Preparations Are Underway...

Don't know if you've heard about this, but apparently Santa Claus is coming to town. Something he does every year, I'm told. This year, there are two three-year-olds who have become intensely aware of this tradition. This is the first year in four that John and Janne will have a tree. This is the first year EVER that either Janne or John will give shelter to a tree other than one of the cut-down REAL variety. In years past, we have dragged home a Douglas Fir (incredibly overpriced) from the grocery store parking lot five minutes away from our last home. We have gone to tree farms and 'cut our own'. When time-strapped, we have purchased them from schmancy 'garden centres'...but neither of us have ever had a - dare I say it - 'artificial' tree. So, this is a 'first tree' for Liam and Morgan, a 'first' for Janne and myself.
Our daycare provider had a pyjama party for all of her charges this past Saturday evening, partly to give their parents a night to do Christmas shopping, or decorating, or just an evening out for dinner. We chose to use our 'night off" to surprise the kids with the tree. The most amusing part was deciding what was twin-safe and what wasn't from among the decorations. For instance, Janne has a metal tube full of 'icicles' (not to be confused with flimsy old tinsel) - which are essentially solid flat metal strands, about six or seven inches long, which are twisted in a spiral, and reflect light rather nicely when they are hung from the tree. This year, however, Janne referred to them as "sharp, pointy things", and they will remain in their packing tube, quite possible for a couple of more years.
Janne and I are also from the same school of tree-trimming. Although we won't be using tinsel this year, the one rule we both follow is "You don't throw tinsel. You place it on the tree." Yes, it takes longer, but it looks much better. Obsessive Compulsives make good partners, in case you were wondering.
We were both pleasantly surprised by the look of the artificial tree. Full to the point of being lush when all branches were turned out and arranged, it was easy to stop decorating and be happy with as much as we had done - because we're always late, and had to stop to go get the kids from their pyjama party. (The O.C. habit of constantly stopping to fix and straighten things takes up a lot of one's "free time", it seems.)
Morgan and Liam enjoyed - and continue to enjoy - the finished product, and have kept their hands off to this point.
The first picture here is my tribute to the now-defunct talking Christmas tree from Mic Mac Mall in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia called "Woody". The very odd marketing creation actually had a "Save Woody" Facebook group for a while. (Go ahead and take the chance of searching "Save Woody" and hope that you don't get a pop-up ad for something manufactured by Lilly or Pfizer to see a picture of the former Talking Christmas Tree on Facebook.) My version below only has arms in the first pic, then somehow develops an awkwardly-placed head in the second.The New WoodyOne might call this practice "Tree Peeking" A Healthy Glow

The final pic is where we left it, and the kids seem to like it just the way it is, which is what's important - because it's time for them to start their Christmas memories - for all of us.