What a weekend!

This past weekend wasn't at all what I anticipated it was going to be. The only plans we had were:

• Get our Christmas tree Saturday around noon. Put it in the stand with water and let it sit
• Hair appointment for Shell & our girl at 1:30
• While they are there, take the boy with me to finish up buying Shell's gift
• Sunday it would be snowy and cold, so spend the day decorating the tree, doing laundry and finish the Christmas cards for mailing on Monday

What actually happened:

• Shell's car got a flat tire sometime late Friday, so she took my car to work that night. We figured we'd just drop it off at the shop before heading to pick out our tree Saturday morning.
• Neither of us could get the lug bolts loose enough to put the spare tire on. Called my dad to come over and help. He was already waiting on a call from us to pick up our tree, so he headed over, loosened the bolt and went to run an errand.
• We got the spare tire on and Shell headed to the shop. Me and the kids went to the grocery store and found a really great looking tree. And it was only $30! Called my dad to come pick it up, picked up Shell and met dad at home to put the tree in the garage.
• Dropped off the kids with my mom so we could hopefully get the rest of our shopping done. We shopped for a couple of hours, had CiCi's Pizza for dinner and then went back to pick up the kids. They were in the middle of watching a movie, so we went home to put the tree in the stand. Picked them up a little later, went home and collapsed into bed.
• Got about 4 inches of snow overnight Saturday and it was very cold on Sunday. Was very surprised to see that the tree didn't drink any water since being in the stand. Not a good sign. Stared outside willing the snow to melt to no avail.
• Drove to my parents house to borrow a saw from my dad so I could saw a fresh cut on the trunk of the tree. Pulled the tree out of the stand and carried it back out to the garage, while it dripped water across the floor. Sawed until my back hurt, then Shell took over and finished it off. Took off a few more bottom branches and then took it back inside. Wished with all our might that our beautiful tree would drink lots of water and not die.
• Took Shell to get her car and I took the kids to the grocery store. Needed to get ingredients so the kids could make Edible Cells for their science projects. DUE THE NEXT DAY. Gotta love the prior notice...
• Got home, threw some laundry in the washer. Shell & I worked on making dinner while the kids took their showers.
• I finished the Christmas cards and got them all addressed and stamped.
• We were elated to see that the water in the stand was considerably lower, so the kids and I put all the lights on the tree before we ate. Dinner was the most amazing chicken noodle soup ever. Every time we make it, it gets better. After dinner we put the ornaments on the tree, the kids worked on and completed their projects and were in bed at 10:45. An hour and 15 minutes later than should have been, but everything got done. Whew!

Here are a couple pictures from the tree decorating.

My girl hanging ornaments

Joe sniffing in the ornament box

My boy hanging ornaments

Willow in the way... as usual

Used the flash to emphasize the green in the tree