Ours is now up. I bribed Avadore -- I told him if he took a nap we'd put it up this afternoon. We have a Christmas party tonight, which will keep Avadore up a bit past his bedtime, so I didn't want him to lose too much sleep. But he did nap, so we now have a tree and a party to attend.

The tree is child friendly. Well, specifically my children friendly -- recycled ivy from the wedding 7 1/2 years ago, silver tinsel, lights, and stuffed animals, with the occasional ornament. Someday, when all have aged and are more responsible, we may have the usual sort of tree. But for now it works, and the children love it. They clapped their wee hands and danced around. LD was particularly excited.

And I gotta admit, I dig the lights.