Kulp Christmas begins

Christmas begins right after Halloween at our house. It HAS to because of all the decorations we (I) put up. I used to work in a Christmas store where Christmas began right after Labor Day so I have acquired a talent for decorating trees. You might say my husband takes advantage of this.

Now let me be clear ( as the President always says) it was not my idea to put up multiple trees!! After annual visits (pre- children) to the Biltmore House in Asheville NC, my husband decided he wanted to be like George Vanderbilt, the man who lived in the Biltmore. Each year at Christmas they deck the halls at the Biltmore like nowhere else and the have tours at night by candle light- like it would have been in GV's time. It's one if my favorite places, but I digress. There is at least ONE tree in every room there- sometimes 4 and a huge 40 footer in the dining hall. So that is where our "tree-dition began. The first tree pictured is in Chris' office. The second one on the island in the kitchen ( alas, unlit).

This one is in Gracie's room. It was a challenge finding a way to put a tree in the autistic child's room. Last year she knocked it around. This year she hasn't bothered it because she LOVES the trees! So what do you put on an autistic child's tree? Stuffed animals!!

This  is a little one on our room that I just cover with a bag and put in the closet. But I did spruce it up this year a bit.

Joy didn't want a tree in her room this year 🙀because she didn't want to move her desk. So what did we do? Got a smaller tree and put it ON her desk😉. Now that I'm used to it I guess I gotta have one in every room .

I had to change the white tree in the dining room this year because Grace kept taking the ornaments off and they were GLASS.

So I took some of the larger ones from Joys tree that wouldn't fit and ta-da! New tree!

I just put up the tree in the spare room now. That leaves 3 to go.

I started writing this piece after Gracie had a meltdown. She went upstairs and was playing on the iPad when she started to cry like she'd been hurt. She was suffering from very bad gas pains but wasn't able to go potty. She was really in pain- screaming. Then our friend Christine showed up to pick Her daughter up just as Grace went the top of the stairs- threw something and screamed three times at the top of her voice ! I had to apologize to Christine as I tried to calm her and Joy saw them out. Sometimes it is just so hard.