It is the first week in December and time to trim the Christmas tree! We are big into traditions Christmas traditions and family tree trimming is one of them. We have made some sweet memories over the years–and some not so sweet memories. If you follow me on instagram, you will know we had a tree topple while halfway decorated a couple of years ago. It made for a great photo– little me holding up a great big tree with lights all hanging off & ornaments all around my feet–thankfully we only lost a couple of them!
We are going to decorate as a family tonight, and I am really looking forward to it. These moments with my family are so sweet right now, as I find my girls growing up so fast and have recently been reminded just how precious life is. I am trying to savor every moment.
Here are a few things I am going to do that will help us survive trimming the tree as a family:
KEEP EXPECTATIONS REALISTIC
Real family life is rarely like the movies, with everything picture perfect. Having all family members in the same room for an extended period of time can often bring on less than ideal moments. Don’t let bickering children or teens distracted with their phones ruin the moment. Be flexible, be patient, and be realistic.
If you have little ones, be ok with the bottom of the tree being more decorated than the top. I admit, when my girls were little I would sneak and gradually move them up into a more even distribution, but now that all 3 girls are taller than me, I miss seeing the tree ornament- heavy at the bottom!
DECORATE THE REST OF THE HOUSE AHEAD OF TIME
I have simplified my Christmas decorating so much that decorating this year was easy! It took me just about an hour one evening, and that even included pulling the tree out & straightening the branches.
HAVE TREE SET UP WITH LIGHTS ON
We use an artificial tree, and this is our second year with an easy-to-put-up tree that is pre-lit. Oh my, how I love our new tree! So easy!
GATHER SUPPLIES AHEAD OF TIME
I made sure I put away the empty bins that held the Christmas decorations, and the box our tree came in. Now the only bins out are 2 that hold all of our Christmas ornaments. We have a tradition of buying Hallmark ornaments the day after Christmas when they are on clearance. Every family member chooses one per year. We mark the boxes with names and dates so they are easy to pass out. Each member opens their own, and is responsible for hanging their own. This time is so precious! So many memories! When my girls move out, they will take their ornaments with them for their own trees.
TURN UP THE CHRISTMAS MUSIC
Spotify is my go-to for Christmas music. They have the best Christmas playlists. Use their search bar to find whatever type of Christmas music that fits your family. Have kids? Search for ‘Kids Christmas Music.’ Alvin & the Chipmunks Christmas was a favorite when my kids were little. Want to create a more mellow mood? Search for ‘Christmas Piano.’
LIGHT THOSE CANDLES
Candles and music are both a great way to add festive atmosphere. I just love the warmth, twinkling & scent that candles bring.
PLAN A SIMPLE DINNER
Order pizza or throw something in the crock pot that morning. Soup and chili are great go-to meals.
HAVE SIMPLE SNACKS
Our family tradition is to buy a tin of popcorn every year and bust it open to snack during tree-trimming. You get savory from the cheese popcorn, salty from the butter popcorn & sweet from the caramel popcorn. All taste bases are coverd. Easy!
SERVE FESTIVE DRINKS
We get sparkling white grape juice for our girls and wine for Todd & I. We always use fancy goblets, which feels special. This year I will sprinkle in some pomegranate seeds to make our drinks even more festive. You could serve hot chocolate, if you prefer something warm, or a make a recipe like the Warm Spiced Almond drink in the picture above–I will post the recipe soon!
CLEAN UP AS YOU GO
With our family tradition of buying Hallmark ornaments every year, clean up is pretty easy. We always keep the original boxes and store our ornaments in them. For any other ornaments we use tissue, and I smooth it out and save it as we go, making it ready when clean up time comes in January.
When we are done hanging our ornaments, I quickly put all of the empty Hallmark boxes back into bins & take the bins back up to storage. I’m contantly telling myself “Do It Now” otherwise bins will sit out for weeks and frustrate me!
USE PRODUCTS YOU LOVE TO CLEAN UP
Another huge part of clean up is the floor. Even artificial trees lose their ‘needles’ and there are always bits of debris that needs vacuuming up after all the decorations are on the tree and the empty boxes and bins put away.
When it comes to floor cleaning, I have a new best friend. I recently started using the Hoover® Air™ Cordless Lift Upright Vacuum and my friends, I have been so eager to tell you about this vacuum. I had no idea that cordless but powerful would be so life-changing! No cord means you have freedom to move about your home with ease; no plugging and unplugging, no winding and rewinding and most importantly, no tripping, tugging or tangling.
This vacuum is my favorite. We have hardwood floors, tile floors, laminate floors, large floor rugs and carpeting in our home. Yep, we have every type of floor, and I finally have a vacuum that goes seamlessly from one type of floor to another & handles them all beautifully!
There are 4 vacuums and a hard floor wet cleaner (which I am eyeing) in the Hoover line that are cordless, but all have an interchangeable battery system. The vacuum I have comes with two batteries, so one is always fully charged. Hoover really thought of everything in this line of vacuums.
Hoover® Air™ Cordless Lift Upright Vacuum is lightweight and CORDLESS, but not like your usual cordless. This baby has power thanks to the battery which is a LithiumLife battery and has double the capacity of the standard 18-volt lithium-ion batteries, which means longer runtime and fade-free power. The battery stays charged so long that I can vacuum my entire house–all three floors–with one charged battery. That amazed me. The battery has 3 little lights on it so you can see when it is time to charge again. After vacuuming my whole house, there was still one light of the three lit! I could have kept going! I was surprised that it did not lose suction power, due to the Windtunnel 3 technology which performs beautifully to lift and remove dirt.
With a click of a button you can lift the canister and use the hose with attachments. One click and it goes from upright to a canister that is light and easy to carry. Now I no longer put off vacuuming my stairs for months. Now it is no big deal to tackle my stairs and they are done with little effort.
I could go on and on, but I think you can tell how very much I love my new Hoover®. I find myself vacuuming my hardwoods and floor rugs in the living room and dining room daily, now that I have my Hoover®. I love those vacuum lines & my new vacuum is so easy to grab & go!
{2012-year of the unsteady tree that toppled, & my little one playing with her shadow}
CAPTURE THE MEMORIES
Last but not least, make sure to be clickin’ and capturing those memories. It is so easy to forget precious memories without images of them. I love looking back on all the stages my girls have gone through, as we repeat our family christmas tree trimming each year.
…………….
What about you?
Do you decorate the tree as a family?
Does a cordless but powerful vacuum interest you?
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
