Trimming the Tree

We used to trim the tree on Christmas Eve, which was great in theory (turning the Jesse Tree into a Christmas Tree after sundown) but, in practice, was pretty awful for me.  When John decided we should do it on the eve of Christmas Eve, instead, I thought it (he!) was brilliant.  This year, the boys and John were going to be gone to Long Island, though, so we decorated it on the eve of Christmas Eve's eve.  Got it?

As always, it's a flurry of boxes and frantic searches for their special baby ornaments and everybody dropping stuff and children teetering into the tree.  

One can still see the remnants of Zeke's pirate facial hair here, not quite worn off after a day of play-acting.

And Luci, in her flamenco dancer garb...

I'm standing on a stool here.  It was pretty stupid precarious daring.

Then, like last year, the children stayed up past bedtime and watched Scrooge (thanks for the new tradition, Molly!)

Unlike last year, I remembered halfway in that the boys needed haircuts, so Zeke had to watch from the bathroom with hairs falling in his face.