Dave Redeems Himself . . . With Some Prodding

Carter Always Puts on His Best Face for Photos

After spending a busy Wednesday tutoring kids in English (Enzo, Marine and Jeremy, children of friends), the kids finally remembered that it was the day to get the Sapin de Noel. Of course it was already after 7 pm and in France that means everything is closed. Except Carrefour, which is finally where we found a tree after going to two other places.

We were the last ones in the tree tent and they wanted to close it up, so I felt a little bit of pressure, an the choices were a little slim less than a week before Christmas. The kids wanted a really lovely Normann that was well-proportioned and had evenly placed needles. But the grinch wasn't willing to pay 35 euros for something that would be thrown out after a couple of weeks, so we finally chose a scraggly tree for 10 euros. They even make you a tree holder out of a stump of wood for a mere 4 euros!

Turns out the sapin is the perfect size for our living room and the kids had a great time drenching it with ornaments and glittery garland. Sophie got her wish and Dad lifted her up to place the star on top.Sam wisely instructed that we move the red chair out of the way to make room for all the presents Santa will bring.

I hope he's not disappointed on Christmas morning!