With temps in the high-80s it’s been hard for me to get in the Christmas spirit. This past Saturday I finally got up the gumption to dig out the Christmas tree and decorations.

While Max and Elly napped, Brenda and I set up the tree and put on the lights. We were experiencing yet another power outage so there was really no way to know whether the lights were working or not; we just strung them on the tree and hoped for the best. And there our bare little tree sat, waiting for Max and Elly to wake up and decorate it.

Max was the first to wake up and discover the tree. He paused, rubbed his tired eyes and just looked at it. Then he turned toward the kitchen and shouted, “Mommy, njo!” (Mommy, come here!) He stood, pointing at the tree, saying nothing, just slightly confused about where the toy basket had gone and why a tree was in the corner instead.

Once Elly woke up, we got started with the decorating. Brenda added a beaded garland and letter ornaments Aunt Carla had given us that spelled out each of the five kids’ names.

Max and Elly each have a small collection of their own Christmas ornaments–most of them from Aunt Tammy, whose tradition is to give the nieces and nephews a personalized ornament each year.

They also each have a “Baby’s 1st Christmas” ornament they got from Grandma. They both liked to kiss the baby on those ornaments.

And they also both have beautiful photo ornaments from our friends Jason and Tonja, super-talented photographers who took Max and Elly’s newborn pics during their first trip to Nebraska.

I’m not gonna lie–it was hard for me to turn over the tree decorating to two two-year-olds who don’t have the same appreciation for balance and symmetry that I do. But they were having a great time and it was loads of fun watching them so I just let go of my own issues and let them do their thing. (Tami and Kattie, I know you are both relishing in the fact that I have a lopsidedly decorated Christmas tree. Stop laughing.)

Aunt Carla also sent along some Christmas window clings when our Christmas packages were delivered by a friend in November. So we decorated a couple of our living room windows with those.

By the end of the afternoon our bare little tree had become quite lovely. And when the power came back on we were happy to discover that the lights did, in fact, still work!

(And okay, I admit it, after Max and Elly lost interest in the tree I did move a few of the ornaments around so the tree looked a little more balanced.)