Patchwork Times by Judy Laquidara logo

Christmas Tree

I hate admitting this but in the nine years we lived in Texas we never put up a Christmas tree. The house was so small and there truly was no place to put it unless we put it in the bedroom and that made no sense. We rarely had anyone over, Vince and I don’t buy gifts for each other, I usually ordered all of Addie, Chad and Nicole’s gifts and had them sent to them way early, so it seemed sad to me to see a tree sitting with no gifts so Vince and I kinda just pretended it wasn’t Christmas.

Chad worked at Walmart and figured he always would, so him taking off at Christmas to come to Texas was never going to happen.

We had two trees in MO and since we thought we’d be staying in Texas forever, and never used those trees, at some point, we got rid of the trees.

Here we are in MO and Addie asked me when she could come back and help me decorate the tree. She walked around the house and declared that we need four trees. We talked about Christmas decorations and came up with a plan: We’ll put up one tree and each year we’ll buy a few new Christmas ornaments that she and I choose together and when it comes time for her to have her own home and Christmas tree, I’ll give all the “new” ornaments to her for her tree if she wants them. She thought that was a grand idea. I told her that this year, we may end up ordering ornaments that don’t arrive in time for Christmas but they will still count for this year (so we can order more next year).

After they left, Vince and I started looking online at Christmas trees. He was looking for the least expensive and while I was shocked to see trees over $1,000, I wasn’t looking for the most expensive. I wanted pre-lit, and I wanted at least 8′ tall (which means the few decorations I have here are going to look pretty sparse on the tree). Walmart had one that had good ratings but it was a Black Friday item and couldn’t be ordered til after 11 our time last night. At 11:03, it was sold out so we missed that one.

We both liked this one at Home Depot. They were in stock in Joplin and we debated about ordering it for curbside pickup or just having it shipped to the house (should arrive Friday). We opted for shipping to the house. Vince said he will help put it together before he leaves, then when Addie is here next, she and I can decorate it.

I’m excited to have a Christmas tree again!

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Comments

  2. We didn’t put up a tree most of the 16 years we lived in Alabama….no one came to see it. But once we moved back to Missouri, I was so excited to be able to put up a tree again. Everyone comes to our house on Christmas Eve now! I’m excited for you being back with your family; I know what it has meant to me!

  3. Check out the knitted Christmas balls by Arne & Carlos (.com). They don’t take long to knit. They have their original 24, a book of 55(Amazon), and starting December 1st a knit along with a daily podcast. They use DP needles, I use round/magic loop. They also have YouTube videos. Lots of fun and addictive!

  4. Doing the decorating together with Addie is what will make that extra special. I started giving my girls a new ornament every year for Christmas beginning when they were born. By the time they were in high school we added a second small tree just for them to decorate because they already had lots of ornaments. We’ve continued that tradition – only now I give them an annual family ornament and each grandchild gets one. We delivered those ornaments and other goodies yesterday to each family while we did our “drive by” Thanksgiving. It’s a very special memory for me and I have such fun shopping for their annual ornaments.

  6. Since their first Christmas, I have given my grandkids a new and different ornament each year to keep and have when they have their own Christmas trees. My daughter jokingly says her tree will be bare (not true) when they take their ornaments down the road – grandson has 31 ornaments and granddaughter has 25. This has been a nice tradition and even as adults they still look forward to their new ornament each year.

    • The closest Menards is Springfield. Their ordering info says I would get it between March 16 and March 22 so that won’t work for this year. 🙂

  9. Every Christmas I give my grandchildren an ornament. When they have their own home they will have ornaments for their tree.

  10. I think that is a wonderful idea about the ornaments. We have some that were Pat’s mother’s. And we have ornaments from each year we have been married. We also have a collection of nativity scenes. I don’t know how many we have, but way over 100.

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