O Christmas Tree!

As most of you know I grew up in Rapid City South Dakota most of my childhood. For as long as I can remember, we had an annual tradition of driving miles into the Black Hills the day after Thanksgiving, walking through 5 feet of snow to cut down a fresh Christmas Tree. We'd tie it to the roof of our car and head home to thaw out. Remember- these were "real" pine trees so they looked nothing like the ones we buy at the store. After decorating them with home made ornaments and tinsel, each and every one had a special touch. When I moved down here to the good ole south, those traditions changed a bit. We were definitely missing the snow and 30 below weather. When I moved out on my own, my tradition changed to a trip to Lowe's, but it HAD to be the day after Thanksgiving. I wasn't going to change that. Now, as I have become a wife and mother to 3, things just don't quite happen when I want. John and I began taking the kids to a local tree farm 3 years ago. We still didn't cut our own down, but pick out a Frasier Fir. So this years trip was no different-- drove to Old Barn Christmas Tree Farm, picked out a tree, had it loaded up and headed home to decorate-- in 70 degree weather I might add.
That was two weeks ago. The biggest challenge since having the tree up is keeping Brandon away from it and not eating all the candy canes off. Karlee doesn't even pay attention to it.
Well-- when I arrived home from work on Monday, I happened to notice these little black speckle things on the tree skirt. As I took a closer look, I noticed that these little things had legs. So I assume they were baby spiders. No big deal- spray and they will be gone.
I came on from work last night and happen to glance over at the tree again............ the skirt went from gold to black...... there were hundreds of these little spider looking things EVERYWHERE!!!!! under the tree, on the stuffed animals, all over the trunk of the tree........ INFESTED!! I completely lost it. The boys were standing on top of the couch as I stood in the middle of my living room screaming with the hairs on my arms standing straight up. All the animals that were under the tree went flying out the front door along with the tree skirt. What in the world?? I panically called my rescue squad across the street- Brian and Elaine. Before I could even finish saying what was wrong ( I was screaming in the phone to Brian that I needed help) Elaine was on my front porch barely breathing. They instantly thought something was wrong with the kids. I felt terrible-- but I was hysterical-- you just don't understand--- it was AWFUL! I hate creepy crawly things! And especially in my house. So, Brian got some spider spray and went to town on the tree. After taking a closer look at these things, he informed me that they were not spiders- they only had 6 legs. We went across the street to google these stupid things to find out what they were. Every sight said APHIDS-- also known as tree lice. OMG!! Get that thing out of my house! I called the tree farm to let them know what was going on and thankfully the lady was extremely apologetic and felt terrible. I will be getting my money back!
OK, so next step.. how do I get this thing out of my house. John was at work and not expected to be home anytime before midnight. I didn't even want to be there, so I put the kids in the car and took a drive into Chapin, picked up some Micky D's and realized that I had to face the music. After putting the kids to bed, I got out my gloves and went to town. The ornaments and lights that took me 2 hours to put up came down in about 10 minutes. Janelle and I somehow pulled the thing out the front door by the branches and it's now in the yard. Of course I had to disinfect everything and vacuum. I think the hair on my arms finally laid down this morning. I have never experienced anything like it. Bottom Line-- I WILL NEVER OWN A REAL CHRISTMAS TREE AGAIN!!! Tradition or not- that was enough for me to break that tradition and start our own. I bought a fake tree at Kmart today and I will be buying some pine plug ins to go along with it! So, here we go again.. Tis the Season!!!

If it's going to happen to anyone, it's going to be ME! I have come to realization that my life just can't be normal in any way, shape or form. But better to keep it exciting than boring.
We have a busy schedule with the holidays fast approaching. Jalen only has 2 more days until Winter Break. We will be making a trip to the dentist tomorrow with him to fix and abscessed tooth, remove his spacer and seal another one. Karlee and Brandon seem to be doing much better now that they fought off the flu virus. Think we have a trip to the ENT next week for a followup. Jalen also began his basketball season last week so his first game is scheduled for this Saturday. Friday night John and I will be attending Lake Murray Floor Covering's Christmas Party and Saturday we are going see the play "This Man Called Jesus".
Sunday will be a "Ladies Get Together" at Paulie's-- food and fellowship. I think that covers most of the upcoming events... Hope all is well with everyone! More to come...