Oh, Christmas Tree (and Happy Birthday to Me!)

On Sunday we made plans to go out to lunch for my birthday and then pick out a Christmas Tree. We ended up catching up on sleep instead of going to church, so our morning was fairly relaxing. When lunchtime came around, I wanted a place where I could order breakfast at any hour, so we headed to an IHOP. We all had breakfast for lunch and it was very good. John avoided telling any servers that it was my birthday (I really didn't want to be sung to in an IHOP), but at one point I was afraid that Aiden was going to let it slip - especially when the manager started walking around the restaurant asking if it was anyone's birthday! John joked that he could smell my fear of IHOP birthday singing.

After lunch, we went to our favorite U-Cut place (our third year!) to find our tree. It's $20 for any size tree, but we always get a little tree. Once we finally have a house, we'll get a big 6-7 footer and it will be a great deal. We found the perfect little tree (after I noticed the perfect big tree that would have come home with us if home were a house) and John cut it down. The guy who owns the place joked that if we were going to go for that size, he'd let us have two trees for $20.

After the tree cutting, we stopped at Target for some cake mix and Aiden picked out a birthday present for me (my presents that John had ordered were delayed, so I had nothing from them to open). He chose a bottle of bright pink/plum nailpolish, which I am happily wearing (as are they...on their toes!). When we had cake that evening, Aiden announced that we should "eat our cake and have it too". We laughed and wondered where in the world he'd picked that up. The boys had great fun singing Happy Birthday to me and helping me blow out the candles. I think the whole day was a bigger deal for them than it was for me. And I can't forget the mention how I woke up on my birthday....with two excited little boys bursting into our room and shouting "HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY!!!" as they hopped on the bed to wake us up. It was the best way to wake up and that little moment holds a special place in my heart.

Here's some pictures from our tree hunting. Enjoy!

Looking for the perfect one...
Birthday me hugging the perfect big tree. I joked that right as John snapped the picture, a spider would land on my head and we'd have quite the birthday photo.

My boys with our perfect little tree.

Running after daddy and the tree....

Merry Christmas!