I was so tired and not feeling the greatest yesterday that I only managed to get the downstairs bathroom cleaned and the rec room half tidied. Today is much the same but not as bad. Im trying to keep myself busy though to pass the day but I don't know how well that's working.
I have a few things around here that are half started but I just cant seem to get back around to. It's not that I don't have time but more like not enough drive. Our advent calendar needs to be finished for tomorrow, or at least the first day of it. But that includes a number of little things that still need to come together and when I think about it I just get all blah and don't want to do anything! I would hate to get a couple days into December though and then regret not starting it out right. Maybe in a couple hours Ill have a little more drive, though I can't really see it.
So far I've only cleaned off the top of the fridge (only because I needed something up there), made cupcakes with Owen (that still need to be frosted) and half painted little Christmas blocks for my mantle. It's nearly 1pm and I've done about a half hour's worth of stuff :(
Tomorrow is another dreaded Wednesday where I have Mom N Me in the morning (possibly with my nephews as well as the littles) and Fun Factor at night. It'll be the last Fun Factor until after Christmas so Im happy about that. There is this group that is just horrible to control. They are in grade four and I have to spend most of my time sitting with them to try to keep them under control instead of with the grade ones, where Im supposed to be! Hopefully this mood will be gone by then and I'll make it through without too much headache.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Staying ahead of the Holidays
Im noticing more and more people talking about their Christmas plans and putting up their trees, etc. but very few who already have it done. Am I alone in this?
Our tree has been up for a little while now and the decorations for the rest of the house are slowly emerging. I find that if I don't start these things early, I wont get them done!
Do you know how quickly four weeks can pass?
Before we know it, Christmas will be over and we'll be evaluating how things went. I certainly don't want any regrets of missing out on family time, activities that I wanted to do, functions that I wanted to attend, treats I wanted to bake, those cards that just didn't get mailed until the week of Christmas, gifts that never got delivered...
It's so easy to get caught up in all that you have to do, that you don't ever truly enjoy the season, and that's what it is, a season. That's why I start early. My Christmas cards are addressed, stamped and ready to be mailed (including picture), my tree is up and decorated, my list of baking treats is made and so is another one of all the ingredients that I will require, our calendar is filled out so that we can enjoy celebrating with everyone without last minute schedule clashes...
Im not writing this to make anyone feel like they're behind or not keeping up with others. Im simply writing this to encourage people to start early with their planning and organizing of this holiday season so that they too can enjoy everything that comes with it. Too many people dread December and the hectic pace. I say, with a little planning and organization, anyone can pull off the kind of Christmas that they truly desire. Forget the things that you don't really enjoy and focus on what you love. Armed with pen and paper, and a little time after the kids are in bed, anyone can tackle the holidays with minimal meltdown :)
Our tree has been up for a little while now and the decorations for the rest of the house are slowly emerging. I find that if I don't start these things early, I wont get them done!
Do you know how quickly four weeks can pass?
Before we know it, Christmas will be over and we'll be evaluating how things went. I certainly don't want any regrets of missing out on family time, activities that I wanted to do, functions that I wanted to attend, treats I wanted to bake, those cards that just didn't get mailed until the week of Christmas, gifts that never got delivered...
It's so easy to get caught up in all that you have to do, that you don't ever truly enjoy the season, and that's what it is, a season. That's why I start early. My Christmas cards are addressed, stamped and ready to be mailed (including picture), my tree is up and decorated, my list of baking treats is made and so is another one of all the ingredients that I will require, our calendar is filled out so that we can enjoy celebrating with everyone without last minute schedule clashes...
Im not writing this to make anyone feel like they're behind or not keeping up with others. Im simply writing this to encourage people to start early with their planning and organizing of this holiday season so that they too can enjoy everything that comes with it. Too many people dread December and the hectic pace. I say, with a little planning and organization, anyone can pull off the kind of Christmas that they truly desire. Forget the things that you don't really enjoy and focus on what you love. Armed with pen and paper, and a little time after the kids are in bed, anyone can tackle the holidays with minimal meltdown :)
Pantry Challenge update #1
One day in and I was already at the store!
I knew that I would be shopping yesterday, when I started this on Thursday. It was actually part of the plan. If I didn't have the restriction of around $25/week I certainly would have bought a lot more of the sale items then I did. And I would have made it to the four different stores that had items I normally buy, on sale. Instead, I only went to one with a plan to go to the other ones through out the week. Yesterday I only purchased bananas, craisins and cereal. It's a start.
I also was able to go by Walmart early yesterday, right after I dropped the kids off to school to purchase a leapster for James. I've had my eye on this for months and was about to cave and get the newer version for $80 when I saw the flier for Walmart. The leapster 2 was $30, down from $60 and the games were $15, down from $30. I had $105 written beside this entry in my Christmas shopping list and I ended up only paying $67 with taxes (and an extra game)!
I had to be home to babysit my nephews right after that at 9:30 so I didn't get to go by another store that was also having a sale. I did however get out around 2:30, right before picking the boys up and although I was drove nuts with the littles running around the store, I was able to get one of the last qwerty cell phones that were on sale for $50. The one I got was originally $70-80, which isnt too bad. It's for Micah for Christmas and it's a prepaid phone which means no contract and if he proves to be too irresponsible with it, I can take it away without worrying about having to pay out the contract. This is another item that has been on my radar for months and with Walmart's $100 price tag, Im glad I shopped around and found this deal.
How's your Christmas shopping going?
I knew that I would be shopping yesterday, when I started this on Thursday. It was actually part of the plan. If I didn't have the restriction of around $25/week I certainly would have bought a lot more of the sale items then I did. And I would have made it to the four different stores that had items I normally buy, on sale. Instead, I only went to one with a plan to go to the other ones through out the week. Yesterday I only purchased bananas, craisins and cereal. It's a start.
I also was able to go by Walmart early yesterday, right after I dropped the kids off to school to purchase a leapster for James. I've had my eye on this for months and was about to cave and get the newer version for $80 when I saw the flier for Walmart. The leapster 2 was $30, down from $60 and the games were $15, down from $30. I had $105 written beside this entry in my Christmas shopping list and I ended up only paying $67 with taxes (and an extra game)!
I had to be home to babysit my nephews right after that at 9:30 so I didn't get to go by another store that was also having a sale. I did however get out around 2:30, right before picking the boys up and although I was drove nuts with the littles running around the store, I was able to get one of the last qwerty cell phones that were on sale for $50. The one I got was originally $70-80, which isnt too bad. It's for Micah for Christmas and it's a prepaid phone which means no contract and if he proves to be too irresponsible with it, I can take it away without worrying about having to pay out the contract. This is another item that has been on my radar for months and with Walmart's $100 price tag, Im glad I shopped around and found this deal.
How's your Christmas shopping going?
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Pantry Challenge
So Ive decided to change my 'month of spending' posts to instead talk about my first pantry challenge. Obviously given my history, I've had to deal with times where I couldn't shop simply because there was no money. But this is different.
From now (November 25) until Christmas, I will stick to a budget of $100 for food. I have waaaay too much in my freezers already that all I would need are the perishables. And baking ingredients. It is Christmas after all!
I figure milk alone will probably cost around $30 and the rest will be tight, but completely manageable. Hopefully this will keep me in line when Im at the store and wanting to buy all the goodies they have so prettily displayed this time of year!
From now (November 25) until Christmas, I will stick to a budget of $100 for food. I have waaaay too much in my freezers already that all I would need are the perishables. And baking ingredients. It is Christmas after all!
I figure milk alone will probably cost around $30 and the rest will be tight, but completely manageable. Hopefully this will keep me in line when Im at the store and wanting to buy all the goodies they have so prettily displayed this time of year!
Christmas Cards
Our church is currently creating a photo directory of all the members since there has been so much growth in recent years. Our photo session was in October and so I decided to combine the experience and order Christmas cards of one of the poses. I think it turned out great! The image I saw on the screen that day didn't look anywhere near as good as this card came out, so I was pleasantly surprised. I only hope that I chose this pose for our church directory....although I have no idea.
I love how James (in the red) is posing! He is usually the one who feels self conscious when we're taking pictures and never cooperates. I had trouble finding outfits that would coordinate and so I finally gave up and said we'd go with "sweaters and dress shirts with jeans." Thankfully we all had one or the other! Ha!
I like to get my Christmas cards out by the 1st since I have some that travel long distances. These arrived on Tuesday so it's just perfect timing! I even found a bunch of Christmas stamps from last year so I didn't have to spend a penny :)
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
The next month:
This is the our calendar leading up to Christmas (just 31 days away)!
I just had to take it down and add the rehearsals/performances for our church's Christmas concert, Micah's after-school ball hockey schedule, various Christmas functions, and some more school notices.
Most of what is on here are things like pizza days and gym days for Micah and Noah, but there's a lot of other stuff on there too. Christmas is still a month away and our schedule looks packed! If you notice, only the 17th and 18th are free. The kids will still have school on the 17th though....OH! I just remembered! I have an EXAM on the 17th, yay! So only the 18th is free! Ill have to make sure I include something that involves staying home for our advent calendar that day.
I just had to take it down and add the rehearsals/performances for our church's Christmas concert, Micah's after-school ball hockey schedule, various Christmas functions, and some more school notices.
Most of what is on here are things like pizza days and gym days for Micah and Noah, but there's a lot of other stuff on there too. Christmas is still a month away and our schedule looks packed! If you notice, only the 17th and 18th are free. The kids will still have school on the 17th though....OH! I just remembered! I have an EXAM on the 17th, yay! So only the 18th is free! Ill have to make sure I include something that involves staying home for our advent calendar that day.
At least I also have this written on my dry erase, next to the calendar, to help me remember to be grateful and also why I do what I do:
Letters from Santa
Do your children receive letters from Santa? We've had them once or twice in the past but it's not a yearly tradition. Micah and I came across a card that he got from Santa probably 5 years ago or more and that got me to thinking about it. Why not?
It's another one of those inexpensive, easy and quick things that we can do to make the holiday a little more special. I followed a link from Mommy Daisy's review blog today to a site that will put together a package including a letter, certificate, etc. for your child that you can print from home. There is a fee and that's what turned me off of that specific site, but a quick internet search using swagbucks or google will give you plenty of ideas or even a template to get you started.
I plan to visit the dollar store to pick up some Christmas paper for ours to be printed on and then Ill either add stamps and just put them in our mailbox or I might actually mail them. I've found four different letters to use so each child gets their own and Ill be sure to not have them all arrive at once either. It'll be more special that way.
Our local Santa Claus parade is on the 4th and we'll be giving Santa our letters then so I have a couple of weeks before they need to be ready, as these will be in response to what the kids write him. I find that with anything, starting well in advance is the only way I get things done!
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