Traditions

     Traditions. When I was growing up we had some of them around Christmas time and from what I remember they were usually seasoned with stress. Holidays tend to do that with families that are not totally healthy and who struggle financially. There are wishes, hopes and dreams around holidays...You want to feel warm, and loved and safe ~but when food is scarce, you are relying on a Christmas hamper and relatives to get you through...well as much as you want things to be what they are 'supposed' to be often they are just the opposite. When I got married I really wanted to form some special traditions that my children (and myself) could look forward to and enjoy each year. Well that has proven a lot harder than I thought it would be. I have not given up though. I know that having traditions is so important in a family. It is about making memories and having little things to look forward to.
  Something I have managed to maintain is getting our Christmas tree as a family from the same farm for the last eleven years. The first year we were married my husband and I stole a tree from the forest. We didn't realize just how serious of a crime that potentially could have been. It was a Charley Brown tree and all the needles fell off before Christmas day arrived. It was taken out of our tiny first little basement suite stark naked. We had had no decorations so we had bought some ugly clear plastic icicles and not much else. It was an epic tree and my husband's first one. His family didn't celebrate anything growing up. The second year we were married we decided to get a tree one night after work. There was wind storm and it was a crazy night. We looked in the newspaper for a tree farm. We found one and called them. They said yes we could come get one if we really wanted to. I don't know what we were thinking but I guess we weren't. We drove up a mountain as tree branches were falling all around us, went out into a field, found a tree, cut it with a hand saw in the wind, put it in the back of our truck, and then were invited into their house for hot chocolate. We have gone back every single year.
  This year as we went to get our tree it was POURING rain. I had hoped for some snow but it was not to be. So we drove up the mountain to the tree farm and picked the tree. This year we had prepped the children that we were not going to fight over the tree and that we would take a vote as to the perfect tree and anyway that partially worked. There were no tears this year except ones that were falling from the sky. My husband just bought a 'massive' chain saw (I think it's massive) that he was super excited to use. This year we also do not have roof wracks on our vehicle. We had to get home with six of us in a van AND a Christmas tree. The children were prepped for that also. We did it. Our tree is now up ~ but we could only decorate the top half as the baby is a very busy one and is LOVING battering the tree with his hands to try to get decorations to fall. It looks even more amazing than usual as a result. So we did it once again. We kept up a tradition and our tree is up.

So here it is in ALL its' glory. In this house most of the decorations are from my grandma, my granny and ones the children have made. I put on probably four decorations on this tree and the children did the rest. This is the baby batting at the tree with his hands knocking down what he can. Our house smells like a corner of the forest and I love the twinkle of the Christmas lights late at night when everyone is finally asleep. Christmas is soon..............I need to keep reminding myself, 'It will be what you make it.'
xo