It's beginning to look a lot like a non-traditional Christmas!

I have wracked my brain trying to figure out how to get a tree in my living room that is easy, affordable, and won't die without water for two weeks.

• Easy since I have the lolly's second birthday party, our neighborhood Christmas party, and my first marathon in ONE 24 hour spell this weekend
• Affordable since I have spent money on the lolly's second birthday party, our neighborhood Christmas party, and my first marathon all for this weekend
• And won't die without water so I can neglect said tree while taking care of things infinitely more important (and fun!) over the coming weeks

I introduce, the Giftree. (OK, actually every single one of those boxes is empty, but impeccably wrapped (on the side you can see).) I love it. It is hypo-allergenic, cost me about $10, re-usable, cleared out a ridiculous amount of space from my garage, and fun. So super fun. The kids were way more excited to make a tree out of boxes than they have ever been to do ornaments. By the way, did I mention that I didn't have to get out the ornaments? And I won't have to put away the ornaments? And my toddlers didn't break ANYTHING in the making of this tree. In fact, Zayd says, "all we need is a triangle box for the top". I am pretty sure that means we accomplished this tree and a math lesson in one afternoon. Merry Christmas!

And, speaking of, this little guy is in the spirit. Here he is at naptime with the one ornament we bothered to bring in, "the basketball ornament".