Journal Your Christmas Giveaway

I plan on focusing more on the true meaning of Christmas and the season of Advent that acatually leads up to it. This will help to keep things in the true spirit of Christmas and sane.

I am determined to go look at Christmas lights this year. We always say we will and it never happens. So this year we're going to make a starbucks stop and go take in all the sparkle.

Thanks for the chance to enter Ali! This year, I am trying to get my house cleaned and organized by Thanksgiving...Once that is done, I feel that I can sit back and really take in the holiday season this year. My kids are getting older and it seems like the last two years, I haven't really gotten into the "Spirit" as I used to. Last year was the worse...We were in the middle of a remodel and I let that take over. This year I want to make it special. I want a "cozy" Holiday season this year. I believe that either doing your December Daily or Shimelle's Journal your Christmas will help me "live in the moment" and let me see the holiday season as I used to.

I am taking 3 days of vacation time at the beginning of December while my kids are in dayhome to use to shop, prep, bake, etc. I hope that will take some of the stress off later on!

I've trimmed down my gift list to a very special few, updated my Christmas card list, and begun getting gifts for my children and husband. When the holidays arrive, we'll spend them at home together.

I have a list of the things I like to do and want to do every year, but I have learned that sometimes it just doesn't work out to do everything. That's OK! It's still a tradition even if we don't get to it every single year. Also, I have really tried to give up some of my 'control' and let the kids help do things more over the last few years. They are old enough to help and it is OK to not have the tree be decorated perfectly and the cookies to be lopsided. With them doing more to help out they get to practice and learn and hopefully come to appreciate the things we do and know why we do them.

I am going to try and have a great Christmas this year! It will the first year I am getting to go visit my brothers and dad for the holidays for the first time in 17yrs I'll get to spend it w/ my family and I'm so thankful! Can't wait to scrap all the photos I am going to take! Hopefully I remember to journal it all too!

I want to simplify the holidays be getting rid of chores that are self-imposed, not enjoyable and that don't add to my family's quality of life. Instead I want to focus on enjoying each other and celebrate being a family.

I am hoping to keep things a little more sane this year by doing some advanced planning and then just allowing myself to be in the moment. I know we will benefit as a family from a bit of planning, but I also know that things rarely go as planned, and that is OK too. For me this year, the trick is going to be to just breath and let things take their natural course.

Simplify, Simplify,
Simplify!
My baby is due Dec. 12 so I will be taking it easy and choosing simple meals, simple decorations, simple activities to do with my children and husband.

The only way for me to stay sane during the holiday season is to plan in advance for everything. I start Christmas shopping in September, make lots of list for groceries, meals, cookies, and keep everything organized. I don't work well under pressure, so planning is the way to go for me.
Wendy Goodman

This Christmas will be so different for me - this is a time of sharing my traditions that I created with my husband and children with my sisters (we are scattered to the opposite corners for so many yeas). No one has ever come to my home before for Christmas and this will be so very special. Having an opportunity to chronicle and share this special Christmas while not getting distracted by the retail Christmas activities is a goal that I know I will realize. I love structure and this would be perfect.

Less shopping and more focusing on moments and relationships.

We have really gotten away from purchasing gifts just to have a gift to give someone. The kids will get things they really need. But otherwise we have started focusing more on providing experiences. This has worked very well for us. The extended family focuses more on the gathering and spending time together than on the stress of gift giving. There is always a small gift for everyone though.

I'm on my way to having all presents created and wrapped before Thanksgiving. Just having that out of my brain will make a gigantic difference.

I'm one who needs a more crazy holiday season! Every January I say to myself, "We should have done more." Well, this year we plan to bake, decorate, sing and have a blast!!!

I start as much I can as early as I can. My shopping is about done, and I'm starting my cards this weekend. Things eventually get hectic, but if I've started early at least I have a few things under control.

Every year we host a huge Thanksgiving meal for family and extended family. The rest of the holidays are about the 4 of us, we have several traditions that keep us focused and we culminate the holiday season with a small vacation. With the economy the way it is, this year it will most likely be a stay-cation, but it is our way of staying grounded and not getting wrapped up in the commerce of the holidays.

I plan to keep it sane by planning ahead, doing what I can now, and keeping it simple. Not sure it will work, but that's the plan. ;)

We started a few years ago to focus on providing new experiences for our children rather than gifts for the sake of the grand experiences. My kids remember these experiences much more clearly than the gifts and grateful for them. Now that they are off to college, they really understand the value of this. Extended family focuses more on the gathering together and spending time together.