I got our tree up on Saturday, and we decorated it Sunday night. The boys and I did it- Ivan had an indoor soccer game at 7. (Traditionally the tree decorating has been a “me + the boys” thing. I am not entirely sure why. Occasionally Ivan is there for it, but for some reason I actually kind of like doing this as a special thing just me and the boys.)
I gave Charlie a lick mat to keep him occupied for a while. To be honest, I wasn’t really sure how he would handle the tree. Before we decorated it, he momentarily thought it was a new “secret den” of sorts:
We made a point to not place any low-hanging fruit… I specifically told the boys to not hang any enticing, dangling ornaments off the bottom of the tree.
We also made sure that there were none of those metal ornament hooks anywhere on the bottom half of the tree. So far, so good! He hasn’t really paid much attention to it, miraculously. Anyway, the living room is generally an off-limits room unless we are right there with him.
2023 Tree Decorating Photos, Minus the Cute Christmas PJs They Always Used To Wear:
*We actually all do have Christmasy PJs but I was mostly too lazy to change out of my already comfy sweatpants, and the boys were “good” as they were, too..
I’ve shared pics of our ornament collection in the past, so I won’t do that again. It’s always fun to get them out though.
My favorite ornament tradition is that we always buy an ornament from every place we travel to each year, and give them as a Christmas gift for each boy. It is fun to unpack ornaments from NYC, Disney, Arches National Park, Ireland, Rome, South Dakota and more. If you have little ones and like to travel, I highly recommend this tradition! I think we might have missed a few early years, but we started this when they were pretty young. It’s super special and the boys have loved it.
They also have received ornaments many years based on their various interests and extracurriculars. Piano ornaments, tennis, soccer, a swimmer and even a video game ornament are all on the tree.
I still have mine from my childhood too. Here’s my high school volleyball ornament. #24 always! 🙂
We played Christmas music and then when we were done, we watched an episode of Modern Family by the tree light. A very nice evening!
I know it’s early, but things have been so crazy around here. Plus, with us traveling this year for Christmas, I wanted to get the tree up extra early to enjoy it. Not sure when I’ll get to the rest of our decorating. Maybe this weekend.
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful that so far Charlie doesn’t seem to be demolishing the tree. 😉
GRATEFUL KAE 
Oh wow, what a beautiful tree! I love your ornament tradition. It’s such a fun way to keep those family memories alive! And it’s never too early to set up your tree — if you’re feeling it, go for it!
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Oh I love Christmas trees. AND ARE THESE NOT THE SWEETEST PICTURES EVER? They are, Kaelyn. Charlie was born to be photographed and I love the pictures of everyone snuggling him. So, so sweet. And yay for Christmas decorations and all the coziness of the season ❤
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I love it!!!!! Your tree is beautiful. And what a nice tradition to share with the boys. Come to think of it, my husband doesn’t really help decorate the tree either. He’ll help get things set up, but once the actual ornaments come out he kind of wanders away.
I remember the year Muffin was a kitten- we were so worried she would demolish the tree (because she was into everything else) but she left it alone! So odd, but we were happy! Maybe they’re scared of it or something? Anyway, glad you got it up so you can enjoy it!
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I love hearing about Christmas trees and ornaments. I’m a bit of an ornament fiend. You DEFINITELY need to get Charlie a Puppy’s First Christmas ornament for this year!!
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Phil does not decorate our tree either. He’s not super into holidays or decorations in general. Paul and I have decorated the tree together the last 2 years. By next year, Taco can probably help out. I do all the nicer/breakable ornaments out of Taco’s reach and then Paul puts the kid-friendly ones on the lower branches. They love to move them around and play with the ornaments. Taco totally associates the Christmas Tree with his birthday. So when he came home on Friday and saw the decorated tree he said, “It’s my birthday!!” Kind of funny.
I brought an ornament back from Banff and they boys thought that was so exciting and fun. I also try to bring an ornament back from our trips but I sometimes forget so need to work on that.
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Yes, this is the difference between having a dog and having a cat…with a cat you’ve got to be on 24/7 Tree Surveillance. With a dog everything is chill.
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You have the tree up already! Gah. My mind is not there yet. I don’t know if I am even going to do it this weekend. Maybe next week.
I love that you have the Music Channel on. We actually use them quite a bit (our go-to is Soundscapes) and I love the seasonal channels.
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I just started buying ornaments from places I travel and it’s so fun to add them to my tree every year! It’s a great tradition, especially with kids.
The good news about having a fake Christmas tree around a puppy is that he won’t be tempted to drink the water from the tree stand! My dogs always used to do that, argh.
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What a lovely tradition – the tree decorating, and the ornaments. My mom, I think, still has all of my childhood ornaments (I certainly do not) but it would probably be good to check!
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