Saturday, December 5, 2009

O Christmas Tree

While it may not get quite the same fanfare as the tree in Rockefeller Center, tonight the 2009 Seymour Family Tree (Atlanta edition) came to glittering life. As always, it was a group effort, beginning with its selection from Home Depot's finest on a very chilly morning. The frigid temps (and perhaps the lingering effects of Tim's late-night poker game the previous evening) led the two of us to make a slightly hasty decision, much to Clare's dismay. "But that was too fast!" She loves to wander the aisles of trees and invent worlds, this time being a bakery wherein the palettes were the ovens and the pine needles were the baked goods. Danny tried in vain to join in, but ultimately just sat down and complained about the cold. Grandma and Grandpa, I hope you have a LOT of layers for his visit to Buffalo!

After an afternoon of birthday parties, hair appointments, and naps, we prepped the tree with lights (during which we kicked the kids outside for a while, though once again the cold quickly drove Danny inside) and finally it was time to decorate. I had a hunch that Danny would be fairly enthusiastic about this, based on the miniature tree in their playroom that he has decorated no fewer than six times over the past week. I was right. Both he and Clare dove into the boxes of ornaments and steadily decorated, with Tim supervising and me making dinner. This year's feast featured crudites, pigs in a blanket, lamb meatballs (awesome leftovers, Dad!), and cheese fondue, plus our traditional champagne. Between cooking and eating, I did very little decorating, and that was fine since the kids were enjoying themselves so much.

And so we admire this tree, the fifth in this house - and eleventh for Tim and I. Time really does fly when you're having fun.

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