O Christmas Tree

The Rutledge crew concluded Thanksgiving week by conquering a cold, gray, dreary Sunday with some Christmas cheer. We hoisted a Fraser fir up on top of the van in the misty rain, came home, cranked up the Vince Guiraldi, and unpacked Christmas gear to get into the spirit.

The boys are tremendously more excited about Christmas this year. Owen insisted that "we keep the Christmas tree for a very, very, very long time and not let the vacuum truck take it away." (Last year, Amy & I took the tree to the curb the day after Christmas while the boys were napping, and apparently Owen's elephant-like memory still bares the scar.)

After assuring Owen that the tree would be up for several weeks, we proceeded to decorate the tree with lights and ornaments. We put out the Advent calendar, and the first thing out of the boys' mouths this morning was the question on who got to put up the first ornament for December 1.

Meanwhile, Tess enjoyed the lights, the hustle and bustle from her brothers, and any spare paper that she could get in her mouth before one of us grabbed it away. Amy & I chuckled at the kids' enthusiasm -- and we haven't even really brought up Santa Claus yet.

Cheers!


"I know I've seen those boys take this horse and make it fly some way or another."


At last count the bottom branches of the tree had 26 ornaments courtesy of Owen & Gus while the top branches had 3.


Rutledge boys show off their decorating prowess.


Apologies for the darkness, but you get an idea of the energy and the skill de decor of 2 three year-olds.