We brought out the tree and the totes of Christmas decorations from under the house shortly after our Baltimore and Ohio trips around Thanksgiving. Rob helped me put up the tree before he left for his trip to Boone, NC, and I had everything up and where I wanted it by December 2nd. I'm one of those people who likes to have her house decorated for Christmas on Black Friday; however, I had to settle for December 1 this year. But honestly, I think I like getting to set up the tree and all of the fun decorations on December 1. It makes for a fun activity for the boys to look forward to seeing each year in their Advent calendar on that first day. 
Decorating the tree this year was SO much fun! Aidan had taken a nap that day, so he was wide awake at his regular bedtime and ended up getting rewarded with being Mama's helper. He seriously asked me 100+ questions about each ornament as we pulled them out of their boxes. He wanted to know what ones were his, what ones were David's, what ones were mine as a little girl, etc. He also LOVED getting to see the Robert Sabuda pop-up book The Night Before Christmas. I decided last year that I would pack away all of our Christmas books with our decorations and would only bring them out during December so that way there would be more excitement and anticipation over getting to read the various stories. This year, we have added a couple of Jan Brett books--Christmas Trolls is Aidan's new favorite. And, last year, just after Christmas, I was fortunate to purchase 4-5 new hardback Christmas books at Barnes and Noble for 50%-off. David's favorite of those books is Angela and the Baby Jesus. I have to admit that it is one of my new favorites as well, in addition to the book, Christmas Day in the Morning.
It is fun getting to start new traditions, and keep going with other established ones. It is wonderful getting to see the magic and wonder of the season come alive in both boys. Aidan is so exhuberant that his excitement and enthusiasm seems to rub off on everyone in our household. This is the first year that both boys truly *get* what Christmas is all about. Yeah, they like the idea of presents too (and each one wrote his letter to Santa), but are understanding that there is more to Christmas than that--it's about the birth of our Savior.
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