Done!

We did it! The tree is assembled and all set up at the Festival of Trees. Last night it was pretty dicey if I would even finish the tree skirt. Crafty and I were sewing the patches on until about 9:00 and I hadn't even begun to assemble it yet. It turned out really cute, but it was nearly 3:30 AM when I sewed the last of the rick-rack to the outside edge.

Bossy came over about 1:30 this afternoon and we took the tree to the expo center. I hate to confess that she rode in the back of my big van and held the tree to keep it from tipping over while I drove. Baby Doll was very stressed about the fact that she was not wearing a seat belt, so we made sure to have a long prayer for safety before we left.

We arrived without mishap and soon had the tree inside. It was hard to keep Baby Doll from wandering off. There were so many cute trees! Just across the aisle from ours was a Barbie and a Princess. And she wanted to touch everything...I was wishing we had figured out how to find a babysitter.

It didn't take us long to set things up since the girls had decorated and wired the tree on Friday. Bossy spent most of her time straightening branches and checking wires. I tied ribbons to the boxes of cookies and arranged everything under the tree.

When we were finally finished and checked out, we started down the rows to leave the expo center. That is the first time Baby Doll started to cry. "What's wrong?" I asked, somewhat out of patience with her. "We are leaving the tree!" she sobbed. 'Of course we are! That was the plan." She continued to sniffle and sob for the next 10 minutes. I really don't think she quite understood what it was all about. And you know what?

I have to confess that I was a little sad to leave that tree too.

I wonder how many people just go in there and buy back their own trees?