Before and After

Growing up, we never had a Christmas tree. Well, not a vertical one anyway. My parents were "against" Christmas trees, yet my mom decorated the house with garland and tinsel and stuff. I don't know about you, but to me that is like a Christmas tree - just a horizontal one.

There are still many that I know who are not in favour of Christmas trees. I am not sure exactly why, but the fear of the tree (with presents underneath) being a focal point (idol) rather than the True Meaning of Christmas could very well be one of the reasons.

I have read up on it a bit, and like most 'controversial' things in life, there are many "for" and "against" articles in regards to Christmas trees. It also is very interesting to read the history of how things like this come to be. I think that is very important - to know the whys of what we do.

After we were married, we never had a vertical tree. Horizontal, yes, meaning, yes, I did decorate my home in December. But the vertical tree didn't come into our home until we had kids (those kids, I tell ya!!). My sister was throwing out her tree, but asked me first if we wanted it. Sure! we said!! So for the last 4 years, we've been setting up and decorating a tree.

We don't set it up for our presents - we set it up just for the fun of it. Besides, like I tell the kids, on the dark and dreary days of December, it's always nice to come home to something that brightens up the room a bit. It just gives a festive feel to the room. And the kids LOVE decorating it.

So, here is our tree, BEFORE:

An our tree AFTER:

My decorators:

The tree comes down fairly quickly after Christmas......and is replaced by balloons. Birthday balloons. Birthday Balloons for my Baby. Birthday Balloons for My Baby who Turned Three. Waaaaaaaaaa!!!! More about him next time. I need to go find a way to control my emotions.....