It's beginning to look...

...A lot like Christmas! Those that know me know how much I love my Christmas tree! I bought it many years ago on a day after Christmas sale and got a beauty of a tree for a sweet price. It's been a wonderful tree, but she's showing her age and each year I plug her in and hold my breath to see if she will light completely. The last year or two the lights in one little section have not lit, but I just shove that part to the back in the corner and no one is the wiser. I've known it's only a matter of time before Old Faithful refuses to light, and so this year I decided to retire her in her prime and let her go out with dignity. On Black Friday we hit Home Depot and got a deal on a new tree that isn't quite as magnificent as Old Faithful, but it's pretty and I hope it will last as many years as my other tree. We decorated the inside first, Colin helping decorate with me to take his mind of the stomach bug he had, and while Shelby was at work.

Colin was terribly bothered by the fact that our tree has no star on the top. So finding a star is on the top of my to do list right now. I was worried about how Caleb would do with the tree and you'll notice there are no ornaments close to the bottom. So far he's done very well and mainly just wants to scoot underneath it to chew on presents. The present he is particularly drawn to and goes for every time is actually one of his and I could care less if he chews it. I've been shooing him away when he gets under there, but it has not been a battle as of yet and I am grateful for that!

Next up were the outside lights. We have had many of our C9 strands since we married ages ago, and prior to that they were actually hanging on my house when I was a kid! Hard to imagine anything electrical lasting that long these days. Like my Christmas tree we never quite know what is going to light and what is going to die on us each year when we plug it in. This year we decided to just start fresh with all new LED energy efficient lights in hopes of not having to pay any more than we already have to for power. Here is what we came up with...not too shabby!