Got our snowflakes up on the front of the house and on the back deck railing. Bailed out when cold rain intensified, so will finish the bushes today.
The tree is still in its pot on the deck. It almost died during the 110-degree heat wave; although it has some runs of brown needles, we decided that this tree would be a great symbol of the year - a survivor. The tree will come in and get decorated around December 20 or so.
Every year at the exact moment a football game I want to watch kicks off.
Merry Christmas and happy holidays!!
No one will be here for Christmas except DH and meā¦so tree will go up this week, and other indoor decor little by little.
Tree is in a bucket in the garage - weāre half way there! I have late work stuff T-W-Th so likely wonāt get up until Friday.
Tree is decorated, the candles are in the windows, and mantle decorations are up. We decorated what I call a ātoddler tree.ā Mostly soft/unbreakable ornaments, especially the bottom half. We have a young cat that likes to play with things and our grand-dog (just over a year) will be here for several days. We just decided to play it safe. We may decorate other parts of the house as the kids start to show up, but we may be done.
We have a survivor as well! It was originally one of those trees left with a tiny root ball after almost everything else had been cut away. Weād tried before to āsaveā those after the holidays, but always without success. As you say, even a very short period of hot weather can carry them away. But this one has been with us for at least five years now. Itās got some brown needles and such, but we are looking forward to bringing it in off the terrace next weekend for what will probably be its last hurrah, as we are planning to move overseas next year. I am hoping it will fit without having to lop off a bit at the top. When I was a kid, the tree always went up on December 23 and came down after New Years, but that wouldnāt work in Japan, where we live. Here, New Years is the biggest holiday of the year and has its own set of decorations. So the Christmas stuff needs to come down pretty promptly after December 25. In any event, our S19 will get back on the 14th, and we want to have the house decorated for when he arrives.
Now that we have a fake tree we put it up the weekend after Thanksgiving. We usually put the tree and lights up on Saturday or Sunday and then put the ornaments little by little over the next week. When we had a real tree we would get it about two weeks before Christmas. We never cut a tree ourselves. Just got from Loweās or the Boy Scout lot.
Iām surprised at the # of people who decorate the tree over a number of days. Nothing wrong with that at all, but my mind could not do that. Get er up, lights on, decorations on. Donāt over fuss, make sure itās water, put the skirt on -done!
Speaking of tree skirts, I have used the same one since my kids were little - itās fine but Iād really like to get one of the woven tree collars.
Weāve been going to the same cut your own Christmas tree farm for the past 25+ years. Have pictures with the kids in front of the sign every year. We used to always get a tree the weekend closest to Dec. 15. We also used to leave it up until the Epiphany (Jan. 6) but then changed to Jan. 1 once kids were in school. The past two years they had sold as many trees as they felt they could to allow for future growth and we missed it and ended up at another farm. Saturday I read on Facebook that they only had fewer than 10 pre-cut imported from a colder location trees left and no cut your own. We showed up to get one of the pre-cut ones yesterday morning at opening and the owner, who recognized us as long time customers, was telling us how his business has changed so much in the past decade or so ā everyone wants 8 ft + trees and they all come Thanksgiving weekend now.
This upcoming weekend is the last for our areaās biggest tree farm - seems a little early to me!
When we were there this weekend we were looking for an 8-9 footer. Found one at about 8.5 (they had stakes marked like a ruler!) and as we were deciding on it an older man walked up to talk to us. I recognized him as the owner since Iāve seen him on the news before. He told us that a half hour earlier our tree was a 12 foot tree but the bottom was bad so they cut off a few feet and now it was a beautiful 8.5 ft tree. I said āI love knowing that story! Youāre the owner right? Iām grateful for the smooth operation of your place.ā He looked at the young guy who was helping tag our tree and said, " I want this lady to have this tree for the price of a 6 foot one"ā¦ it was so cute (and of course we appreciated the savings!).
We put up both trees today - the family tree with ornaments made or bought over the years and the ākidsā treeā with ornaments specifically bought or made for the girls. Older daughter has a dog and 2 cats so no tree for her and younger daughter is still at home. I look forward to a time when we have to only deal with one tree.
Next step is putting up all of the German items we have, pyramids and nutcrackers and smokers, and several nativities.
Final activity will be outdoor lights - if we get a dry day.
Iām making a stocking for #1Ds fiancĆ©. H & I have matching stockings that our respective mothers purchased 60-ish years ago at a long-since closed area dept store (rip F&N). I made similar ones for our daughters and now for fiancĆ©.
What kind of tree topper do you all have? Putting up our tree today and have to say I donāt care for mine . Itās a lighted star, blah. For years we had this sort of creepy angel that held a candle (which was a small light).
Must be something more thrilling out there! I wouldnāt want anything colored or kiddish. A stsr is fine but I need a better star!
Iāve thought about just taking it off, go naked on top. 
I had a āfancyā Santa looking thing for years, but I decided it was kind of creepy as some point, and now Paddington Bear hanging on to the top (with squeezy arm things) is quite cuteā¦
This year weāve not used many of our āgoodā ornaments and have lots of old, soft ornaments. Weāre waiting to see how the grand pup reacts. She shreds stuffed toys quite impressively, but my son and his GF say sheās ignored their tree so far.
We alternate between a fancy father xmas and a vintage bow.
I have a pretty blue ribbon bow with blue LED lights in it as my tree topper.
We have an lit angel from either Walmart or lowes that we bought 27 years ago. I like it fine, but wonder why they gave her a white wire instead of green. Itās tricky to hide. We always love to joke that she has a stick up her (fill in the blank)
Our angel also had a white wire .
We have angelsāa smaller and larger one. Theyāre ok. We got them on clearance at Costco.
Today! We bought a real tree from our favorite local farm. The price increased 15% from last year and there was a noticeable lack of farm hands to help trim and load. No worries though. The tree is up and watered. Looking forward to decorating it tomorrow once the branches have completely dropped. 
