This is one of those categories that should be easy, but it’s a bit complicated for us. We USUALLY had a REAL tree. Until we didn’t. 😀

Several years back hubby’s National Guard unit was put on alert one September and by Thanksgiving they were shipping out to IRAQ. They left sunny southern California and headed to Washington to be integrated into the Army, which for hubby was easy because he had already served in the Army and then joined the National Guard so it was like going home for him.

I was lucky because in the end he was named the Rear Detachment Commander and sent home to man the Armory and guys that remained behind for one reason or another.

But, I digress. While he was gone I needed to put up the tree and just couldn’t talk myself into doing a real tree by myself so I purchased a really nice artificial one. I put it up and decorated it that year and the next while he was still deployed. The following year we went back to a real tree. The year after that we moved to the north woods and REALLY enjoyed live trees again for a couple years.

During that time the artificial tree stayed boxed up. When we were in Texas after that live trees were exorbitantly priced so we used the artificial tree again for a couple years. When we came back to the Pacific North West we went back to live trees until the year of the COVID pandemic and the local tree farm closed early leaving us live treeLESS so we pulled out the artificial tree once again.

LOL this is my long winded way of asking you if you can tell the difference between a few of the trees from the past few years? Which ones are real and which ones are artificial?  😀

Live or artificial doesn’t matter to us anymore – being decorated with all the sentimental ornaments is what makes either tree special. A LIVE tree smells good, but honestly a nice artificial tree is easier and a whole lot less mess in the long run. We do buy a LIVE spray for inside and wreaths for outside! Sadly our local tree farm is up for sale. While whoever buys it will probably keep it the same, there’s no gaurantee it will remain the same. 🙁

We all know the song, but do we know the REAL meaning behind the words? I’d bet most don’t.

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly.  Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics.

It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.

• The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.
• Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.
• Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.
• The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.
• The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.
• The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.
• Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit–Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.
• The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.
• Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit–Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.
• The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.
• The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.
• The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles’ Creed.

So that is your history lesson for today. Merry (Twelve Days of) Christmas Everyone – and, remember, the Twelve Days of Christmas are the 12 days starting December 25th and the Christmas Season runs until Epiphany, January 6.

Christmas is the most important holiday to me and not because Santa comes, though that is pretty important to the kiddos, but more importantly, it’s a caring spirit, a sharing feeling, an attitude that I try to practice all year long.  I truly feel good about giving – whether it’s the Angel trees I select gifts for or the smile from the Salvation Army bell ringer as you put your money in their red bucket and wish them Merry Christmas. 

Here we go. Another year has passed and the holidays are upon us again! DAY 1 of BLOGMAS 2023 has me asking you what your holiday decorating schedule is.

I have to admit I’m one of those people who can’t wait to decorate and leave it up for longer than most. We passed our neighbor last Tuesday and he was out putting up his Christmas lights and candy canes right next to his blow up Turkey for Thanksgiving. I had to laugh because while my house IS already decorated inside I made hubby promise to wait until today to begin decorating outside 😀 In our neighbor’s defense he was quite ill last year and never got to decorate at all so he gets a pass on the early decorating and he promised to wait until tonight to turn the lights on!

We’ll be at our favorite local Christmas tree farm when they open this morning at 9AM to pick out 2 wreaths for the front porch.

• Are you a traditional or trendy decorator? I’m a traditional, sentimental decorator. I still have ornaments from when I was a kid and some of my grandparent’s things. We tend to have the same decorations year in and year out, but they may be in different places each year because I add a piece here or there and some even get donated or die by attrition.
  
• Are you white lights or multi-colored? This category depends for me. Definitely multi-colored on the tree, but I have white on my sleigh and around the Santa Hot Air Balloon as a landing zone.
  
• When do you decorate inside? PLEASE don’t laugh, but since COVID my tree has gone up at Halloween 😀 and stays up through AT LEAST King’s Day.
  
• Outside? We wait until after Thanksgiving 😀
  
• To Blow or NOT Blow? We’re yes on this category MOST of the time. Years with early snows or stormier than normal windy days we stray away from them.