It was the straw, or should I say the pine needles that broke the Mama’s back this week. I knew our tree was seeming a bit dry to the touch, and needles seemed to be dropping prematurely. But on Tuesday just the vibrations from walking in the house were bringing them down in what sounded like a rain shower each time. Add to this the long list of things to accomplish this week, holiday entertaining on the weekend, and some frustrating parenting moments and it equaled a tearful call to Robert from piano lessons to unload – the tree was the last straw.So, when we arrived home from piano lessons and several errands, a very sweet husband had taken the 30 spare moments he had in his day to undecorate the tree, neatly lay the ornaments and lights on the living room floor, and vacuum up all of those dropped needles which amounted to an entire trashcan full by the time it was over!

By Wednesday evening(thanks again to a loving hubby), we did have a new and decorated tree, but not long after hanging the final ornament the entire thing fell over spilling water and decorations everywhere!

All is well now, and we hope that this does not become our new tree tradition!

(And so much for my bragging on the $18 deal we got! $18 for tree #1 + $35 for tree #2 = $53.00 – and we’ve never paid that much for any tree!)