How lovely are thy branches

We spent Saturday afternoon shopping live Christmas trees. This is the first time (that I can remember anyway) that I've had a real tree. I'm usual content with our fake tree and a really nice, strong pine-scented candle. But after having this tree in the house for a while, I can say I'm a fan of the REAL smell it brings to the house.

James had a great time picking out the perfect tree. He would walk around looking at them all declaring "I like this one Mamma. Oh look at this one too." Even Isabel got in the game by exploring the pine needles scattered around in the dirt.

We ended up with a 9' Noble Fur. They were kind enough to put it in a stand for us before we hauled it home.


Once inside, James and Isabel did their best to help me hang ornaments (read: take them off the tree faster than I was putting them on) and string lights.



After the decorating came James' favorite part. Putting presents under our new creation. He was certain it was Christmas and that we needed to open them up right then and there. Good thing we only have just over a week to go!*


*So far I've been very impressed by his ability to leave the presents alone. He looks at them a lot and says "We can't open presents until Christmas Mamma. I'm just lookin' at them." :-) That's my boy!