Since we celebrated Thanksgiving on Saturday, I was ready to put up our Christmas tree on Sunday (everybody knows that you do that the weekend after Thanksgiving, right?). Okay, that was not the only reason! We are also going to be gone the next 2 weekends (first Beijing then Shanghai). The following couple of weeks after that, Andy has a whirlwind of travel and will be gone more than he is home. With all this in mind, I wanted to decorate the tree before all the craziness began. Besides, I would rather have the decorations up a LONGER time because I just love Christmas. We put on some Christmas carols, I whipped up a batch of cookies, and we (to use the words of Tori): "built our tree." Isn't that a great expression? This is the first year that Andy and I have ever had an artificial tree. But I cannot even begin to fathom how crazy-expensive a real one would be! We had such a great time decorating with the kids. When we were done, Becca said, "Wow! This feels like America!"
Here are some pics of the afternoon:
Stringing the lights. This is our downstairs bay window - a perfect place for the tree.
Tori finding the perfect spot for her "orients" (which is what she kept calling the ornaments)
Each of our kids has a box of their own ornaments - each year both my parents and Andy's mom give them an ornament. Opening the boxes up was like finding old friends for our older two. They were each so excited to hang them up!
This is what happens when you put your tree up in a bay window then let your xiao haizi (small children) decorate it. There were branches with 5-6 ornaments on them! :-D While I did leave a lot down at the bottom, we re-distributed after bedtime.... it would have bothered Andy and I (the perfectionist in each of us). Yes, we are that neurotic!
That sounds so much like me. I wait until they go to bed and then rearrange. They are on to me though, and wake up and realize things have moved and try to move things back. Last year, it fell over a couple of times. No fun, we had to tie it to the window-always thinking we are! Looks like fun. I put all of my ornaments together, but I love the idea of each of the kids having their own box. Mind if I use it? They would love the ownership, becuase they pilfer through the big box the way it is!
ReplyDeletetia
Yay for Christmastime! I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving already, and my parents will be coming down to Cincinnati in just over a week. I'm looking forward to getting and putting up my tree as well!
ReplyDeleteO.k., so I found your comment about my "interview me" post, and I'm sorry I've taken so long to get back to you about that... I was planning to email you just now, actually, but realized that I don't have your email address. So I'll put the questions here.
Hope it's not uninteresting, but the questions I kept coming back to had a definite theme...
1. What do you enjoy most about living in China, compared with life in the States?
2. What surprised you most as you got settled into life in China?
3. What is the most challenging thing about living in China?
4. If someone wanted to send you a care package, what kinds of things would you most appreciate receiving?
5. How can people specifically lift you up?
Enjoy! And thanks again for keeping us all posted about your adventures!
Jenn