You Pinspire Me
For as long as I can remember, the first weekend in December has been the time that our family puts up the Christmas tree. It could be because of the Sinterklaas traditions that we had, or it just could be that that’s when the Christmas Trees arrived in town and my parents were firm believers in getting fresh trees. Whatever the reason, the beginning of December has meant Trees in our family. I kept up the tradition while in University with the girls I was living with, we’d head to Ikea, get our $20 tree and a coupon for $20 off, then go shopping. 🙂 When we got married, I convinced my husband to maintain this tradition – he agreed, mostly because he doesn’t really care one way or the other.
{important aside} He does know that I care, though. The best Christmas present that I’ve ever received (at least, besides the Cabbage Patch Doll that I got when I was 5) was a forest of Christmas trees in our bedroom the year that we got married. I came home from work one day in early December and found THREE Christmas trees at the end of our bed in our attic bedroom, all dressed in white Christmas lights. It smelled beautiful in our room; it was like waking up in a forest! (And just about as cold – I’ve never slept in a colder room in my life!)
{back to the main post} About 6 years ago, we started to opt for Christmas tree farms over parking lot stands. I’m not sure if there were or weren’t any tree farms in the area I grew up in, but we always went to the Food City parkinglot, and that was that. The idea of going to a farm was intriguing. The first farm that we went to was great, but we showed up on a weeknight after dusk and the owner wasn’t set up for customers in the evening that early in the season. The next year we went to Will’s Christmas Store & Tree Farm, which was such an experience, but the price of the trees was just a little ridic. Two years ago, we discovered the Rinas Family Tree Farm & haven’t looked back since.
Because we’re gifting our kids on Sinterklaas and that’s before the first weekend in December this year, we headed out this afternoon to the Rinas Family Christmas Tree Farm just outside of Hamilton in Rockton, Ontario. We took pictures in the sleigh, we had a tractor ride out to the fields, we found the perfect tree, had our tree shaken, drilled (we have a fantastic tree stand with a spike in the middle of it – easiest set up EVER!), and wrapped ($40 all-in) and went on our merry way home.
As I write, the tree is up in the stand being fed & resting its branches. After the kids get up from their naps, we’ll make some hot chocolate, turn on the Christmas music, and get decorating. I love this time of year.
What kind of Christmas Tree traditions do you have in your family? Do you do a real tree? Fake tree? No tree? Tree right before Christmas? Middle of November?
Jenn vanOosten
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We always put our tree up the first Sunday in Advent, although when I was a kid living in the US, it was always the Friday after Thanksgiving (which is pretty much the same time). We have always done fake trees because my mom and I are allergic to the real ones. One year we got a potted one (it’s the cut trees that cause us the biggest problems) because I really wanted to see what it was like. Not sure if I’m doing a tree this year. Seems like a lot of work just for me 🙂
You’re doing better than me. I realized that I have no Christmas tree cause I threw out my artificial one last year. Whoops.
We always had a real tree when I lived at home. I loved it. When I got married, we got a fake tree because my husband didn’t want a real tree. I’ve asked for a real tree every year since. Maybe this year, I’ll get my real tree.