We bought our Christmas tree last Saturday morning. J is usually an ogre about getting a tree and about Christmas in general, so it was kind of neat to see him getting excited about going to get it with the kids.

We just went to a local lot and quickly picked one out. Daniel was not all that interested, but he’s paying attention to more than we know. Anyway, while we were waiting to get our tree stump cut down and to get the tree bagged, Daniel and I went just outside the lot into the parking lot to walk around. Daniel found a small tree that he liked in a grassy area near our car. He was standing there holding onto the tree watching other cars go by while we waited.

After a few minutes, we went to check on the progress of the Christmas tree wrapping and then came back out to wait some more. There was some dirt right around the tree (the one that he liked hugging) that I hadn’t really been paying attention to either time we were there.

“Look, Mama, ants!” I hear Daniel say.

“What!?” At about that same time, I hear one of the workers at the lot who was putting a Christmas tree on top of someone’s car nearby say, “Yep, those are fire ants.”

“What?!”

I quickly pulled Daniel away from the tree and began to examine his feet and pants. Sure enough. There were ants. Not that many, but too many all the same. I took off his shoes and socks and stripped his pants off. Thankfully, we got all of the ants off of his clothes before he got bitten. I had some on my shoes as well.

Crisis averted. Mostly. Next year, we’ll be sure to check the area for anthills.

Mommy’s taking pictures while Daniel’s playing in the ant pile.

Home and decorated! Please disregard the concentration of ornaments in the lower left corner of the tree. They have been artfully arranged by a 2.5 year old.