Night Tree
Last night one of our favorite families invited us to join them in their family Christmas tradition. We went out to Lake Arcadia and built a fire for roasting hot dogs on sticks. Our children (4 boys) raced around in the woods, climbed trees and dug holes while we cooked the dogs and drank hot chocolate. After we ate, we walked into the woods a short distance and decorated their tree (they use the same tree every year) with ornaments we had made at home in the afternoon. We had bread stars with honey-seed edges, pomello baskets with a fruity/bready/seedy mixture, pinecones covered with peanut butter and seeds, apple slices, oranges on strings, Cheerio/pretzel garlands, popcorn/cranberry garlands and cracked corn. We stood around the tree singing Christmas carols (starting with Oh Christmas Tree!). Then we each talked about things we were thankful for and what kind of animals might enjoy our tree. Then we headed back to the campfire to make s'mores and chat. It was an awesome night. The stars were beautiful, the fire was warm, the air was crisp and the company was incomparable. (The entire evening was based on the book, Night Tree by Eve Bunting.)