Oh Christmas Tree

We had a fun family outing Sat. to pick out a Christmas tree. We usually have real tree, but with the four of us in fairly close quarters we thought it would be fun to get two little trees to put in the window boxes. This turned out great and solved several problems. They are out of the way, the boys have a tree in Stacey's room with all the "fun" ornaments and we get a pretty one in the living room and they serve as our outside lights as well.

Here are the boys giving Santa some love at Home Depot. Do you think this can count as our official visit?
A family pic, with the timer in Stacey's room. Not sure why we took it right then since the tree was mid decorations? I later found a red baby bed sheet to serve as the tree skirt in here - you would have thought I found $100 bill I was so excited when I found it :)

Only draw back was the window boxes aren't big enough for the Christmas train. Stacey had one of these when he was a little boy and has great memories of getting out the train every year, deciding how the track would go etc. The Smith's gave the boys one a few years ago and we knew they would go nuts for it this year. So we decided to transform our table into a train station (family dinners are overrated anyway - JK). Notice the glitter houses from last year, I was so excited to pull them out this year. And, I had bought a bunch of snowflake ornaments on after Christmas clearance at Target last year (again, you would have thought I won the lotto when i pulled out the box and found this forgotten treasure!). This is a terrible picture, but you get the idea. The boys were thrilled with the Choo Choo when they woke up.
I have really been struggling with the balance between not spending money, which is just where we are right now and wanting to create a warm home with great family and Christmas traditions. I know the Lord has called me as a wife and mother to be the heart of our home, but he has also called me to treat every dollar as if it were his - which it is! I'm rambling and I'm sure there are other posts to come about God's continued provision for us, but yesterday was a great day and I am so thankful we are able to have a Christmas tree(s) this year. :)