of that. I love the kids tree, we do the same thing at our house too. I let our kids put the WHOLE think up this year. I love that they can do that...it saves me so much work. Love you!

thomas family said...

The trees look great Mom! Beats our sad little 4 1/2 foot charlie brown tree. :)

Barb said...

Hi Leann!

What a funny story! Just when you think you are doing something good . . . oops! I think your trees are beautiful, and I love the story about the Cabbage Patch dolls! Your house is so inviting and warm, I would love to come and visit and just sit by the fire! Remember the last time I was there, it snowed, and the wind blew so hard?!

What wonderful pictures of Thanksgiving! I can hardly believe how much the kids have grown, and they are all so beautiful! Congratulations to Faith, how wonderful to be able to attend her baptism!

I've had fun pondering over your blog tonight!

Hugs and much love,
Barb

Marie Rayner said...

WE have not put up a large tree the past few years, due to lack of space. I do a small table top tree and it has to suffice, but I do miss having a large one. I do all the decorating. Todd just doesn't have the eye for it. I guess that's because I am the artist in the family! Your trees look beautiful. Love and hugs and Happy Christmas wishes to you. xxoo

Cheryl @ TFD said...

I think you did a wonderful job decorating. I wish my hubby enjoyed doing it, but he stays as far away as he can get when that time comes around. LOL! Oh, he does bring the tree and boxes up from the basement for me and he'll put up the lights outside without grumbling. He's quick to tell me that I'm the decorator in the family!
Congrats on the blog award, and I enjoyed reading the 7 things.
Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

Pitterle Postings said...

I love your trees!! I think they look beautiful. My children decorate ours, so they are not exactly the most gorgeous, but we love them anyway. Congrats on the blog award. Have a great weekend!!

The Adventurer said...

I love the teddy bear tree:)!!! How fun. So cute that you and your hubby thought of the cabbage patch dolls as a gift for each other. I had 2 but have no idea where they are now

Susan said...

Love your tree! It's all beautiful!

Stephanie Cozzens said...

I've been away from the computer for a few days - what a lovely surprise! Thanks for mentioning me.

I enjoyed your toy tree. We do a Hallmark ornament every year for each child (and usually for me and my husband, too) so our toy looks like it's covered with miniature toys. I love it. But stuffed animals would be so much more durable and I wouldn't worry about which one would get broken.

Grammy Staffy said...

I think that your trees look beautiful...old or not. I wish that my husband liked to decorate. He doesn't... and he just tolerates my efforts. Maybe I could borrow your husband for a bit of decorating. I got several new pictures after the accident and they are still not hung.

I hope that your back gets to feeling better soon. I can empathize. Have a great week. Hugs, Lura

Grumpy Grateful Mom said...

I love your trees! Though too bad you got the wrong one! I was not blessed with a gift for decorating, but that's one I can definitely appreciate in others. Your stuffed animal tree is so cute! That's hilarious you both got each other cabbage patch kids!

And congratulations on you award!!! You so deserve it! I love chocolate too. :)

Mom of 12 said...

Your tree is beautiful! Ours is still sitting on the driveway...maybe tomorrow...
Sandy

Carrie Roer said...

I love the idea of the stuffed animal tree! We have 2 cats and an 18-month-old, so our little table-top tree is pretty low on ornaments this year... Thanks for linking up to NOBH!

Darlene said...

I thought both of your trees were lovely, even if you did get the old one up. Dick always puts ours up. We finally got rid of our old artificial one last year and bought a new one right after Christmas last year. I was hoping it would look as nice as the old one and I wasn't disappointed. Dick always puts ours together, and puts the lights on and then we put the decorations on together. We also put out our 39 Santa Clauses. We have been collecting them for a few years. I love the way our Living Room looks and I am going to try to do some pictures of them before Christmas this year on my post. Dick is the one that has to take the pictures and help me post them on my blog. I love having the articicial tree as I don't feel I have to hurry about taking it down right after Christmas. We have a New years Eve party each year and sometimes our tree and decorations are up for a week after the New Year. I just don't feel like I want to let them go as the room feels so barren without it all.

I too love chocolate LeAnn and we have Chocolate Sunday, which is the only day of the week we allow ourselves to eat it. Another reason to love Sundays.

Buttercup said...

Your stuffed animal tree is wonderful. What a sweet and fun decoration!

Tricia said...

A stuffed animal tree! What a fun idea!

Our Homeschool Reviews said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog and the NOBH. Congrats on the award too. :)