Christmas Tree Shopping

Every year, basically before the turkey from Thanksgiving dinner has even been fully digested, I start getting antsy and excited about getting a Christmas tree. Since the first year Ryan and I were in our house, we've made a point to buy a real Christmas tree from our local farmer's market. I grew up surrounded by fake plastic trees, so that first year with a real tree was a huge shock for me. The smell of the tree was intoxicating and filled the air with the feeling of Christmas. Despite the sap, the plethora of fallen pine needles and the inexplicable magnetism that draws the cat into the branches, having a real tree is totally worth it to us. So, this year, after the Thanksgiving dinner was devoured and the dishes washed, we hauled the kids over to the tree lot to pick out our perfect Christmas tree. 

Our local farmer's market is adorable. Every year for Christmas, it transforms from fruit stands and veggie displays to a magical world of all things Christmas. It's filled with rows and rows of the prettiest pines and sappiest spruces; tables of wreaths and garlands and boughs of holly; giant inflatables, candy canes and reindeer; plus an entire shop filled with treats, goodies, knick-knacks and ornaments. I could spend hours walking through the place, sipping my hot chocolate and sniffing the evergreen. But in reality, I have two impatient kids with me, so instead I chase them down the aisles and attempt to keep them from knocking over trees, while dodging in and out of the crowd around me and wonder why it is my children are always the most unruly and out of control, everywhere we go. 

Mac was given the tape measure and tasked with finding the perfect-sized tree for the space in our living room. Ryan guided us to the section of trees which would fit and set Mac to work. Meanwhile, he had to repeatedly drag me out of the section with 30 foot trees while I said, "Are you sure this one won't fit? Look how pretty it is!" Apparently, spacial manipulation isn't my strong suit. I get a little too excited about big beautiful trees and I think we have cathedral ceilings and room for a redwood, as opposed to the tiny space between the wall and the changing table we actually have in our living room. If we ever move, my next house must have room for the BIG tree. 

Mac has the opposite problem as I do and loves every single tiny tree he sees. The smaller the tree, the more he loved it. He'd say, "Look at this little guy. I love him. Let's take him home!" It was simultaneously adorable and obnoxious as he would literally pick them up and start dragging trees back to our car. 

We finally decided on a nice little spruce that would fit into our small space without a ton of sawing, cramming and shoving. The evidence from last year's overestimation of space/size is still obvious on the ceiling of our living room, so this year we went a bit smaller. I was slightly disappointed, but Mac was blown away with how ginormous the tree we picked out was. He attempted to carry it, but quickly gave up and settled for walking it to the car. 

With the purchase of our tree, we had the opportunity to get a family photo taken of the four of us next to all the pretty decorated trees. We stopped by the Christmas shop to pay for the tree, which is when the kids spied the most ridiculously messy suckers on the face of the earth and insisted on having them RIGHT THAT MINUTE. Silly me thought it wasn't a big deal and let them have them, only to watch in sheer horror as the kids were instantly covered in a thick red, slimy, sticky, sugar-coating all over their faces, hands and clothing. Trying to keep them from touching everything in the store was nearly impossible, so we headed back outside, where every loose pine needle on the block started sticking to them. Trying to clean them up or take away the suckers ended with both kids in hysterics and Ryan and I sprinting back to the car, abandoning the photo opportunity and cursing the stupid suckers under our breath. 

Eventually we pried the suckers out of their sticky hands, wiped them down with baby wipes and strapped them in their car seats while we loaded up the tree on top of the car. Lesson learned...no suckers until we get back home. So, other than the final 10 minutes, it was overall a pretty successful trip to the Christmas tree lot. We missed the family photos, but what kind of outing would it be if we actually behaved and got everything accomplished? That's just not how we roll...

Sara's boots: Khombu Abigail Snow Boot

Mac's boots: Sporto Kids' Snowboard Winter Boot

Mim's boots: Bearpaw Kids' Emma Short Zipper Boot

All of our awesome winter boots are from Famous Footwear. I'm so thrilled to be working with this awesome local company again this season to show off some of their great styles for winter. The kids were both desperately in need of some new warm boots that they could play in, while I was really excited to snag a great pair of warm stylish boots to wear in the snow and to chase them around. If you want to see more photos of how people are styling their Famous Footwear finds, check out the #ohsofamous style gallery. 

What kind of Christmas tree do you get?

**I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.