We put up our tree! We usually do this on December 1st, but last weekend the rain was so heavy that dragging the tree from where it’s stored in our external garage through the wet grass in torrential rain did not seem appealing. Plus I was tired. So I delayed, the week got busy, so Saturday 7th December was the day.
It was quite a job! I had to move furniture around, then, ahem, CLEAN behind said furniture, and then finally the tree could be positioned in its spot. I LOVE our tree, we bought it about 5 years ago, it was expensive, it was imported from Europe (Austria?) and I don’t regret it one bit. Every frond is manoeuvrable, it stands tall an lad strong, and it looks as good now as it did on day 1.
I’ve never been satisfied with our number of twinkle lights in previous years, so this year I bought a tub of.,. 600! And wow, does it look good. We are minimalist on the decorations (even more so since 3 year old O last year tried to “bounce” a number of the baubles - thankful he’s past that phase!). O helped me decide where to place the baubles, which was very cute.
600 twinkle lights in action
Love gazing at this tree so much. Other than than that we just have a wreath for the front door, cute little painted metal Santa for the mailbox, and a few little ornaments inside.
Other Christmas Cheer activities we did on the weekend:
Played Michael Buble’s Christmas album while cleaning the house
Watched Elf for the first time (I know, I know!), with the family and my parents who came over Saturday night (such a lovely evening, and such a funny/sweet movie)
Watched the Shaun the Sheep Christmas special last night as a family. (Good one for young kids, we all enjoy it)
Started making a list for Christmas presents for the kids (I know, SO late, but I’m one of those weird people that like shopping in the crowds in the last 2 weeks before Christmas- the atmosphere is fun!)
Less exciting- did our Christmas budget. But super helpful and reassuring to have a plan. I was even able to go into our bank app and see how much extra we spent on groceries/food in December last year compared to other months - it’s ALOT. At least we can plan for it if we know.
On a different note, O is sick! He woke up with a fever Saturday night, and has had them on and off since then. Otherwise he’s pretty cheerful, which I’m thankful for, but he can’t go to kindy today. Luckily I was planning to work from home and the work I have planned is more admin/easy work which can be done with a sick kid around. Phew.
Happy Monday all. For those who celebrate, was there any Christmas cheer happening? Are you an early present buyer, or do you not mind some last minute shopping?
Oh that comment was from me, Jenny (runnersfly.)
I love your tree! I love lots and lots of white twinkle lights. And- with little kids, I think making the Christmas list pretty late works better. If you do it too early, they'll definitely change their mind before December 25.
I am so late with this comment, sorry. Life has gotten away from me these few weeks.
I love your tree and 600 lights- daaaaauuuuuuummmmmm - well done! The lights we have make me happy on dreary cold mornings here in NJ.
We spent a lot in November on groceries, well, Thanksgiving is a big feast. We only bought a few gifts for the kids for Christmas and then I went on a bender and well... Now they have more gifts. Thankfully, many are books, encyclopedic style, so those will last for a while. Stuff to use up/eat up - soap you can paint with in the bath tub (why?? lol), kinder eggs, a few clothing items that they will…
600 lights? Really, 600? I'm in awe ... I really need to up my game. Oh and we too love to play music while dressing the tree, usually Christmas songs by Celine of Venessa Williams. And it's usually Hallmark cheesy Christmas movies for me over the holidays.
Well you know all about the festivities from our weekend. The grinch was the highlight for sure but the tree lighting was fun as well although I came home smelling of campfire smoke since they had fires going so people could stand around them to keep warm!
Your tree looks great! There is no such thing as too many lights!! We were minimalist about decor as well. We have stockings and the tree and ornaments but that is kind of it. We have no outdoor decor which is so disappointing to our kids but I just can’t bring myself to deal with it!!