An Underwhelming Christmas

The afternoon after Thanksgiving as we drove home from my in law's farm, Rhodric and I wavered back and forth about if we should stop and get a tree... wondering if we were ready to open the Christmas boxes when clearly the girls were exhausted from the holiday. The problem with wavering over a decision in the car is that the children can hear you, and their sheer determinate hooting and nagging will most certainly push you over the edge in their favor.
We drove around looking for a tree stand we had seen a sign for just blocks from our house and quickly purchased a small Noble. The sweet tree smell alone was enough to push us into the spirit of things and we quickly had the floor thoroughly covered with all things Christmas. Mulled wine in hand we popped popcorn, untangled lights and laughed at the girl's comical exclamations, our favorite of which was, "oh my angel! I've been waiting for you!"
As I battle the usual waves of guilt for not being more crafty and elaborate as so many moms I see in this Christmas season, I take solace and joy from the observation Rhodric made about the little tree topper that had both our girls so ecstatic. "That is the most underwhelming angel." He said after obliging them and placing it on top of the tree. I'm so thankful that the joy, spirit and traditions we give them are enough to turn my underwhelming extra activities etc into a beautiful, memory foraging season! Do any of you struggle to keep up with Christmas "standards"??? We don't do Santa pictures at all, but have a number of other small traditions that may pop up in a later post. I would love to hear about how you keep this season special yet simple!
Here is the pitiful, loved little angel.