Sunday, December 17, 2017

And we have a tree.......








Well our tree in finally decorated.  I put it up last Sunday in hopes we could get it done when Mr. 20 arrived home from school.  He got here Tuesday, but we were all working or some other excuse until Friday early evening when I threatened everyone with no Christmas if we didn't get it done.  I heard lots of complaints, "Mom, I am tired.  I have been working like 50 hours this week!" Or, "Do we really have to do it now?"  See, we are just the perfect Christmas movie family, so much cheer spread around.  Like I have always said the tree is not my favorite thing at Christmas.  It never seems to be the right time to decorate and frankly it is a fight to get people to participate, but when it is done we do all enjoy it.  I have to say Little Buddy was very excited and put several ornaments up all by himself.  We now put up fewer ornaments as our artificial tree is much smaller than the real ones we have had in the past.  Now it is mostly the kids ornaments, or those made by friends.  The wee little house is our oldest ornament, it has been in my husbands family for years and years.  It is the first to go on and the first to come off the tree every year. 


After seeing a private patient yesterday morning I got these gifts ready for the week.  These are for the children I work with, and all the teachers and therapist's that help Little Buddy develop.  They are wonderful people who deserve a bit of cheer and thanks this time of year.  While getting these ready I had the delicious smell of a beautiful vanilla candle from my friend Holly wafting through my house.  That vanilla smell made my house smell delicious.   Thank you Holly!
   

Little Buddy and I are working on standing up all by himself with no braces on.  That is tough stuff!   Now he just has to stand up for longer periods of time, and of course get that right arm down.


And speaking of Little Buddy, in honor of the latest Star Wars movie released this weekend, I give you Chewbacca.  Little B in his  latest cozy jammies.   He has no idea who Chewbacca is, but I assured him he is very nice fellow, so Little B was excited.  He thinks he is a giant, nice bear.  I will go with that. 

Have a great week and try and try to stay calm during the last few days leading up to Christmas. 

41 comments:

kathy b said...

I love your honesty! You did it! I LOVE that lil b says you are the boss and dad is a boy! Fireman and I chuckled. LOOK AT THAT BOY STANDING! Please tell Lil B that kathy b is very excited for him. Do sneak us , even a wordless, post with Lil b enjoying his presents. PLEASE!
HOpe the packers play well today !!!

Chy said...

Beautiful Meredith! I'm glad your son has arrived safe and sound. Wishing you the merriest Christmas!! X Chy

Sharron said...

I must admit to having a wry smile on my face reading your post Meredith. I'm procrastinating on the tree front, so had a little chuckle to read your version of events. Little B looks so cute in his jammies. What a big strong boy he's endeavouring to be! With your unrelenting love and support he's sure to succeed...x

Grandmabeckyl.blogspot said...

Nice tree! Ours is prelit which is nice. Will drag stuff out may be precious moments ornaments this year. Not sure. We always had fun together decorating the tree and Christmas music has to be playing! Cute Chewbacca pjs! Yep he does look like a bear! Have a nice weekend and nice time with family. Hugs!

Jo said...

Your family sounds just like mine, none of us enjoy putting up the Christmas tree and Eleanor was relieved when she knew it was up before she arrived home from uni. Little Buddy is getting such a big boy now and standing without help, that's great going. He must be beside himself now with excitement about the big day.

busybusybeejay said...

WOW!!Little Buddy standing on his own.Well done!

Caffeine Girl said...

The X-mas tree thing looks like so much work! But I do think they are beautiful and really make a house feel festive. If I had trees, I'd end up with a huge ornament stash -- there are so many amazing ornaments out there! As it is, I have more storage space for yarn.

I do put up some very tacky Hanukkah lights, but only inside the house. There is enough anti-Semitism for me to avoid a very public sign of my religion. Isn't that sad? But it's true. Especially in the Trump years.

I have to wrangle my son to get him to do Hanukkah every year, so we are not a picture-perfect family either!

Bridget said...

I think everyone enjoys a decorated tree, but it can be hard to make the time to actually do it!

I love LB as Chewy - and I'm glad he's pleased to be a bear ... lol.

Linda @ A La Carte said...

I'm just as happy to put up my little tree by myself now! I just add ornaments as I have time and it makes me happy. Trying to get others to cooperate isn't always easy. Maybe you will get some relaxing time nearer to the big day and enjoy~

Pam said...

Lovely photo,s and a gorgeous tree. The star within a star is wonderful, just the perfect place for an image of little Buddy.

Christina said...

I enjoy decorating the Christmas tree, probably because I didn't get to do it when I was a child. My younger ones still enjoy helping, which is fun. Our tree is outside just now, it is too wet to come inside... hope it dries up. Love little Buddy's view of life, the little star with his likes and loves will be a treasure for many years. Very sweet. Have a lovely week, hopefully not too busy. xx

bittenbyknittin said...

No tree for us, thanks to Beau the Feline Destroyer of All Things Nice. He has left the lights and tinsel on the mantle alone this year... so far! I'm tempted to try breakable bulbs on a table top tree, but I'm sure I will regret it. I hope Little Buddy learns to make Chewbaca sounds - that would be hilarious! Enjoy your holidays!

Wanderingcatstudio said...

I still haven't put our christmas stuff up. Dave is a bit of a Grinch, so its easier to do it when he's not home. Maybe I'll get to it tomorrow!

Christine W said...

I love your tree with the ornaments. And al the presents you've made!

Araignee said...

Oh, those Chewbaca pj's are the best!! I want a pair for me...lol.

Teresa Kasner said...

I loved seeing your ornaments and how you had to rally the troops to help decorate the tree. I kind of had to do that too. But it's all good. I also got a big kick out of Little B's ornament and saying you're the boss and dad is a boy. Love his "bear suit".. we saw the new Star Wards last night and Chewie was there! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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Mac n' Janet said...

He's so cute and that's all he needs to know. It always feels so good when the tree is decorated. Each year as I get older I decorate less, but I love doing the tree.

Anonymous said...

It amazes me how tall Little B is getting. We won't be able to call him "little" much longer! What a handsome young man!!!

The little house ornament is cute, but oh those painted snowmen. ADORABLE!

Blondie's Journal said...

Seeing that precious boy standing on his own made me forget my frustration with the whole Christmas deal! Yes, I find that very few want to help, and they think a magical elf came in to do everything. Bah humbug!! The little miracles, like Little Buddy, make my day.

Just finished the decorating today and hauled the bins down. I'm getting more and more 'less is more', every year. And in January I'm going to work on clutter.

Your tree is so cute, I love the ornaments. It's like a trip down memory lane that even a photo album can't equal.

Sending love and joy, and more progress with your little boy.

Merry Christmas, Mere!

Jane x

Lorrie said...

Decorating the tree can be fraught with problems. I'm always glad when it's finally done. Your gifts look beautiful, and the photos of Little B are so sweet. Love the Chewie jammies. Have a great week!

Betsy said...

Love Mr. Chewbacca. He looks quite cozy and handsome in it and look at him standing too! That is truly a wonderful thing. I like your honesty about the tree. It was just Dennis and I this year putting the tree up. I almost didn’t even bother. But for the first time ever he helped me put the ornaments on. We had a lovely time talking about where each ornament came from. I’ve always had a child or grandchild to help me decorate before and he’s never done it. I showed him your post tonight and we both got a good laugh Little B’s ornament. I can’t even begin to imagine getting as many gifts together for other people as you did. And my goodness Meredith! That’s not even your family! How do you do it? I hope you can slow down and enjoy this coming week my friend.
Blessings always,
Betsy

gaia said...

I wish you a happy holiday season....

CJ said...

Fantastic pjs, he is cute as a button. Don't tell anyone, but I don't have a tree this year. The idea of a real tree AND a puppy in the house put the fear of god into me, so instead I have a few sparkly lights, three little angels, three little stockings and the angel chimes. I am VERY happy to be having a minimalist Christmas, although I do of course feel enormously guilty. CJ xx

CJ said...

PS, I've never seen Star Wars, but my partner's mother used to date Darth Vader! CJ xx

Delighted Hands said...

Precious memories going on here! Seeing your own Chewbacca is adorable! I go next week with oldest grands to see the new Star Wars movie!

Jeannie Gray Knits said...

Ahh, the Christmas tree. It's THE most important part of Christmas to me but I despise decorating it. I'm SO thankful my daughter has taken over that task. Taken it over with the exception of one shoe box full of antique ornaments that are crazy special to me. She leaves those for me to put on. And of course, that box is still sitting there, full, waiting for me to deal with and I keep putting it off. Maybe this afternoon....

Susanne said...

Dear friend.....I haven't put up a tree in 7 years. I guess my oldest got tired of my treeless house and brought me a small Norfolk Island Pine. Back in my younger days I just loved Christmas. There wasn't anything that I didn't love about it. Of course children are always the reason it is special, because they are special. It is the one thing that keeps me motivated to do a little bit of celebrating for my grandson Holden. If you want someone to gladly help with decorating the tree then find a small child, they will gladly decorate the lower half and then move ornaments from spot to spot in the following days. I remember having to tell my children that if they continued to change the ornaments around that Santa would think their tree was not done and he couldn't leave presents. That worked. Your little Buddy is making great strides and even though it is baby steps, moving toward independence from all the devices he needs to move around, he is progressing. He is so cute and looking back on your previous posts I have to say the pic of him sleeping is definitely one of an angel. I have always believed that babies and small children are the closest we get to real angels here on earth. There will be a lot of surprised and happy people receiving gifts from you. I hope they all appreciate the time you spent making things for them. God Bless you and your loved ones during this Christmas season and hope you have a wonderful New Year.

Needles and Wool said...

I love seeing some of your Christmas ornaments. I love the house with the photo of your boys inside. I love your crocheted light bulb as well. It always feels like a lot of work to get the tree up and to put the lights on and all of the ornaments, but then it is so nice when it is all done and lit up. Little Buddy looks like such a great helper putting on the ornaments, that is sweet he enjoys it too. He looks so cute in the Chewbacca onesie too. Merry Christmas to you and your family! x

Chris said...

Oh that tree issue... I’m the only one who will decorate it now. I drag my arse around then finally I do it and think why did I procrastinate??!! Love all your ornaments and it’s fun revising earlier times with them. I finally turfed out the marshmallow snowmen my kids made/ they were looking pretty nasty, does that stuff ever decompose. I’m starting to wonder! So many gifts for all the important people in your life/ they are blessed to have you in their lives! It’s only one more week to go and it’s a wrap for another year!

Anonymous said...

Great to have so many special decoration in your tree <3
So sweet of you to have a gift for the people you are grateful to.
And good luck with Little B and learning to stand by himself, he is so brave and so are you!

handmade by amalia said...

Looks like you are all set for the big day. Happy Holidays to you and yours, dear Meredith.
Amalia
xo

mamasmercantile said...

I call our tree the memory tree provoking so many wonderful memories of Christmas's past, each bauble a reminder of a place or person. A little different this year as we are spending Christmas on our own. Florida was once again good to us and we had a fantastic time, so some rest and quiet will do us good. So nice to see little Buddy making so much progress, a joy to see his lovely face.

Vera said...

Little buddy in his new jammies is the best! And his ornament (you are the boss and your husband is a boy - LOVE!!). As Dee said, LN+B is getting very tall! and wonderful that he is practicing standing on his own. I'm guessing his right arm up helps him balance?

Olga Poltava said...

Such beautiful and fun decorations!
Happy Holidays to you and your family!

elns said...

Aww LB is the cutest wookie. hehe. Look at him working on his free standing! Tell him I think it looks like he's doing an excellent job. Your gifts for everyone are really sweet. I'm gathering up some items for H's people at school. Just a little holiday cheer.

Babajeza said...

So far, no tree yet. But I'm getting there. :-) Just two more days of work. I'm keeping it simple this year. Little Buddy is cute. Hugs, Regula

Andrea Ostapovitch said...

I have to admit that I am rather selfish; I wait until no one is around, and I decorate the tree myself. I make a morning of it and just take my time with my tea and Christmas carols...and solitude.
Those Chewbacca jammies are the greatest!

Have a very Merry Christmas Meredith!

Andrea

Lee said...

Yaaaay the Tree is up well done all of you and it looks soooo pretty.Well don lil Buddy too.Chewbaca was my all time fav character in Star Wars I am a Huge Fan.I Love Science Fiction.Love Stargate and Babylon 5.Happy Holidays to you all.xxxx

Anonymous said...

I liked the 'boss' star too!! You have worked well with Buddy to encourage him to stand - that is amazing. Sending you happy thoughts. Jo x

Judy S. said...

Have a wonderful holiday celebration with your family, Mere! I hope you have time to relax as well. Merry Christmas!

Nance said...

Our tree is always decorated in stages as each of the boys comes home whenever he can to hang his own ornaments. It drives me nuts, but they really do want to hang their own, each one picked out over the course of decades on Special Days With Mom to do just that.

How can I say no?

I loved each and every picture you posted here--they each tell a lovely story.

Merry Christmas, and here's to a warmer, saner, more hopeful 2018.