Happy December!

I can't believe it is already December 1st!  Where has the year gone?  Confession: I have been listening to Christmas music for the last two weeks.  We have a local station that plays only Christmas music during the holidays, this year they started right after Halloween.  I think that might have been a bit early.  What do you think?

We got our tree yesterday, it's a tradition for us to get it the weekend after Thanksgiving.  We have a Whole Foods close to where we live and noticed they had trees, wreaths, and garland last week.  The price for a tree is $49.99 at our local store, but they are having a special and we got the tree, wreath, and garland for $59.99.  Usually we go someplace like Lowes, Home Depot, and even sometimes Walmart to get it.  We always go as a family to look at all the trees and pick one that meets everyone's idea of the perfect tree.  This year we did something a little different.  We picked a tree that was still wrapped up, so we had no idea how full it was or if there were any bare spots.  Adventurous and bold, if I do say so myself.  It turns out the tree is quite a bit more full than we usually have.

I put the lights on it last night and we decorated it today, it's always a family affair.  Then, when I tried moving it back towards the wall a little bit; it fell on me.  I guess our stand wasn't meant to have such a large tree in it.  My husband had to rush out to the living room to "save me."  It was pretty funny.  So my husband, genius that he is, decided to tie some twine onto the tree and anchor it, so hopefully it won't fall again.  We had to rehang several ornaments, but none were broken.

Another tradition that started when I was a child is that each person gets a new ornament at Christmas time.  This year I bought my kids' ornaments at Whole Foods also because they had pandas (that's my son's favorite animal.)  My daughters each picked out an ornament for me from Target when they were shopping with their dad.  My youngest got me the biggest ornament they had, a sparkly star.  And my oldest got me a glass balloon animal, it reminded her of Animal Crossing since I have all the balloon furniture.

Do you have any family traditions that you have been doing since you were a child?  Have you started any new ones?

     

November Already

I know I just did a post yesterday about the fact that it was Halloween and we were getting ready to go trick-or-treating (no loose nuts, by the way.)  But, that does not mean that I was ready for it to be November already!  In fact, yesterday the thought didn't even occur to me that "Hey, tomorrow is November 1st."  Is that crazy?  Maybe, maybe not.  I bet I am not the only one that had this day sneak up on them, right?  Not only that, but we have to set our clocks back this weekend.  Yep, that's right, fall back an hour.

My husband and oldest daughter will appreciate this because right now he takes her to the bus stop while it is still dark out.  Pretty early, right?  She is in high school, and she is out of zone because she goes to a gifted school, so the bus has to go farther and therefore comes earlier.  So, maybe by setting the clocks back an hour they will have a bit of daylight?  We will have to wait and see.

So, how many of you already start decorating for Christmas on the 1st of November?  I have been reading around the internet about people 'in the closet' listening to Christmas music already.  I think it's funny.  We know the stores have all had Christmas stuff in the background since they put up their Halloween goods and yesterday afternoon I went to a local Target and they were already enlarging their Holiday selections and shrinking their Halloween goods.  I am pretty sure it gets earlier every year and when one store does it, the others follow because lets face it, if they don't they miss out on business.

I generally begin my decorating the weekend after Thanksgiving, that is when I try to get my tree and then I leave it up until after New Years (that varies because my oldest daughter's birthday is on January 2nd.)  Who knows, maybe I will do it early this year?  Though, with how crazy everything seems for us this year, I don't think that will happen.  I bet we will be lucky to get the tree when we normally do.  

So, Happy November!  Enjoy the fall weather.  I hope the people in the north are able to start picking up the pieces on the damages.  Take care.  If you enjoy my blog, please follow me.  Thanks for reading.