Journal Your Christmas Giveaway

I'm not going to stress the little things ! Being together is THE most important thing. As my children grow, I realize that more and more. So the house is dusty; the table is not Martha-Stewart perfect; we order pizza instead of having a 5 course meal. Oh well. Being together is the gift.

We are shifting from one town to another two weeks before christmas. We are renting a house while we decide what to do. The new rental house has a chimney and this year I am hoping to create some new traditions that I really want to document.

I am starting my Decemer Daily and am going to not stress this year by rememering what the season is means to me. It means being with family and friends and not stressing about presents, decorations or things I didn't get done.

We are trying to be simpler this year... to concentrate on the things that really matter, like spending time together... not shopping!

I plan to have all of my Christmas shopping done by Dec 1st so that I can enjoy the whole Christmas season and my Christmas music that I have playing constantly! I can't wait I love this time of year!

We're doing the same old thing.....which seems just perfect for our family.

I'm done Christmas shopping already. By shopping early, I get to focus on other aspects of the holiday during December.

I am hopeful that something like this would help me to SLOW down just a little - long enough to really think about the days that I am passing with my family. Will I ever have a "pressure-free" Christmas? Probably not - lol...but I can try and eliminate a lot of it by looking at all the things I journal about!

I have already started my Christmas shoppping and plan on being done by Thanksgiving. Also, I have decided that I am spending half the amount of money on gifts this year and I am going to stick with the budget. I just want to enjoy Christmas without stress.

This year I am focusing on creating a warm and inviting home and on establishing traditions for my 2-year-old daughter. This is the first year I think she will have enough awareness to take it all in, and I'm consciously focused on the memories I am creating for her this season and how these can be strengthened and repeated in the years to come.

Less sane...I am going to adopt your motto of , It is OK! To me that means, everything does not have to be perfect in order for it to be meaningful and full of love! Thanks for an awesome blog and inspiration!
Staci

I turn 29 this December and feel that I'm only just starting to live some of the Christmas magic. Christmas in Australia is quite different from all those lovely winter images we see at this time of year, so I've always had a hard time with the lead up to Christmas, because quite frankly it just never seemed Christmassy.
For my Canadian husband, who has a harder time than me finding Christmas in Australia and for my 14 month old son I plan to make the most of the December (1 through 25). We don't have a lot of money but there are free activities at the library, etc. that we will be taking full advantage of. One of the activities I'm really looking forward to is taking my little man on the Christmas train in a local department store.

I've started present shopping already. That will help keep me from being crazy at the last mintue trying to figure out presents.

We are going to draw names at Thanksgiving for people in our family so we only have to get one gift instead of several. That will cut way down on the stress of holiday shopping!!

christmas eve brunch and emailed christmas cards

I hope to keep it simple & make lists-especially of pictures I REALLY want to get...I forgot that last year! I want to enjoy the holidays with my kids as much as possible....

You know, I really don't have a good answer to your question. Do you? ;) I had a quiet Christmas with just DH/kids, and my Mom. Suddenly, we have 8 other various family members joining in here and there, and I just don't know how everyone will be accomodated. Literally: we have a 3 bedroom house! So yeah, Christmas is on my mind and I'm brainstorming/problem solving. But I'd love to take Shimelle's course anyways!

What a great giveaway---the perfect way to remind me to journal the holiday season.

For me sanity at the holidays is about keeping things as simple as possible.
This year I did some traveling that is usually attempted over Christmas a bit earlier so it wasn't pressing as a necessity. I enjoy being HOME at Christmas so between my husband's work schedule and other commitments, it worked out this could be the case this year.
Thankfully my parents aren't so much about being together at Christmas as they are that we spend some time together as a group, so we are heading there at New Years, well after the craziness of Christmas has settled. This is a tremendous relief.
I'm keeping decor simple this year, maybe just one room of decoration instead of all over the house.
I'm not wasting creative energy giving handmade cards to people who don't appreciate them, but spending extra time for those I know will. Is anything more frustrating than a loved one or friend saying something like 'she has way too much time on her hands if she can make this'...??? Ick...Dollar Tree here I come!
Overall, since there won't be many guests in my home this year, I'm keeping up with housework, but not busting my tail to be perfect at all times. I just want to 'BE' and soak in the beauty of the season and God's blessings of a wonderful family and good friends. I plan to spend copious amounts of time in my studio and keep up with my walking/jogging schedule!

To stay sane this Xmas season I plan to enjoy it through my 18-month-old son's eyes. Watch the lights sparkle, dance to music, marvel at the snow...

Last Christmas our life was crazy with house renovations, and preparing to move to a new country to live, on top of the usual end of year activities. With most of our possessions going into storage, and not a lot of room in our new apartment it didn't make sense to get lots of new 'stuff' for xmas. Instead we set aside money to purchase annual family passes (zoo, museum etc) in our new city. Although I think there was some initial disappointment with the lack of new toys I know that all of us - kids and parents, have very much enjoyed our family outings this year. It also increased appreciation for the gifts that were received (and was a lot less stressful!) I am hoping that this will become our new family christmas tradition.

I think this year I should attempt a Christmas album. I am having a break from work and will be able to enjoy and plan more for Christmas. Which means more time with my children and husband.

As we are going home for Christmas to see all my family and friends, I just want to have things simple. So am going to go into it relaxed, as i did all my christmas cards and christmas daily back a couple of months ago so that has let go alot of stress. Plus i did my christmas shopping back in june when we were home for a quick two week holidays. So i now I will enjoy the wrapping and decorating the gifts. I love wrapping presents!

I have to say that our holiday season is never really crazy...with school out and no traveling for us this year, I imagine it actually being very relaxing. I only do what I want to do and what we can afford in regard to decorating and gift-giving, and we spend lots of time just being together. The year I am focusing on a few things like we did last year---things focused on giving and celebrating the season---and the rest is just hanging out. To me, Christmas is about slowing down, not speeding up. ;-)

Last year I made too many candies and cookies, made all of my cards, and did the December Daily project. I felt a little too busy and got to the point that I was doing it to get it all crossed off my list. This year I am planning on using premade cards, making fewer types of cookies, and simplfying my December Daily album.