How to Chop down a Christmas Tree

First you go on a hike in your backyard...

After locating, take some before and after shots...

Chop high in order to attain the most bushy part of the scrawny Spruce Tree...

Chop at two different angles....

Give the tree a gentle push...

Christmas tree conquered!

A Job well done!

Don't forget to take your hound dog for protection from wild animals!

The face of a snow digging dog!

My twelve-year old son and nine-year old daughter chose our Christmas tree this year.  It took longer to find and agree on which tree than the actual chopping down part.  They hauled it in and set it up and all the children decorated it with past ornaments they had made and a few store bought ones too. 

Such fun and all I had to do was sit back and observe with joy the teamwork in which my children operate together.  It's truly amazing!  I'm so blessed to have the joy of the Lord in my home surrounding my family. 

We love to be together and I'm just realizing that the point of homeschooling is about the richness of relationships.  We have all day, every day to enjoy one an other's company.  We teach our children, as parents, right from wrong.  We teach proper from improper.  We make judgement calls all day long for the good of them and for the glory of God.  In it, we lose our self centeredness.

It is very difficult to remain selfish when surrounded by such noble duties as diaper changing, potty training, cooking three meals a day, cleaning a home, organizing a schedule, handing out chores, teaching obedience, training in character, taking excursions to the emergency room in subzero temperatures, with snow falling at night, taking a once a week trip to town to do all the shopping with all the little ones in tow and not eating dinner until we get home, staying up late and getting up early and sometimes being awake every few hours at night when someone is sick, cleaning the house, minus the toilet, that is. 

The list could go on and on...  It is still possible to be selfish even amongst all these noble duties, that require patience and rest.  The moments and days that I practice the habit of having a thankful, joyful attitude I soar!  The days that I choose to practice a "poor me, I have it so hard attitude," I am frustrated.  Why would I ever choose the "poor me" attitude?  It's self centered.  So easy to do and it's the default mode.  Practicing thankfulness and joy is a sacrifice and is effort.  However, the more I practice, the easier it gets!  Sleep helps tremendously!  So does a good healthy diet of real food and spiritual food in the form of Scripture.  And let us not forget to cover it all in prayer all the time! 

Did I leave out exercise?  That's hard to do in freezing cold temperatures but let's not forget the value of climbing steep stairs and running through the house and around and around the living room... possibly not mannerly, but of extreme importance to maintain sanity!

Surely, I neglected to also mention chocolate and caffeine, the two main reasons to save the planet...