For the first time in life, we cut down our very own Christmas tree!
I’m the first to admit that, when it comes to live Christmas trees, I’ve always been sort of a Scrooge.
I would totally be a-ok with a pre-lit-low-maintenance-won’t-die-if-I-don’t-water-it artificial model. The monetary benefits and the lack of effort involved in that make it extremely appealing to me.
But, I live with a house full of holiday traditionalist who insist on live treeing it year after year.
After spending an afternoon at the best Christmas tree farm in Maryland (according to me who has only ever been to the one), I’m proud to say I am totally with them!
Even after breaking into a full body sweat walking out to the farming area (seriously, it’s far, but also, I was carrying all of my camera equipment and wearing a humongosaur winter coat since I’d had a shoot there earlier), listening to my children fight over the wagon and the tree and if the sky is actually blue or if it just looks blue because of something environmental and sciency, holding the tree while DudeDad cut it so it didn’t crush him, and helping him tie it to the roof, I have to say that cutting our own tree was overall a pleasurable experience.
And this is a for real smile.
The tree is the best looking one we’ve ever owned and the memories are the kind I actually want to cherish (you know, after time erases all of the annoying parts I just mentioned).
So how do you celebrate this holiday season? Real tree? Fake tree? Or no tree?!
I’m a fake tree person really, between allergies and long term costs, its just more convenient. Plus I can’t put as many ornaments on a real one or anything that’s not super light. Some of my glass ornaments are heavy!
But this year the hubs got his way;). I conceded and we have a gorgeous live tree that he cut himself. All that other annoying stuff you mentioned, our tree farm had people for all that. We didnt have to haul it back up bc they have a guy that drives a trailer around for them but he was far from where we were so we did do that.
I even let him have colored lights. He and the toddler decorated (mostly) and even though I don’t have my classic tree with white lights and 500+ ornaments, this ended up less work for me…so far anyway lol
We bought our tree in 1999 (fake, obviously) the day after Thanksgiving for $45. It’s lived in seven different houses in three states and two countries, and all the sticky labels have fallen off the branches so every year we have to GUESS which branches go where. But it’s actually still beautiful, and I’ve never seen a fake tree I like so well – they all seem so sparse these days, and ours is nice and full. So we’ll keep it until it literally falls apart. It’s so old I’ve started calling it Aunt Bethany (if you’ve never seen National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, you have no idea what I’m talking about so disregard).
I do love the smell of a real tree, though, so I burn pine-scented candles all month long. ;)
My husband is a Christmas Freak so we have 2 fake trees (the big ones) and a small real one. He is debating putting up another fake tree in the basement media room. We have that many ornaments…it’s a sickness..his sickness. One of these years we will do a real big one and go cut it down. Just not now…I have no desire to carry diapers and all around a tree farm! :) I have to draw the line somewhere.
Aw yay! Real trees rock! We do a cut your own every year-my family did it growing up, and I carry it on with our kids. I love it, it’s my favorite tradition. Also, the 9yo and 4yo cut it down and dragged it to the car, so all we had to do was watch. Awesome.
We did a real tree the first year we lived in our house. I swore to never do it again. The mess and the hassle just aren’t worth it.
LOVE all the shots – and that you clarify that was a ‘real’ smile you had! ;) Such a beautiful family! :)
I always did a live tree every year without fail – until I moved to PA, that is. Out there the trees aren’t as abundant as they are out here, which means they were more expensive and I couldn’t justify the expense so I bought a fake one that only lasted about 5 years – which cost about as much as a live tree each year for those 5 years would have been. Princess Nagger is looking forward to finally having a real tree, but it will most likely be next year since we’re still stuck in my parents basement waiting for our PA house to sell. If we get lucky and get into the house we’ve made an offer on before Christmas, we’ll be out chopping down a real tree to decorate. :)
We do a fake tree….my allergies can’t take anything else.
But, look at the joy and love on their faces….and I love that one of the dudes is carrying your camera bag (which is super cute).
Can’t wait to see it up and decorated.