Christmas tree 2015

Don't you love traditions? Especially holiday traditions. We went to get our Christmas tree at the same farm we have been going to for years. I think this is the warmest weather we have ever had this time of year. No mittens or hats!

The Clarks joined us again for the big tree hunt and cutting.

Here is this year's tree.

Afterwards we had our usual Christmas-tree-getting-day dinner. I like getting all my Christmas plates out to set the table.

Tina made peppermint brownie sundaes - another yearly tradition. So sweet and so perfect this time of year.

When we trimmed the tree I had worries that Wyatt the Riot might be a little too interested in branches and decorations so we only hung unbreakable ornaments. Looks like I was spot on.

Gopher kitty!

Maple helicopter seed invasion - solution: eat them

This spring our neighborhood has been covered in small maple tree helicopters. Do you know what I mean? The seeds that twirl down from the maple trees? I don't remember there being so many before. Fallling in my flower pots, covering the driveway.

I have heard that our late Spring in Rochester is resulting in heavy pollen. I've seen the yellow pollen powder coating on my car. I'm just guessing that is the same reason we have hoardes of helicopters.

Did you know you can EAT maple tree helicopter seeds?! (link and images from wikiHow) Rest easy now knowing that if you are lost in the woods you have a ready food source. I'm thinking of a nice helicopter soup this evening - no, not really.

Christmas decoration wrap-up

December is almost over so here is a quick peek at some of the other Christmas decorations I had up this year. The mantelscape theme was my collection of German wood Christmas pyramids and a few minature deer figures.

My mom got me this vintage aluminum tree last Christmas and I was very excited to have it for my vintage Shiny Brite ornaments.

Aaron also got me new Shiny Brite ornaments! Yes, they are still making them!

Sparkly aluminum tree with vintage Shiny Brite ornaments. (Shot this for my blog.)

A video posted by Jenny Cisney (@ljc) on Dec 12, 2014 at 10:25am PST

I put a string of wire LED lights on the tree and they really lit it up!

I am a big fan of these wire LED lights. I think I will have to do a post just about them.

Hidden marketing lesson in a Christmas tree stand

We already took our Christmas tree down. That might sound surprising but what we actually do is take our tree down and then put it back up at my parent's house!

Here are a few pictures of the tree before it's journey.

Don't you love laying on your couch at night, looking at the glow of your Christmas tree?

It was another shorty. We have the room for a big tree, but I have really liked getting the more petite ones.

Can you see the Santa's Magic Water Spout?

When I posted pictures on Instagram I got questions about the "bucket". It's actually a large galvanized tub I bought at Tractor Supply.

Last year I saw these tree collars in Crate and Barrel. I loved the look but not the price tag. I got a big tub for a fraction of the price... only to find that our tree stand didn't fit in it. Well last year our tree stand broke and we invested in a fancy new one and lo and behold the smaller stand fits in the tub!

The new tree stand has a post for a tree with a hole drilled up the tree trunk. I have to say we are fans of the drill stand now. It's a Stand Straight which also has screws if you don't have a drilled tree. Typically there is half an hour of Aaron laying under the tree fiddling with the stand screws until the tree is nice and straight. With a drill stand and a drilled tree... it dropped down perfectly! We aren't the only ones sold on it... there is an entire article about the marketing brilliance of the drilled Christmas tree.

Oh Christmas tree, how malty are your branches...

Genesee Brewery did the coolest thing and built a Christmas tree with 300 beer kegs complete with lights and a rotating Genesee sign on top. (I thought they used 80 kegs and was telling everyone that... boy was I off!)

The news of this even made Huffington Post so of course we had to go and check it out... in the day time AND night. We even met friends for beer and pretzels making a night of it.

Keg Christmas tree at @geneseebrewery Brew House - 80 beer kegs!

A video posted by Jenny Cisney (@ljc) on Dec 12, 2014 at 5:25pm PST

2015 Christmas Tree cutting

We went to Wilbert's tonight to get our Christmas tree. The pugs seemed indifferent.

The Clarks joined us for our traditional tree hunt.

We were sure to get our pictures in front of the giant candy cane.

It was chilly out but it's always worth it.

Afterwards we had naan bread pizza for dinner.

Production line for Christmas sundaes - brownie, peppermint ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream, crush candy canes and a cherry.

Stewie has a new best friend.

Christmas Eve

Typical Christmas Eve for us. Big spaghetti dinner. Last minute wrapping, squirreled away in a bedroom.

Does this tree look familiar? We took down our Christmas tree and put it back up at my Grandma's with her ornaments. It's been a good little tree.

Ceramic Christmas Trees

As I mentioned yesterday, the task of getting out all our holiday decorations seemed daunting this year. I usually deck the windows out with lights and giant ornaments in the window boxes. I have two ceramic Christmas trees my grandma gave me and all I did was put each one in the upstairs windows.

Simple but so cute. I love seeing them glowing from the windows when I pull in the driveway in the evening.

Tree trimming

Hot chocolate with mini-marshmallows, Love Actually, Elf and tree trimming.

Our 2013 Christmas tree is up!

Did I mention it is very short and squatty? The same height as me! It looked much bigger in the field. Plus it was dark. Note the pug photo bomb.

Getting our 2013 Christmas tree... in the dark

Am I the only one taken by surprise by the shorter amount of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas? With less time and more things going on, we had no choice but to get our Christmas tree on a weeknight.

The night was not going to slow us down. It's a yearly tradition with the Clarks! We hiked out into the field at Wilbert's and picked out a tree in the dark.

Well, the Clarks were going to buy a tree off the lot but then Lauren spied this one she really wanted.

And so both Aaron and Charlie cut down Christmas trees in the dark with us holding flashlights.

Still fun and lots of good memories.

Tina cooked this year and she made this amazing crock pot lasagna.

Christmas tree cutting is not complete without our annual peppermint brownie sundaes! Aaron and I rolled home full as toads.

Spring flowers

I am really enjoying this Spring's flowers... my tulips...

.... Red Bud tree....

... the Dogwood the pugs got me for Mother's Day...

... wonderful smelling lilacs...

and dainty white bleeding hearts.

Scentsicles

I saw these Scentscicles at Michaels and after sniffing the Pine, decided to get a pack. They are tree ornaments that smell like a real tree.

We don't really need them for our tree, we always get a live tree, but we LOVE the smell of pine. I have a couple hanging in the house and we even hung them in our car.

I would like to try some of the others like "Fireside".

Their use of a lumberjack cracks me up.

Have you seen the commercial?