Putting Up the Christmas Tree - 2014

Our kids have been BEGGING for a Christmas Tree this year. Last year, Sean and I took the lazy way out and figured they wouldn't notice the missing tree....so we kind of just skipped it. The year before that, we had a tree, but they were too young to remember. But this year, we had to have a tree.

No way around that!

But actually, it's kind of fun to see and hear their excitement this year!

We told them that we had a surprise for them, and to sit on the couch while Daddy brought it in. Everyone was ready to see it (except for Caleb who was on the floor behind Ellie).

Elijah, Abby, (Caleb behind Ellie) and Ellie

They were SO happy to see a tree come through the garage door!

Then, Daddy brought out some special ornaments for each of them. While we were on our weekend getaway last month, Sean picked out something for each child that he thought they would enjoy. Abby got an Anna ornament, Elijah got Hulk, Caleb got Captain America, and Ellie got Elsa.

I asked them to hold up their ornaments so that I could take a picture. This photo is a great example of their personalities! Elijah obeyed, Ellie followed directions, Caleb was too focused to listen, and Abby was totally confused. Lol!

Abby, Elijah, Caleb, and Ellie

And then we got down to decorating! 

Caleb, Mommy, and Ellie

And let me tell you, decorating a Christmas Tree with four 3-year-olds is not an easy task! They wanted to put their own ornaments on, but it was tricky to get them to stay on the branches. Then as soon as we helped one kid get an ornament up, another kid knocked a different ornament off.

Also, Elijah's Hulk ornament broke about 30 seconds after we opened the box. I'll let you guess how many more have broke within 48 hours of the tree going up. 

Abby and Caleb looking at our ornaments

Ellie is a smart cookie though, and quickly realized that having Elsa on a lower branch was a very bad idea. She asked to put it at the top of the tree instead. She loves her ornament and showing it off! I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that she actually thinks she IS Elsa.

Even Caleb got into the tree decorating. :)

It was fun to decorate the tree with the kids....but the decorations only lasted for a few hours. This was what we were looking at only a day or two later:

When I took these photos, there were about three ornaments on the lower branches. 

The tree is now completely bare except for the top 12 inches. The lights are hanging off onto the floor, and the tree is lopsided from Ellie trying to climb it.

LOL!

Our Christmas tree with 3-year-olds looks a LOT different from our Christmas trees before kids. But their excitement is so precious, it ends up making Christmas even more special!

....but I'm honestly not sure the tree will still be standing by the time Christmas rolls around.

This post may contain affiliate links. For more info, please see my disclaimer page.

Our kids have been BEGGING for a Christmas Tree this year. Last year, Sean and I took the lazy way out and figured they wouldn't notice the missing tree....so we kind of just skipped it. The year before that, we had a tree, but they were too young to remember. But this year, we had to have a tree.

No way around that!

But actually, it's kind of fun to see and hear their excitement this year!

We told them that we had a surprise for them, and to sit on the couch while Daddy brought it in. Everyone was ready to see it (except for Caleb who was on the floor behind Ellie).

Elijah, Abby, (Caleb behind Ellie) and Ellie

They were SO happy to see a tree come through the garage door!

Then, Daddy brought out some special ornaments for each of them. While we were on our weekend getaway last month, Sean picked out something for each child that he thought they would enjoy. Abby got an Anna ornament, Elijah got Hulk, Caleb got Captain America, and Ellie got Elsa.

I asked them to hold up their ornaments so that I could take a picture. This photo is a great example of their personalities! Elijah obeyed, Ellie followed directions, Caleb was too focused to listen, and Abby was totally confused. Lol!

Abby, Elijah, Caleb, and Ellie

And then we got down to decorating! 

Caleb, Mommy, and Ellie

And let me tell you, decorating a Christmas Tree with four 3-year-olds is not an easy task! They wanted to put their own ornaments on, but it was tricky to get them to stay on the branches. Then as soon as we helped one kid get an ornament up, another kid knocked a different ornament off.

Also, Elijah's Hulk ornament broke about 30 seconds after we opened the box. I'll let you guess how many more have broke within 48 hours of the tree going up. 

Abby and Caleb looking at our ornaments

Ellie is a smart cookie though, and quickly realized that having Elsa on a lower branch was a very bad idea. She asked to put it at the top of the tree instead. She loves her ornament and showing it off! I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that she actually thinks she IS Elsa.

Even Caleb got into the tree decorating. :)

It was fun to decorate the tree with the kids....but the decorations only lasted for a few hours. This was what we were looking at only a day or two later:

When I took these photos, there were about three ornaments on the lower branches. 

The tree is now completely bare except for the top 12 inches. The lights are hanging off onto the floor, and the tree is lopsided from Ellie trying to climb it.

LOL!

Our Christmas tree with 3-year-olds looks a LOT different from our Christmas trees before kids. But their excitement is so precious, it ends up making Christmas even more special!

....but I'm honestly not sure the tree will still be standing by the time Christmas rolls around.

This post may contain affiliate links. For more info, please see my disclaimer page.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

Holy. Moley. Have you ever tried setting up a Christmas tree with the help of toddler quadruplets?

My parents have some home videos of us setting up the Christmas tree when my siblings and I were little. There is one memorable scene of my Dad, me, and my brother Mike standing in front of the finished tree while my Mom recorded us. My Dad said, "Thanks to the kids for helping to set up the tree. They turned a one hour job into a three hour job!"

While I always found it pretty funny...oh boy, do I get it this year.

We started by moving one of the two couches in our living room out to the garage for the next couple of weeks. We needed that space for the Christmas tree! The kids danced around that extra space all morning until we brought up the tree base after lunch to get started on the festivities.

Ellie and Elijah carefully examining the tree base.

"Mommy, why is there a TREE in our living room?"

Once Daddy secured the tree into the base, and Mommy and Daddy got the lights up, the real exploring began.

I don't know what this kid was thinking, but Caleb carefully licked each different colored light to see what they tasted like. It was a very scientific experiment with the same four lights being tasted multiple times for comparison. Was he expecting candy??

We then brought out the Christmas ornaments. I quickly realized that ornaments with small plastic parts should probably be put back in the box. Poor Superman is now missing an arm. Also, porcelain and glass ornaments = not child friendly. And then Caleb demonstrated that those basic multi-colored plastic balls aren't indestructible either. I think he managed to bite into three or four of them...but hey, at least they are cheap, right?

And, oh yes. The tree did fall over at one point. It just up and tipped over. Like it was the end of the season and was tired out. Thankfully, we only had a few ornaments on the tree when it toppled and the kids weren't close to it, so it was a very uneventful "first tip" of the season.

The question now is how long will it take for the kids to be the direct cause of the tree falling over?

But once everything was straightened out, the decorating continued!

Daddy and Elijah

Mommy and Ellie

Mommy and Abby

Daddy and Caleb

It took awhile to get our ornaments up because the kids pulled roughly two ornaments off for every one ornament we got up. While we started with ornaments all over the tree, by the end of the day, all of the ornaments had migrated to the top half of the tree. It really looks hilarious!

Ellie really was so helpful though! Some of our ornaments are glittery and with all of the extra hands helping to unpack them, they shed a lot of glitter on the floor. Ellie very sweetly took care of the mess herself by using her bunny lovey to wipe up the floor. Then, of course, the lovey went right back up to her face, her thumb popped into her mouth, and we suddenly ended up with a human Christmas ornament running around our living room!

One more thing, I think I might need to pick up a tree topper on clearance after Christmas. Apparently we don't own one and this was the best I could do. It left Sean speechless. Hehe!

Holy. Moley. Have you ever tried setting up a Christmas tree with the help of toddler quadruplets?

My parents have some home videos of us setting up the Christmas tree when my siblings and I were little. There is one memorable scene of my Dad, me, and my brother Mike standing in front of the finished tree while my Mom recorded us. My Dad said, "Thanks to the kids for helping to set up the tree. They turned a one hour job into a three hour job!"

While I always found it pretty funny...oh boy, do I get it this year.

We started by moving one of the two couches in our living room out to the garage for the next couple of weeks. We needed that space for the Christmas tree! The kids danced around that extra space all morning until we brought up the tree base after lunch to get started on the festivities.

Ellie and Elijah carefully examining the tree base.

"Mommy, why is there a TREE in our living room?"

Once Daddy secured the tree into the base, and Mommy and Daddy got the lights up, the real exploring began.

I don't know what this kid was thinking, but Caleb carefully licked each different colored light to see what they tasted like. It was a very scientific experiment with the same four lights being tasted multiple times for comparison. Was he expecting candy??

We then brought out the Christmas ornaments. I quickly realized that ornaments with small plastic parts should probably be put back in the box. Poor Superman is now missing an arm. Also, porcelain and glass ornaments = not child friendly. And then Caleb demonstrated that those basic multi-colored plastic balls aren't indestructible either. I think he managed to bite into three or four of them...but hey, at least they are cheap, right?

And, oh yes. The tree did fall over at one point. It just up and tipped over. Like it was the end of the season and was tired out. Thankfully, we only had a few ornaments on the tree when it toppled and the kids weren't close to it, so it was a very uneventful "first tip" of the season.

The question now is how long will it take for the kids to be the direct cause of the tree falling over?

But once everything was straightened out, the decorating continued!

Daddy and Elijah

Mommy and Ellie

Mommy and Abby

Daddy and Caleb

It took awhile to get our ornaments up because the kids pulled roughly two ornaments off for every one ornament we got up. While we started with ornaments all over the tree, by the end of the day, all of the ornaments had migrated to the top half of the tree. It really looks hilarious!

Ellie really was so helpful though! Some of our ornaments are glittery and with all of the extra hands helping to unpack them, they shed a lot of glitter on the floor. Ellie very sweetly took care of the mess herself by using her bunny lovey to wipe up the floor. Then, of course, the lovey went right back up to her face, her thumb popped into her mouth, and we suddenly ended up with a human Christmas ornament running around our living room!

One more thing, I think I might need to pick up a tree topper on clearance after Christmas. Apparently we don't own one and this was the best I could do. It left Sean speechless. Hehe!