We're Going on a Tree Hunt and We're Gonna Get a Big One!

Our newest addition to our ornament collection. Going to try to continue to add at least one a year.
The 2010 Fricke Family Christmas Tree
No chimney so we have to improvise!
Packages are wrapped and neatly arranged under the tree
Can you tell by the wrapping that I have lots of little ones to buy for-hence the Scooby, Toy Story, and Princess paper.

Grant watching Daddy work -I think Grant was too cold to move!
Still happy though
Grant picking out the tree
Grant picked up a twig from a tree and said, "Oh Mommy, I found our Christmas Tree!" Always so cute!
Grant and Mason watching the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Ugh-so happy Thanksgiving is over so I could delete that cartoon. (I'll tell you why-later)



The morning after Thanksgiving I found myself in a long line at Walmart at 3:45am. As I was standing in this reasonably content line I reflected upon my childhood years...when I was younger my Mom would give each one of my three sisters and myself coupons and send us through the swamp of crazy holiday shoppers to capture the sale items she was after. I remembered how claustrophobic and miserable that used to be for me. Since then I have never really been a huge fan of the Black Friday shopping adventure.....until of course-this year. What changed? Well, when a big ticket priced item goes on a serious sale I will put my Black Friday fears and feelings aside and persevere! And I did. I got the item I wished for and with very a limited amount of stress and chaos. I was pleasantly surprised by how well organized things were at Walmart in the wee hours of the morning. They had the sale items strategically placed throughout the store with a map and alphabetical letters attached to the specific items- to make it even easier they had giant balloons with corresponding letters above the items so they could be easily seen from a distance. Not only was it organized but the other shoppers in line with me were just as pleasant as could be. Each one wore a smile and seemed surprisingly conversational. This is not sarcasm -they really were delightful. I have no complaint with my Black Friday experience other than the cold temps outside and the hour long wait in the line to get what I was after. All in all-not too bad of an ordeal. Will I do it again next year? Most likely-NOT- but hey you never know.
I am happy that Thanksgiving is past us because it is one of the worst over eating days of the year, it was espeically akward this year because of some fam issues, but most of all I am happy to finally have a justified reason to DELETE the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving cartoon from our DVR. Grant watched this over and over and over and over and over the past few weeks. So much that he started repeating the lines. He would walk around the house and say, "I am gonna kick that football to the MOOOOON!" And another NOT SO CUTE AND FUNNY line he repeated was, "I'll kill myself." Yep, you read it right. He would be "reading" his books and just drop this line every once in a while. I was FLOORED. I thought, "where in the world would he have heard such a horrible thing?" And then there it was, a few lines into Charlie Brown Thanksgiving-ole Chuck himself said it! Ugh! Something as harmless as Charlie Brown can really not be a good thing for a two year old. I thought Charlie Brown to be the most innocent and appropriate of cartoons (especially comparing it to crap like Spongebob) but no, I was most defiantly wrong. Needless to say, Grant and I had a talk about what he was repeating-I doubt he was able to fully grasp the seriousness and severity of the things he was saying as he is only 2 and a half and has no real clue but I still found it important to address the issue even if it was in vain. Thank goodness it is no longer on our TV. Unfortunately I think Daddy has replaced it with HOME ALONE! Ugh-sometimes I think I am fighting a losing battle. Oh well!
We spent the weekend after Thanksgiving this year the way we do every every year.....getting out the Christmas decorations and going to get our Christmas tree. It was pretty cold Saturday morn when we went hunting for the perfect tree but hey isn't that they way it's supposed to be? Nice and cold-makes it feel more like the holiday season. Grant loved hunting for our tree....he probably stayed more warm than all of us combined as he didn't stop running the entire time. He ran in between all of the rows of trees. We heard him yell numerous times, "hey, where are you guys?" as he would get so far ahead of us that he couldn't see us and we couldn't see him. Ha. He had a blast. I spent the rest of the day lighting our tree up and filling it with ornaments. I love the way Christmas decorations can instantly WARM up the house. It was so cozy cuddling with my boys (Jay counts as one of my boys) on the couch that night -watching the lights twinkle in the darkness. Love-love-love that we get to do this for at least another month! Again, it feels so nice to have all the shopping done and the Christmas cards addressed....more time to just chill and take in the beauty of the season. It allows for much time to reflect on the real meaning of Christmas -appreciating friends, family, and the birth of Jesus Christ. Ah. Life is so good.