The countdown in progress

I finished the advent calendar late Friday night, and it's now set up on the mantel. I just clothespinned the stockings into the garland that's sitting there - lucky we have such a big mantel! The stockings are not yet all filled... I'm just doing a couple of days at a time until I get my act together... I will have to stay on top of it though, because Liam is already well into the swing of things.Today's stocking contained a slip of paper that said, "Let's put up a Christmas tree in Liam's room today." When I was fresh out of university I bought the cheapest artificial Christmas tree on the market, and it's been in our basement all this time. Well, it's Liam's now. (Poor guy; he may require an upgrade sometime soon!) We put it up in his room and he had a ball decorating it this morning. Most of the ornaments on this tree are also my old cast-offs that I am glad to have held onto. I bought a bunch of shatterproof Christmas balls when Captain was a kitten and always getting into the tree. They are not the prettiest things out there, but given how many times they were dropped just today...thank goodness for plastic! Of course Mallory was into them too... it's going to be a challenge keeping her away from the tree.There are only two new things on the tree - one, a string of LED lights, and two, the ornament Liam picked out this year. I buy the kids an ornament of their own each year and this year was the first time I didn't get to pick Liam's out myself. He chose Diego, of course.The tree is pretty crooked and gaudy and hideous, but that's OK - Liam is enchanted. We sent him upstairs for his nap this afternoon, and quite some time later Chad heard him rustling around in his room. When Chad went in Liam gave him a sheepish look and requested that the tree lights be turned on for him. Chad obliged and Liam went happily back to bed. I've got a timer rigged up for it now, so that Liam can fall asleep with the lights on each night and they will turn off after he's asleep.I resisted the urge to nitpick and decorate the tree myself. I love this shot - there is a cluster of about ten ornaments all hung from the same two or three branches at a height that was convenient for Liam to reach. Too cute!