Why Is My Christmas Tree Up Before Thanksgiving???

Why is my Christmas tree up and decorated before Thanksgiving day???  Simple.....Bobby LOVES the Christmas tree.  He is off of school all week, so I let him have it an extra week to enjoy the lights.  I used to put up the tree while Bobby was in school because it WAS SO MUCH EASIER to do while he was not home!!!!  But, a couple of years ago we were bored and it was yucky outside I decided to get it out and start to put it up.  What did Bobby do??  He grabbed a branch and took it over to the pole and tried to put it together himself.  I laughed and watched him work. He then grabbed a string of lights, plugged them in (WHO KNEW THAT HE COULD PLUG SOMETHING IN....not me at the time!!), and threw them onto the branch and sat back to stare at his own handiwork.  That is the moment that I decided that he would "help" me put up the tree from then on.

Saturday, on his first full day of Thanksgiving break, it was 20 degrees outside.  Too cold to do anything outdoors, so it was the chosen day to put up the Christmas tree.  Bobby did not disappoint, he immediately began to help Mommy with the job.

I helped Bobby out and got the bottom row of branches all in place.  Bobby then got some lights and carefully arranged them on the branches.  Oh heck,  I can't lie, he threw them on in a big clump.

Since the lights are perfectly in place, it's time to start the next row of branches.

Bobby's attention span with putting up the tree got sidetracked....

While he was busy with the new task of "planking," I got some more of the tree finished.  Bobby came over to inspect my work and make sure that it was up to his standards....

 To get the full visual stimulation from the lights, you have to either squint as demonstrated above or totally relax your eyes with a blank stare as demonstrated below!!!

Whew, I think that I passed Bobby's inspection!!  I'm so glad that Daddy was home so that he could run to the store and get us some more lights.  How, oh how, do Christmas tree lights break while they are safely in storage???  Because Bobby's favorite part of the tree is the lights, I put on way too many! After all of the tree is complete, Bobby has to give it his final inspection before I can move on to the putting on the ornament portion of the tree.  Just in case you didn't know.....the only way to truly inspect the lights is to look from the bottom up!!!

I passed inspection and can now finish decorating the tree!!  Whoo hoo!!  I was getting a little worried that my tree lighting wasn't up to standards!!

A couple of years ago I got some Bobby-proof decorations for our tree, if you are at all interested you can read about the new tree decor here....http://cherismith.blogspot.com/2011/11/o-christmas-tree.html

Bobby is so funny when the tree is up.  He wants to keep the curtains closed so that it is as dark as he can make it so that the lights shine as brightly as possible.  So you can imagine how much he loves looking at the tree when it is finally dark outside.

Over the next month Bobby will spend a great deal of time loving this Christmas tree....from ALL angles!

Zoi approves of the tree too...

What happened to Bobby's small tree?  Well thank you for asking!  It made it upstairs to the bedroom.

He had to move the pillows to the middle of the bed for a better look at the lights as he drifts off to sleep.

Hopefully it warms up a little over the weekend or next week so that I can get our outdoor lights and decorations up for Bobby's viewing pleasure.

Happy Thanksgiving from Bobby's World!!!!

How To Make Christmas Traditions for Bobby

All of the Elf On The Shelf pictures posted on Facebook and Pinterest make me happy and sad. Happy because it is just so darned cute and I would totally get into it and make it a big deal and sad because Bobby would have no interest in the story and doll at all.  I see all kinds of other fun traditions to start for kids to make Christmas that much more special.  Wrapping up a children's Christmas storybook and letting them open one each night and read the book as a bedtime story. Again, this is something that I personally would love to do, Bobby not so much.  I could go on and on about the different ideas that I have seen mostly from Pinterest.

Making Christmas traditions for Bobby that he actually enjoys is very important to me.  I want him to understand that this time of year is special and full of magic.  I want him to have special Christmas memories.  One tradition that I know that Bobby loves is the Christmas tree.  He LOVES the Christmas tree.  He "helps" me put up the tree with as much help as he can give.  His favorite part of all is the Christmas tree lights.  He lays under the tree and looks up at the lights with complete joy.  He is known to take his morning breakfast over to the tree area and sit on the floor and watch the tree while he eats.

4 Year Old Bobby laying under the Christmas tree

This year I decided that I would make Bobby some Christmas tree ornaments of his own that were unbreakable and give him a small tree that he could decorate and redecorate as he wishes.  Grandma Carolyn gave Bobby a small pre-lit tree that she had from back in the day when she used to work, you know, before her retirement in April.  

Yesterday Grandma Carolyn came to visit and brought the tree, even better she brought a shopping bag full of wonderful food from Murial's for dinner.  Ahhh, thank you Grandma Carolyn.  After we ate dinner, we all took a ride and we dropped Daddy and Uncle Tom off at the WVU Coliseum for a basketball game.  When we got home from dropping off the boys, we got the tree out of the car trunk, brought it in and let Bobby get to work.  Funny enough, he got right to work.  He was happy to get the tree out of the box and standing up.  It is a very small tree and he was finished before I had a chance to get out my camera.  He put the two pieces together himself and plugged the top and bottom together to get the lights on.

He even started fluffing the branches.

I put the tree up onto a small table and gave Bobby the few decorations that we had made for him. In true Bobby form, he lined them up on the tree perfectly.

I went downstairs and got into my Christmas tree ornament storage container and found some that Bobby could put on his tree that are unbreakable.  He wasn't interested in putting them onto the tree at all.  Grandma Carolyn and I helped him finish decorating.  He LOVED it when it was finished.

Hummmmm....is this tree enough for the entire Christmas season.  Do I really need to get out my large tree and put it up too????  

Of course I do silly goose, Bobby can't lay under this tree!!  (Notice how it is on the very corner of the table?  That is the only place that it is acceptable to sit according to Bobby!!  So don't try to put it in the middle of the table because it DOES NOT go there!!).  We will celebrate Thanksgiving before I get the rest of the Christmas decorations out.

If anyone has any fun Christmas traditions that you think that Bobby might enjoy, please feel free to share!

O Pinterest Tree

I have been spending way too much time lately on Pinterest looking at pictures, blogs, videos....of Christmas decorations.  Let me tell you, there are some people out there who come up with some amazing ideas, some who make me fell very inadequate, and some who are just plain 'ol crazy.  I took a couple of the ideas and couldn't wait to use them on my Christmas tree.

First thing to do...get the tree out of storage.  So glad that Bob was home and could do that for me!!  Next, put the tree together and put the lights on.  Bob and Bobby got right on that task...

Love those boys!!  They worked so hard.  They actually got about 6 branches on the tree before they both gave up and left the rest of the work to me!  Oh well, as long as Daddy keeps Bobby occupied, he is working hard in my eyes.  The boys were off and I got to work on the tree.

After I got he first two rows of branches and lights on the tree, Zoi and Bobby decided it was time to come and get a close up look (a.k.a. Get in my way)...

I still managed to get the tree finished and over the next couple of days got it fully decorated...

The Pinterest inspired tree topper...

Yeah!!  The biggest decorating challenge accomplished.  Now to decorate the rest of the house.

And the stockings were hung by the window with care.  What...window???...that's not where they are supposed to go!!!

You could not have asked for more perfect weather to put up the outdoor decorations.  We were outside in short sleeve shirts in November.  The whole family was outside to help.

Hey Bobby, could you get all of that stuff put up for Mommy??

I'll take that as a NO!  Zoi's no help either...

Bobby loves when the lights are actually up and on...

Somehow I managed to get the front porch lights finished, in spite of all of the "help"!!!!!  Now, it was time to move around to the back porch.  Zoi got in on the decorating...

Zoi, I know you like a little "bling," but I have to hang that wreath, you don't get to wear it!!

The stockings were also hung by the stairwell with care.  I know, what is with me, don't I know where to actually hang the stockings and why, oh why, do I have two sets of stockings!!??!!

Thankfully Bobby took some time to play with his blocks while I decorated away...

Now if Santa's elves would just come over clear off my dining room table and put everything back into their appropriate storage container, carry the containers downstairs and put back into the storage area.  Good thing that we already had our Thanksgiving dinner and we weren't planning to use this table...

If you want to see any of the rest of our holiday decorations, you are just going to have to come over for a visit!!  Now, I have to get to work on the rest of the homemade Christmas presents that we are going to give this year.  I'm planning to take pictures and blog the gift making process, but since the recipients are blog followers, I won't be sharing these until January.  Happy Holidays!!!!