It's Beginning to look a lot like...Christmas

Winter is upon us. The tree is up, stockings have been hung with care, we closed school 30 minutes early, and I had my first walk in the snow today with Lucy. It has been fun to decorate our new house. This year, we went for the real tree. For 7 years, I assembled our fake tree that actually looked real. It never shed needles, didn't need water, and looked perfect year to year. Moving to our new house prevented us from using it because it was way too tall. This year, I am vacuuming needles every day and "hired" a babysitter to water the tree while we were gone in Bend, OR. Hmm...not so sure I am loving the "real" factor. Looks nice though!