A Christmas tree in NOVEMBER???

I woke up yesterday morning (at 4:30… thanks, Aubree) and declared yesterday to be a day of rest. It started out quite nice.  I caught up on some of the stuff I had DVR’d and basically just relaxed.

Then, around 11 a.m., Karlie woke up and walked into the den….

KARLIE:                                 Let’s put up the Christmas tree!

ME:                                        Have you lost your mind? It’s NOVEMBER!

Note –The earliest I have EVER put up a tree is December 9th.  The latest is December 18^th.  It comes down approximately 30 minutes after the last present is opened on Christmas morning. I know, I know… you all hate me now.  I’m a terrible person… blah, blah.

Anyway, I don’t know what happened.  Turkey overload, weak moment, peer pressure…in any event, I agreed. 

We started by rearranging the den furniture, which is always risky.  Willard has serious OCD issues about things getting moved around, you know.  His recliner has been in the same spot for 20 years.  We had just gotten the furniture moved when he turned in the driveway. 

ME:                                        Dad is going to freak.  He’ll be like “Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!”

KARLIE:                                 He’ll be fine.

Willard walks in the back door….

“WHOA! WHOA! WHOA!”

KARLIE:                                 Oh my gosh…. That’s exactly what Mom said you’d say!!

He complained and was so unsettled that he couldn’t even eat lunch at home, so he left to get lunch at the store. He never even CONSIDERED the idea that we were moving furniture to make room for a TREE.  He knows me as well as I know him, and the idea of me putting up a Christmas tree on November 28^th was ludicrous. 

Well, as ludicrous as it sounded, that’s exactly what happened.  Without too awful much trouble (except when I yelled out something about tree lights being straight from Satan), Karlie and the little girls helped me get the tree up in record time. 

Once it was done, I remembered that I actually enjoy sitting around a lighted tree at night.  

Now, I guess you've noticed, it's not the fanciest tree in the world.  It's not color coordinated and it sure wouldn't win any of those decorating contests that I see on Facebook.  It's a family tree.  Every ornament on it was either given to us, made by one of the kids, or has sentimental value. 

This ornament is from 1988.  Momar got it engraved at Wal-Mart.  It hung on her tree for 2 years and then when we got married, she passed it on to us.  

  

This is the ornament we got for Hunter on his first Christmas in 1992. 

This is the ornament Karlie made for me in kindergarten. 

This one was given to us by my friend, Angie Blankenship....aka "the ornament lady".  It was our first Yuri/Gigi ornament. 

And here's the family ornament.  We got it in 2011, right after we got Aubree in foster care.  I really struggled with whether to choose an ornament with 5 kids or 6 kids.  At that point, we had no idea if we would have her a few months or forever.  Aubree wasn't her birth name but it was a close variation and we thought we might call her that.  So glad I included her on it.  

DISCLAIMER: You might notice that there are no pictures of Haley Rae's first ornament or any of her homemade ornaments.  That's because when she was about 12 years old, she declared them all "lame" and destroyed them. Hard to imagine, I know.  But true story.  

Am I glad I put our tree up in NOVEMBER and do I vow to make this a new tradition? Now let's don't get carried away.  So far, I'm enjoying it though. 

Roll Tide, y'all.