Decorating the Christmas Tree – Adornando el árbol
When we told the boys that we were going to decorate for Christmas, they told us, “We already did that at Grandma’s house.” I guess that festooning a small tree the day after Thanksgiving at my mother’s house was enough for them. In the end we did not get much help. It turns out that decorating a tree with two five-year-olds and two cats is exactly as easy as you would expect it to be, if you think that it would be similar to building a shed in a tornado.
Cuando les dijimos que íbamos a adornar la casa para la Navidad, los muchachos respondieron con, <<Ya lo hicimos en la casa de la abuela.>> Parece que decorar un arbolito en la casa de mi mamá el día después del Día de la acción de dar gracias ya les había satisfecho ese deseo para ellos. Al final lo hicimos Douglas y yo sin mucha ayuda del Hombre Araña ni el Hombre de Hierro. Resulta que adornar un árbol con dos niños de cinco años y dos gatos es tan fácil como piensas si es que piensas que sería como construir algo en un huracán.
First, we had to put the tree together. Spiderman helped for a while. Ironman had no interest in the tree at all.
Primero tuvimos que armar el árbol. El Hombre Araña me ayudó por un rato, pero el Hombre de Hierro no tenía ningún interés en ese aspecto del proyecto.
Crème and Ponche loved the tree and made things as challenging as possible.
A Crème y Ponche les encanta el árbol y lo mostraron por hacer todo lo más difícil posible.
How we ever got the tree fully assembled and ready to decorate will forever be a mystery to me. I was certain that someone was going to lose a limb before it was over – if not one of us then at least the tree.
Como armamos el árbol y lo preparamos para adornarlo sin matar a nadie siempre me será un misterio. Estaba cierta que alguien iba a perder una extremidad – sino nosotros entonces el árbol.
It seems that cats are not the only being attracted to boxes. We had to put the kibosh on this activity before the box was completely decimated.
Parece que no sólo los gatos se atraen por las cajas de cartón. Tuvimos que quitárselo antes de que se rompiera para siempre.
Douglas and I put the lights on the tree without any help from the boys. Ironically, this is when they most wanted to help, probably because we did not ask them to and told them that they could not when they asked. There are no pictures of the process because our camera man only managed to snap a few extremely blurry ones. I would show them to you, but you would get dizzy. They did enjoying hanging the ornaments because Douglas picked them up to decorate the top of the tree. After that they quickly bored of the tree.
Douglas y yo colgamos las luces sin la ayuda de los muchachos. Irónicamente, se morían de ganas de hacer eso, probablemente porque no les pedimos ayuda y porque les dijimos que no podían ayudar cuando preguntaron. No hay fotos del proceso porque nuestro fotógrafo sólo sacó unas borrosas. Te las mostraría, pero te marearías. Les gustó colgar los bolitos y los adornos porque Douglas los subía al pico del árbol. Después se aburrieron rápidamente.
Spiderman went into the bedroom to decorate the little purple tree that I said that they could put in their bedroom. He did it all by himself.
El Hombre Araña armó el arbolito morado en su habitación cuando les di permiso. Lo decoró sin ayuda.
Ironman entertained himself by getting Ponche to chase a ribbon.
El Hombre de Hierro se divertía con Ponche y una cinta.
In the end, our tree was adorned, but our house was a mess. It took us several more days to get all the boxes back into the basement. When I say we, I of course mean that Douglas did it after I had collapsed in bed one evening.
Al final nuestro árbol estaba adornado, pero la casa estaba hecha un desastre. Nosotros tardamos unas horas en bajar todos los contenedores al sótano. Cuando digo nosotros claro que eso significa que Douglas lo hizo después de que yo había caído como muerta en la cama una noche.
There is more decorating to be done, but I am not sure that I am going to have the fortitude to get it done. At least they have a couple of trees to celebrate the season. Does that make me a bad mom?
Hay más adornos que colocar, pero no sé si voy a tener la fortitud de terminar de decorar la casa. Al menos tienen unos árboles para celebrar las fiestas. ¿Soy mala mamá?
Happy Holidays!
¡Felices fiestas!
OMG that last pic of Ponche is a classic. We should print it
He is too cute!
It’s great that the boys already call your mom “grandma”! Love the helpful kitty pics … yes, that last one of Ponche is a classic! Also the one of him upside down in the branches. At least the cats appreciate the tree!
The boys seemed to feel right at home, from the first day they have called Douglas and me mom and dad. I think that it has been harder for us to adjust to than for them. And they love their new Grandma!
love the pics, all are great! wonderful to see the boys looking so relaxed and happy with you guys already 🙂 love the pics of ponche in the tree LOL!!!
Kids are so resilient. They are quickly adapting to their new lives. And Ponche will always be Ponche!
I agree with Douglas; that picture would make a great Kittymas card. So fun to have the boys for Christmas. They’ve settled well. Jo @ Let’s Face the Music
Holidays are always more fun with little children. My extended family is thrilled to have believers to sit on Santa’s lap. That picture should definitely make an appearance on next year’s card.