fresh pine!

We got our Christmas tree today, the first fresh one we've had in about 5 years. I think it's pine. Sure smells good, though Marty isn't so sure. We thought for sure that living out here in the sticks would be a great opportunity to harvest our own tree from the forest. When I asked Chris about the best place to go for a tree, he said "Canadian Tire". Alrighty then. We agreed that the ease of a pre-cut tree was hard to pass up. They are a good price at the grocery store around the corner, and they are even Island grown!

As you may be able to tell from the dark empty patch on the back, reflecting in the window, this tree is considerably larger than the artificial one we've used in recent years. We're not used to needing so many lights, and my bead garland just barely reached around enough times. I have yet to hang up our stockings, just trying to figure out where to put them.

Tomorrow is our first day of homeschool ... sort of. The boys didn't go to school on Friday but we just puttered around. A nice day. Since we don't have any curriculum to work with yet, my goal is to spend this week working on figuring out a routine and establishing expectations for behaviour and productivity ... for students, toddler, and teacher! I think our main project tomorrow will be helping the boys finish their 3D snowflakes. I made one as a demo for them and they are duly impressed. I also really want to finish the prep for making Chocolate Crinkle Cookies. Did you know there were such explicit instructions? I hope my batch turns out.

Happy Monday!