Our Christmas Tree Story

While shopping at Costco one weekend we noticed a giant sign advertising Christmas trees for $30.  Wow, we thought.  What a great deal!  Why don't we get our tree there this year and save ourselves $20.  So, we piled in the car the next weekend and headed back.  It was pouring down rain, but, who cares, we won't have to tromp through the mud and rain to find a tree we will just pick one up from their nice lot.

We headed into the store, paid for our tree and they directed us to the parking lot across the street.  As soon as we arrived, we realized it was not exactly what we had pictured.

There was a giant semi truck where trees were being unloaded as we watched.  The trees were all wrapped up... and laying on the ground.  They were not nicely displayed where we could walk around and pick out the one we liked best.  They were lying in the puddles on the cement parking lot.  The girls decided not to even get out of the car, and I don't blame them.  It was still raining and there was nothing to even look at except a semi and caution tape.  Rey and I ventured out... how do you determine which wrapped tree is the best?  Who knows, we opted to pick one with the flattest cut at the trunk.  Made sense to me, flatter seems that it would be easiest to put in the tree stand.

We quickly discover that there is no assistance to get the tree tied on your car, it is all up to you.  So, we attempt to get it on top and tie it down... in the pouring rain... with no real idea on how to do it.  It is heavy and we are struggling to get it centered.  I opened the door to the car and Laurel is crying.  I figured out that she didn't realize the tree was wrapped and thought we were picking out a small one so no ornaments would fit on it.  Got her settled down.  Finish tying the tree on top and cross our fingers it stays during the ride home.  Maya was kind enough to volunteer to watch the trunk through the sunroof for us because "if I can't see the trunk any more that means the tree fell off."  Thanks for the help!

We made it home and unwrapped the tree and luckily it looks OK.  Next year, however, we will go back to our regular nursery, pick out the perfect tree before it is wrapped and then head into the warm building for hot chocolate and fresh baked cookies while the kind gentlemen tie the tree to the top of our car.  I have learned that all that is worth $20 to me :-)

Here is a picture to capture the scene.

My perfectionist

Her attention to detail can sometimes shock me.  It can also have some very frustrating moments as it leads to a high level of perfectionism.  We've been having a lot of conversations about how things should never be "perfect," especially art.  That it is OK if there are little mistakes or that things don't look exactly like you want.  That is what makes them really special and unique to you.

She asked me to spell her words as she was writing and then proceeded to alternate red and green letters... notice it also alternates which color each line begins with.  Luckily we didn't have any color mixups partway through or the melt down would have been pretty epic.

Laurel, I REALLY love that you care so much about your work and that you want do the absolute best that you can.  I hope that I can help you realize that perfection is not the goal - and that as long as you try as hard as you can whatever you do will be absolutely wonderful.

Happy Thanksgiving!

They each dressed up for the occasion, for Maya that meant a beautiful dress and tiara, for Laurel that meant her "fancy running clothes."  

Portland

The weekend before Thanksgiving, we headed down to Portland for a visit with Barbe, Rick, Gram and Sam.  It was such a great break from our typical weekly schedule and we all enjoyed some quality time with our family.  We spent most of the afternoon on Saturday at the OMSI - the science museum in town.  It was a great place and we all had so much fun exploring it.  We took great walks, watched some movies, enjoyed each others company and spent a small fortune at the Nike store.  The girls absolutely idolize Sam, who is so wonderful with them, and they even warmed up to Roxi.  Hopefully we will get back down for another adventure soon!

Dressing up as animals in the Science Museum.  Laurel didn't want her picture taken in any manner but little did she know I can see her peeking out :-)

 

Working their way through the mind teasers.

Maya and Gram

A little photo shoot - they thought it was SO cool that you could stand on the roof of the garage.

I don't know that she would admit it if you asked, but she absolutely fell in love with Roxi.  

Maya and Sami.

Maya and Gram snuggles.

We successfully wore them out and they both crashed on the way home.

Gymnastics

Maya has been asking to do gymnastics for quite awhile, but since we missed the sign ups we were put on a waiting list.  A spot just opened up and we jumped on it!  The timing is actually really good since soccer is wrapping up.  She has done two sessions so far and really seems to love it.

Her first session and she quickly made it all the way up to the top of the ropes!!

They go station to station to practice all of their skills.  

And our evenings are now spent practicing her new skills.  She was determined to do a cartwheel, something she wasn't able to do on the first day.  But after practicing nightly for a few days she figured it out before her second class - and I don't think I have ever seen her as proud of herself as she was that first time she made it over!  Bridges are common practice as well... and of course, her little sister wants to learn it all along the way.

Decorating the Tree

Despite the tragic christmas tree adventure, it turned out to be great once it was put in place and decorated.  The girls pretty much handled the decorating this year, even the ones that were up high, they were the ones that told us where to place them.  We've settled into a bit of a routine, Rey and I get the tree in the stand, Rey obsessively sweeps up all the fallen needles while Maya and I put on all the lights, then the girls put on all the decorations.  It works well :-)

Pointing out their favorite ornaments

Sisterly love in front of the final product.

Another Soccer Season

Maya played another season of soccer on her Pink Lion Cubs team.  She really had a blast - even on the windy, rainy days.  I'm not sure if it was maturity or a slight change in girls but this team was really focused and seemed to gain skills by leaps and bounds this year.  They started to pull together as a team and worked on some actual strategy.  Maya gained a lot of confidence and really went after that ball!  She is already counting down until spring soccer begins.

The team - minus one.

Some action shots - Maya is wearing the green shoes.

And earning her first trophy, she was SO excited for this!

Most of the team and Coach Andrew.