He has been renamed and shall now be known as Kevin.

Ethan proposed to Doug the tree. We brought Doug home, trimmed the branches, and put him in a stand. Ethan then renamed the tree Kevin because "Kevin is the name of a bald man, who lives in his mother's basement." Seeing as Ethan and the tree seem to have a special relationship, I figure he has naming rights. We then set about decorating Kevin. I find him charming. I am a lone voice in a wilderness of naysayers.

All lit up, Sam is jumping the gun a little and putting ornaments on before the garland.

Everyone started hanging ornaments.

After using the blog to ascertain who topped the tree last year, Sam gleefully announced it was his turn to put the angel on the tree! Last year we used a new star I picked up at an after-Christmas sale and the kids were heartbroken.  They begged to have the angel reinstated. I bought this angel back in my very early twenties, to decorate our household tree. When I went to select a topper, there were only about four varieties left, so I picked what I thought was the least ugly of the uglies.  I had no idea my kids would fall in love with her and insist she reside on the tree every year. She's been gracing a tree for almost twenties years now!

Everyone got new Christmas jammies this year. We are resplendent in fa-la-la-llamas, a tree rex, a penguin, and a santa cat riding a unicorn. Everyone picked their own jammies, in case you were wondering. Michael also has a santa cat riding a unicorn top but could not find it. Instead he took the picture. The Christmas spirit is strong at our house!