Some Christmas Cheer and Not-Your-Average Christmas Tree

This past week we have been busy as beavers adorning our little home with lights and holiday cheer. Finn is so excited by every decoration that we put up and seeing the smile that lights up his face is definitely the true meaning behind the holidays.
Anyways, we had a bit of a Christmas tree dilemma this year. My asthma got horrible while I was pregnant with Phoebe, and has not returned to pre-pregnancy levels (and it seems unlikely that is ever will- bummer!). Last year, I had a terrible time bringing a live tree into our small home, and it made my asthma flare up (bad enough to warrant a trip to urgent care even). So, since my asthma is still horrible, we decided that bringing a live tree in probably wasn't the best idea (plus, it isn't exactly the most environmentally friendly thing to do either). I started to research other options, but there weren't many. Did I really want to pay hundreds of dollars for a fake plastic tree (that is definitely not eco-friendly either) and then have to store this monstrosity for 11 months out of the year in our already tiny home... nope. I thought about a teeny-tiny fake tree, but I knew that wouldn't be the same for Finn; we wouldn't be able to put lights or real ornaments on it... no presents would sit beneath it. Every other option I found seemed a bit kooky- wall decals, metals poles. Nothing seemed right.
Well, about a month ago, a huge branch from our neighbor's maple tree fell into our yard during a windstorm. At the time I was annoyed, because it could have hurt someone (like our ducks). This is a tree that is much too big for the city lot it is in, and it shades several backyards out almost entirely during the summer so we are not able to grow food back there. The maple leaves and seeds cover our yard for a good portion of the year, and although I love trees, this one is a bit unruly and needs to be trimmed. It's just not safe. Our next door neighbor has talked to them several times, to no avail, and it seems like someone will need to actually be hurt before they will take action. Anyways, it suddenly came to me that maybe this branch that fell into our yard could be our holiday tree. Sure, it didn't have any leaves, but it did have a sort of tree shape to it. Plus it was free and we were going to have to figure out something to do with it anyways. Behold, our Christmas tree.
My husband was skeptical at first, and Finn kept whining and telling me he wanted a real tree. But, once we brought it inside and decorated it with lights and ornaments, everyone was please with the results. Our free, eco-friendly, asthma-friendly, re-purposed tree. Maybe it will become a new tradition. p.s.- All of the pictures I have taken of it are horrible, as without leaves there is a lot of distraction from our cluttered house!