The excitement begins...

We put up our Christmas tree last night. I didn't think I was ready - I'm OCD about the order and organization of things and to me, Christmas decorations come AFTER Thanksgiving, despite what Hobby Lobby, Wal Mart and the mall throw at me the day after Halloween. But this year, we're traveling to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving, so we either had to put them up before or wait until next week to do it. I asked the kids what they wanted to do, fully prepared to put up decorations that very moment. Their response was as expected: "Now! Now! Put them up NOW!!!"

So we did. They love all the decorations, but there is something about the tree that just mesmerizes them. Avery said "I don't know why, but I could just stare at this tree all night." It's almost hypnotic. I wish I had one year-round so I could just park them in front of it when I needed to get things done. Wouldn't that be awesome? Every time I needed a break, I'd just say "Go to the tree," and I'd have all the time in the world to clean the bathrooms, run on the treadmill, paint my nails, waste time on the computer....wait. Where was I?

Oh, right. The tree.

When I told the girls to brush their teeth and get ready for bed, they said they just had to look at the tree some more. They wished they could sleep by the tree so they could see it all night. I was like "Well, I wouldn't really mind, but the floor is hard. I don't think we can put enough blankets down to make it comfy." They didn't care, but I didn't particularly want them running in my room at 2 a.m. telling me the floor was too hard, so I told them no. Then I thought about it....and remembered the trundle bed in the office/guest room.

It was perfect. At first, I thought they would be too excited to sleep, but eventually, they both dozed off. They actually made it all night long. We may have created a new tradition at our house...

Happy Thanksgiving!!