{getting the tree}

Saturday started early with a choir performance at the winter festival in our area of the city. Tre did a great job & had 1 of the only 2 speaking parts in the performance. The boy is so well rounded & diverse in his interests. It was nice having Rod home for the day. Its not long, but we will take whatever we can get these days. Its been months without him home. We watched santa arrive in a helicopter & ate mango snow cones, had a meltdown or two (the kids this time. not me.) We decided to find lunch at a local restaurant. Having my mom here makes everything better, and then add Rod in too! There were 3 adults vs 5 kids rather than the typical just me. It was nice. Since Rod was home only for the day we decided that after naps we needed to go get our real tree. We have a few faux trees up in the house already, but we have a love for the scent of the real tree & the hunt for a good one. Or at least we did love the hunt. Last year was magical. The sun was setting. The lights were strung up & gave a soft glow. the children went from tree to tree feeling and smelling each one. they held hands & were enjoying the moment. this time.... it was like crazy monkeys were climbing on everything, hitting each other with sticks. Let me stop a moment. It was not all the kids. Just Britt & Madds. but when they are "on" they are the equivalent of 100 kids. Each. So the search for the perfect tree became the search for any tree so we could just get the heck home! In the end we found a pretty tree. I prefer slightly odd, fat trees. I don't know what that says about me. We will wait to decorate it when Rod sneaks home again next weekend. The children are anxious, but not a one of us wants to do it without him here.