Quote:
Originally Posted by jo55
my youngest is 16 and the boys are mid 20s {no grandkids yet} so the mystery of Santa Claus isn't needed anymore.
I put lights on the pretty shaped evergreen out by our pond and just leave those out there year around- just rearrange them if needed. They reflect nicely in the water too.
The tree is so dense that you can't see the lights unless they are on.
Since we are out in the country we just do any outside deco for ourselves - that we can see looking out the main windows.
Our house is kind of small so not much room for the extra deco inside- just a few things.
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You've given me an idea- I have a HUGE pencil cactus in a big pot outside- it's about 8 ft. tall and at least 4 ft. wide (I don't know what happened to this thing....It started from 3 little "sticks" of cactus that I just stuck in a pot and now it looks like something from a SciFi movie) and I think I'll string some lights on it and put some balls on and light it up outside- should be a very interesting Christmas tree.
I see what you're saying dahlek. I do pace myself and if I'm going to do any Christmas baking, I take one weekend day during the month of Dec. and spend all day at it and if hubby is home he helps too. I then put stuff in tins or baskets and take it around to the neighbors right around us. I don't do this every year though- just depends on how I feel. I just enjoy doing it- these are the kinds of things I did with my gr'mother when I was young and it brings back some wonderful memories. This is the spirit of the holidays for me. We're not very caught up in the material things either, although we do enjoy buying for our gr'son and "seeing" Christmas again through a young ones eyes. I do think that the idea of the Christmas shopping season has gotten totally out of hand though- with stores putting out Christmas decorations back in the summer around here. I think too many people are focused on how much money they can spend or how much someone has spent on them and what kind of possessions they got for Christmas and making sure everybody knows about it....We didn't grow up being like that and I still find it very obnoxious, especially when there are so many in this country who are struggling or going without. There are so many ways to give back, to those who are in need, and that's the true spirit of Christmas to our family. The purpose of this thread, for me, was to see if we could exchange ideas with each other as to what we do to make the holidays easier, in whatever way we choose to or are able to celebrate them. There's no way that I do near as much as what my mother and gr'mother used to do when I was growing up.