~A New Christmas Tradition~

Reader beware!  This post is a bit long but I have a perfectly good reason for it, so get comfortable before starting, okay?

Have you ever had those days where you had plans to do back-to-back posts after Thanksgiving but couldn't find the photos you wanted to use and then realized that you were so pooped from all the family being here at your home for several days, which you so totally enjoyed, but what you had in  mind to do got put on the shelf so you could take a couple of days to recuperate and....(deep breath).....

then you planned to get back to the project at hand but your youngest daughter calls asking you to take care of her two children for the better part of a day while she and hubby go to a family relative's (his side) funeral and family dinner and so the post gets delayed some more and...(deep breath)...

then you decide you better start bringing down the Christmas decorations because you know it will take several days to get the house decorated and in-between times you keep looking for those darned pictures that seemed to have disappeared but then decide to just use what you've found already and...deep breath..

then you realize that you need to go to the big city to get some grocery and household shopping done as well as stopping by Hobby Lobby (always a must), which all takes a good part of a day, and then it's the weekend so you get to work tackling decorating some more as you know it will take at least two more days because your health doesn't allow you to work for long periods of time like you did in the past and then it's Monday and you decide you'd better sit down and get that post done??...deep breath...

Yeah, me too!

For all of our married life, we have always gotten a fresh cut tree for Christmas.  In the first few years, we couldn't afford to buy one so we would cut down a cedar tree from the farm's pasture (those were the pics that I couldn't find!).

We found that cutting one down was much more fun and would last longer.  So we chose to go to tree farms to find a fresh tree.  It has always been alot of fun going through the fields trying to find the "perfect" tree and there was usually a debate going on as to who found it.  Then, of course, it came down to the majority rules procedure.

When we lived in Kansas, we found a tree farm west of Wichita that was truly a Christmas tree farm.  It was absolutely charming and so much fun.  It became our favorite place to go for a good number of years, even after moving back to Oklahoma, which meant a three-hour drive!  But it became too much of an ordeal, so we stopped going there.  We chose to go to tree farms that were closer to home.  None of them came close to the Kansas tree farm, but it was a choice that had to be made.

Usually, it was me and the two girls who did the decorating but now it is down to just me.  It was becoming more and more difficult to find the right time to go tree hunting and my health wasn't allowing me the physical flexibility that I once had.  So, after almost 39 years, it was time to make a change.  We made the plunge and bought an artificial tree (at Hobby Lobby of course).  My youngest came up with the idea of starting a new tradition of allowing the grandchildren to decorate the tree during the Thanksgiving holiday.  I thought it was a wonderful idea!!

She took pictures while I handed out ornaments making sure that each child had the same number to put on the tree.  I love the intense look on the girls' faces as they find the right branch and making sure that the ornaments were secure.

Rascal also took his job seriously looking for the right branch.  Well, maybe not the right branch as he was always in a hurry to be first in line to get the next ornament but I would make him wait for the girls and then he was last in line since the girls took longer with their decisions.

I had to ask J.W. to help with putting ornaments on the upper branches since no one else could reach them.  Either he thought it wasn't cool or just wasn't interested (after all, he's 13 now!) so he didn't last very long.

This year, I also decided to buy new ornaments and garland...red, white and silver....to alternate with the many ornaments that I have collected over the years.  Lots of candy type ones are tucked in as well.  I got tickled watching my little helpers when they would stop by the tree to admire their handiwork.  We love traditions and I think we have a wonderful new one.

I did have to move around several of the ornaments as there were places where they were clustered together and some areas that were rather bare.  But don't tell my grandbabies!  Seems strange to have so many shiny, new ornaments as the other collection is made up of ones that are handmade or look to be handmade and a bit country in style.  They will go up next year.  I don't miss having to water the tree every day and cleaning up fallen needles, but I do miss the smell.  One of my daughters found some "pinecicles" at Michael's, which have a very strong pine smell and do smell somewhat real.  She says they are much better than the ones at Wally World.  So, what do you think of my new tree?

Now to finish putting out my Christmas decorations ~

Linking to Farm Chick's Farm Photo Friday