christmas tree

[Henrietta23]

I will often take the christmas tree down on christmas day. I am just so sick of looking at it for a month.

Cassandra

LOL, that is one benefit of not putting it up earlier in December I guess!
We know someone from Germany who doesn't put up her tree until Dec. 24 too. She actually uses real candles, lights them for about 10 mintues and that's it. She's so afraid it will burn down her house! When her kids were young the tree was decorated by Santa Claus on Christmas Eve after they went to bed. Part of the surprise was seeing the decorated tree Christmas morning!

I bet she is familiar with the story of the Christmas pickle too.
I believe that is where it originated from.
We are not German but my friend is and when I got married someone gave us the Christmas pickle ornament and a copy of the story that goes with it.
It was really a thoughtful gift and we do it every year.
You hide the pickle in the center of the tree somewhere and then have the children look for it, its harder than it sounds since it blends in so well.
The child who finds the pickle gets a special gift.
I always buy some small gift for the child that finds the pickle.
It doesn't upset the kids that don't find it since they know its done every year and they have all found it one time or another.
Besides, they all get gifts to begin with and they know better than to act that way.

I really love the spirit of the Christmas season and do my best to focus on that than anything materialistic.
The commercialism that surrounds this holiday really bothers me.

I love the night before Christmas the best, when we are all together decorating the tree with Christmas music on and drinking egg nog and hot apple cider.
Then we watch holiday movies and read the night before christmas.
Then we tuck all the little ones into bed and we stay up all night trying to assemble toys that are usually missing a part.

I have a pickle on my tree! The card that came with does say it's of German origin. With only one child here it's hard to maintain the tradition but my son always searches for it anyway.
I just found some Halloween stuff I need to put away before my guests arrive. Oops.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Welp, the turkey is put away, and my tree is up...lololol...not decorated yet...work in progress...lololol

 

[Henrietta23]

Welp, the turkey is put away, and my tree is up...lololol...not decorated yet...work in progress...lololol

LOL, you've got lots of time!! I got my Halloween decorations put away today....

 

[lupinfarm]

We have the Chrimbo lights on the porch and in the windows (mostly because we don't have porch lights right now LOL due to a very evident electrician shortage in our area, and we don't have a pole light), and our Chrimbo tree will go up sometime around the 10th or 11th of December, we've just got to either search for the perfect tree on our property, or find the perfect tree locally! We want something that will retain it's needles well, and also one that will do well when we replant it. We add hormone to the water, so once Chrimbo is over we wrap it in a ball and plant it in the spring.