In one week we'll be in December, and around here we've been thinking about the Christmas tree. I remarried last year and now have a blended family with 4 kids, so we are actively building new traditions with each holiday. We have a rather nice looking artificial tree that we put upstairs and let the kids decorate with all their favorite ornaments from over the years. Downstairs, we'll have the family tree which is decorated an bit more carefully and shows off some of the nicer ornaments. It must not be artificial at the request of my wife, so we are trying to decide what to do. Of course you have the tree lots where you can pick up a bagged and tagged tree in a matter of minutes. Then we have some local cut-your-own tree farms which are convenient and fun, thought the trees are a bit shabby. Most interesting would be to drive a few hours to the mountains and get a tree from a real tree farm. North Carolina is second in the US for Christmas tree production, and there are countless places to cut your own beautiful specimen. Though taking a whole day to pick out a tree seems a bit much with our busy lives. I guess we have another week or so to figure it out...

So for all of you who celebrate Christmas, what do you do about the tree? Any fun traditions, past or present?