So...is the Christmas tree up yet?

How many of us have our trees up and decorated?

We decided to get our tree after Sara gets home. I'm hoping we can get it by the middle of next week. I've moved so many things from room to room I'm not sure where my decorations are right now!

Jody

We have a real one (White Spruce) and a fake one on the porch - both done. Boxes and supplies virtually everywhere else.

I may *git er done* this weekend,,,then get all the boxes and stuff put away,,,that way I can *clean* a little this weekend and next weekend,,,,Yipee,,,,not! Have company coming so have to do those little extras,,,LOL

Kelly

BC - don't have ours up yet, but we do a fake one on the front porch, a real one and a three-headed fake in the living room!

Kel - Oh, the plans you have! LOL LOL

Eat your hearts out ladies, my husband's Christmas tree is up and the lights are strung and it is fully decorated! All of the boxes from the ornaments are put away too! We don't do lights on the outside of the home but we do set up these frames in the shapes of deer that have little white Italian lights strung up on them and those are staked into the ground and glowing outside too. We got those set up and staked down in the nick of time being as how we've been getting temps in the negatives for a while now. This ground is frozen! If you've anything to stake down outside that isn't in the ground yet, you might want to pass on setting it up this year. Either that or use some sort of a concrete drill for the stakes.

Jody, what is a three-headed fake Christmas Tree?

Eq,
Don't be rubbin' that in now,,,LOL

Jody,
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, all the best laid plans huh???? I can dream if I wanna,,,LOL

I was wonering the same thing,,,,Just what does a three headed tree look like????

Kelly

I forgot to mention that putting up the tree is not my responsibility. My husband does it all by himself with the kids. I turn on music for them and they slide cats out of the way while they work around the tree hanging lights and ornaments. I make a few nice little snacks for them while they work. Other than that, all I did was assist by boxing up the empty ornament containers and putting them away in a closet.

Tree's up and decorated, thanks to me, and outside lights are done thanks to DH. Now he's got this notion that I should do Christmas cards. Bah humbug. I did all the wedding thank-yous six months ago without his help, so I figure he can do Christmas cards. Isn't that equitable?

Shopping is all done. Did it in a couple of hours on the internet. Only one more package to arrive and then the wrapping paper mess. That's the mess that I have a hard time getting cleaned up and put away. The tree isn't that big a deal.

The first few years we were married I did Christmas cards for him. Ever since then, he does them :) Tra la la la la la la la la la!

Shopping for all the gifts and wrapping all of them is in my court though and I have not even begun to start wrapping (sigh).

I have the miniture tree up wayyyyyyyy high......hoping high enough to keep the furbabies out of it. A couple of years ago we put up a couple big trees with just lights on them because the furbabies insisted on living, sleeping and playing in them. It was a riot to watch them and we had many hours of entertainment. Pinky insisted on staying in the tree topper all the time I was dismantling it. The picture and memory.....priceless.

In the past i've decorated 5-6 trees, but not the last couple of years. Shelby won't be home till January, and I'm working the holiday, sooooo not doing alot this year. That doesn't keep me from buying or making a few new ornaments though, I've collected and bought them the last 36 years.

Happy Holidays to each and everyone!
Annie

The three-headed tree is similar to the one in the photo. Our son, Nick, collected Santa (or St. Nick!) ornaments, so in his memory we decorate the three-headed tree with his ornaments and continue to add at least one new one each year. We have even added a wooden spoon ornament; Nick wanted to be a chef.

Jody

Jody,
O, I see,,,that's a nice little tree grove to have in your house. Love those kind of trees,,,was thinking about getting one like that,,,but,,,mine is good and I don't want to spend the money right now. By the time I get around to getting one, they won't be *in style* anymore,,,LOL

Kelly

I don't really remember why we bought it. We always have a real tree, but I think DH and I were both thinking we could do something special for Nick with that tree.

Jody

Anyone else out there have interference when decorating?
I have no idea how one of our cats got up that high in the tree but he did. My best guess is he was about 9' off the ground in that photo because the tree is something called an 18' pencil tree but we hadn't added the upper boughs yet. The only thing we can figure is that he took a leap from an upper landing that you can't see in the photo and thrust himself outward and down into the tree and then tried to stabilize himself. The result of which you see in the photo. We took another photo before we hauled his happy rear out of the tree.

Hi all you busy beavers! I just got our tree up and decorated today. It's an artificial one with the lights already on it. LOVE it! Saves a lot of time, not having to string on those lights. I hope to finish the rest of the house tomorrow .... but I've been saying that for a week already! LOL

EQ, Delegate....you so smart! But comon, you can tell us....shhhh.... is it really as good a job as what you would do? ;-))

Sandy

Eq,

LOL @ that little stinker,,,hope he doesn't try that when all the lights and ornaments are on it,,,,,

Kelly

Oh no Sandy! I can't do it better! They do perfectly fine and for me to even suggest that they don't have an "eye" for hanging ornaments would mean I'd have to spend 5 or 6 hours unboxing ornaments and adding those little hanger thingies. I do not see well enough to torment myself like that!

Umm Kelly, we only put lights on last year because he somehow kept leaping into the tree. He was absolutely fascinated with that tree. He toppled the upper portion a few times and we would have had a lot of broken ornaments. He just seemed missile locked on hanging out in that tree. We gave up. He finally figured out how he could take a nap up there. If we would go and poke a feather duster up at him to get him out of the tree, he would peer out and glare at us as if we needed to go away.

Eq,

That is sooooo funny,,,,what a *Stinker*,,,,I wouldn't want all those broken ornaments either. Anyway *stinker* might hurt himself.

Kelly

Equilibrium - that cat in the tree is a real hoot. LOL

No, my tree isn't up yet. But we DID go get one today. Won't put it up till next weekend though. We are traditionalists. For us to actually buy a tree off a lot is something. For years we've tramped around in the bush until we got good and cold before we'd settle on a tree. Can't tell you how many we've had with crooked trunks or big gaps. But of late, we've decided that we like Balsam fir and they aren't grown much around Ottawa. For a few years we got reaaly spoiled because a local friend owned a Christmas tree lot in Nova Scotia and he'd pick out a good one for us (10 ft). But then he and his wife moved to Nova Scotia full time. We've discovered that the Royal Ottawa Hospital has nice trees no more expensive than anywhere else.
I always leave mine up till Epiphany; so put it up late.

haven't got many other decorations out yet either, but that's just because I've been busy. Made a whole bunch of cookies for a cookie exchange tomorrow; so things are moving along.

Gotta leave for a rehearsal. More later, maybe.

Ann

The tree is up, the lights are on, but the rest of the decorating needs to be done. I do, however, have all the ornaments spread out all over the living room floor. I figure when my sweety gets tired of stepping over them, he'll be more willing to help me put them on the tree. Just not as much fun doing it alone.

Oh I just love a woman who is a strategist! Way to go sstateham! I'll have to remember that one and see if I can apply that tactic to some other task that my husband puts off until the day after the day after.

Hi All,
Got the spare rooms spruced up, Gran came over and swept the floors for me. I got the tree down, put up and the lights are half done. Extreme Makover Home Edition is on, so lights will continue during commercials.

Ann,
Have a good rehearsal. If I left our tree up til Epiphany,,,Bill would have a fit. He Hates holidays,,,all of them. So i try to not go overboard,,,it's hard though as Christmas is my favorite Holiday. But, we have to have a happy medium.

Stacey,
Good strategy,,,hope it works for you,,,,,If I did that Bill would throw them all out. Or Beller until they were out of the way.

Hi Eq.

Well, back to the tree.

Kelly

Our tree is up! On Saturday me and four little elves had a ball decorating. Well, actually 5 elves if you count the big one that sat on the couch and supervised the process. Now if that 6ft elf had actually got off his duff rather than sit there, the top of the tree wouldn't look so empty compared to the lower half of the tree. You see, me and the 4 helpful elves were somewhat vertically challenged considering the 9 ft height of the tree and I couldn't get on a chair or step stool cuz this danged vertigo that I occasionally get is back! I hate being dizzy :o(

Will post a pic later today.

Our house is so small and my age dictates that we no longer decorate with all the flourish that others do. My little pencil tree is enough. The familyroom is full of plants, so it has to sit in front of the china cabinet or whatever that thing is called. Sorry, I didn't move the bug vac. off the couch before taking the picture. The way the Asian lady beetles are still coming in, it appears that it is becoming a piece of our permanent furniture. Happy Holidays to you all.

I love your pencil tree. The bows are such a neat touch that I don't see that frequently. Yes, that would be a china cabinet your tree is front of. I have one of those over here. I think it has my grandmother's china in it but I dunno... it's been soooo long since I was able to get to it with all my cake stands and oil lamps and plants smashed in and around it that who knows... maybe some plants grew through the front of mine and worked their way in and around the dishes. One never knows over here.

Brugie, are those butterflies on your tree??? I love the blue theme! What a pretty tree!! Last year I had a pink & white tree but all the boys complained it was too girly, lol. So this year they voted for traditional red, white, gold and green. Next year I want a purple/lilac theme and butterflies too!!! Neato!

Erynne

Here's our tree. Many ornaments are kid-made. Sorry the pic isn't the greatest but those lights just made everything blurry.

Hey Erynne, your tree is fantastic! I'd say you 5 elves did a wonderful job and the supervisor deserves a nod too.

Our tree is a music theme, but we've had it for enough years that I'm getting a bit tired of it and I think I'll need to shake things up next year. Something wild or shocking...thanks for the pink theme idea...I think maybe my 3 fellows would get a chuckle over that!

The kid-made ornaments are the best.

Sandy

Looks great Erynne.

Will be the weekend before we get ours up. Maybe Saturday - I have to play a concert on Sunday. This week is Food Cupboard pre-Christmas panic week.

Ann

Tree's look very nice ladies. Got mine up yesterday and all but one strand of lights on. So will finish that tonight,,,,then will work on the ornaments evenings this week.

Got a Beautiful new Nativity from Sam's Club today. Saw it the last few years and couldn't get it out of my mind,,,,last year my Mom asked if I wanted it, she would buy it for me for Christmas. Said no, better use my Christmas money to help with the bill's. This year I say Phooey!!! I bought the Nativity. Can't Wait to get it set up,,,will take a pic when I get it set up.

Well, not getting anything done sitting here. Nite All.

Kelly

Thanks Sandy and Ann. I've got miles of pink garland if you want, lol! My older son groaned about the pink-decorated tree last year sooo much and said, "that thing belongs in your bedroom Mum". It did have alot of pearls and pink & white flower picks! I dunno, I thought it was pretty......oh well, can't please everyone!


See the one on the right.....that's my groaner!

Kelly - you work hard and you deserve to gift yourself...just think what pleasure it will give you every time you look at it.

Erynne, that pic makes me smile, they are soooo cute and happy and huggable. Regarding the pearls and pink flowers on the tree... you can imagine what my 18 and 15 year old sons would think of that! So maybe we'll see how they behave next year....... LOL

Sandy

Erynne, cute kids and great looking tree. Yes, those are butterflies on my tree. If it was blue, I bought it. LOL! I've always had that particular tree done in red and white using poinsettia's for the red, of course. I got bored with it. My big tree in the family room was always done with peach and silver, again using the poinsettia's in peach color. It was gorgeous, but those plants need that space much more than I do for a tree that no one enjoys. I live in the computer room in my spare time and Jim is in the shop. I love seeing other people's trees, even the ones housing cats.

Sandy,
Thank-You,,,,,most of the time I forget that one Needs to do something for ones self or it just gets monotonous and more depressing. Have to give myself a little gift every now and again,,,,and since Hosta season is over,,,well,,,,,in reality,,,I spent enough on Hosta's this summer that I really Shouldn't gift myself for a few year's but,,,,have been eying this for several years now,,,LOL

Kelly

Llilyfan had a small gathering at her place last Sunday and she had her unique Christmas Tree up and decorated for us. we sure have a great time when we get together!
L to R: Anahi, Iowaron, Llilyfan, and Wandasflowers

LOL! When I got home today, guess who was stuck in the branches at the top of the tree? Why Lily, our kitten of course! The poor baby must of been up there quite a while because it looked like she'd been crying her eyes out and she was absolutely exhausted and thirsty. Betcha she won't do that again! Not to mention that there was some piddle on the tree stand too, lol.

Thanks Sandy and Brugie. My boys are very huggable and the older one kinda knocks the wind out of me with his bear hugs; he's bigger than me and only 12! The little one is still just that....little! They both got humour and wit that is becoming of good Irish folk, haha.
I'm definitely going butterflies next year. Everytime I look at it, I just think how elegant your tree is Brugie. And peach sounds nice too! Whatcha think of that Sandy?

Kelly, good on you for treating yourself!!! No doubt you spend countless hours running your business and making people look pretty. I agree with Sandy; you deserve it big time! Do you got a pic of your Nativity? Hope so, I'll probably want one too!

Iowaron, pleased to meet you! Looks like you had a fun time by seeing those smiling faces! Would that unique tree be made up with horseshoes?? Hard to tell but kinda looks like it from here. Lilyfan must have a creative mind because I can't say I've ever seen one of those.....too cool!

Cheers All,
Erynne

Working on the tree tonight. Really want to get those ornaments on so I can get that box put away,,,,,can't wait to get the Nativity up,,,,,

Iowaron,,,looks like you were all having a good time. Cute tree. Thanks for sharing the pic.

Erynne,
Thanks,,,,I will get a pic as soon as I get it set up,,,can't wait, but want to get the tree done first. If I would get a move on,,,,,,,Also wanted to tell you what cutie patooties you have.

Well, back to the tree.

Kelly

Kelly if you're reading this, you shouldn't be........ahem, now get back to that tree!!!!

Still no tree up, but I dragged all the decorations upstairs. We'll get there eventually.

How's the kitten doing, Erynne?

neat little tree, Llilyfan

Ann

Erynne,

LOL I got the tree done as far as I'm going with it,,,have about 2- 3,,,,maybe 4 dozen ornaments I'm just not putting on this year. Got tired of finding places for all of them,,,LOL at least this way you can actually see the tree this year. Also, can look at the ornaments without it being so overwhelming,,LOL usually it's ornaments all crammed together.

Besides, I couldn't wait to get the Nativity out of the box and see everything. Bill even said it's beautiful,,,,,That *Is* amazing,,,he Hates holiday's and all that go along with them,,,LOL so I was pretty excited when he said he liked it.

Took a couple of pics,,,here is the one with just the baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the Angel. I didn't measure, but the Angel must be 12 - 14" tall.