Journal Your Christmas Giveaway

This year we are buying a bit at a time so I started during the summer. Hopefully that will not only take some of the sting out of the bills, but allow me more time to soak up the holiday and not stress over the materialism.

I plan to focus on the people and not the stuff!! Spending time with those you love and who love you and making memories! No Drama! :)

It looks like I will be working at least part of Christmas this year :( Other than that, I am trying to keep it simple and focus on family and relaxing!
Oh, and if I should win...I really don't have any scrappin' friends, so the friend can be whoever posts after me!
Thanks,
Linda

I have started to Christmas shop already. Plan to do more this weekend. I bought a album for 4x6 pictures for my 25 days of Dec. Some pages may end up being digital and some will be full scrapbooking. I am going to try use lots of supplies I have and enjoy the project. Will try for some fun shots and keep in mind that we don't remember days we remember moments.

My plan is to focus less on the gifts and more on the traditions. We are going to cut down our own tree, do breakfast with Santa and have a big holiday celebration for family and friends the week before Christmas.

I guess the main things we do are keep it simple, try not to do too much, try to mainly do things we really want to and enjoy doing, and plan ahead!

I plan to scale back on the over the top gift giving. Making gifts from the heart, more charity and more time with family.
We planned our first family trip to Walt Disney World as the gift for the kids.
Thanks as always for the creative pieces.
Trindin

This holiday season I plan to "be" in the moment more and concentrate on the experience of the holidays rather than material objects. More hot chocolate by the fireplace, gazing at the stars and building snowmen and less of buying the latest gadgets.

I'm not sure that Christmas will ever be sane in our house. This year, however, I can see that my 12 year old son is at the threshold of growing up...so I plan to emphasize on more "child-like" activities...to celebrate the what's left of my son's childhood.

I am trying to get most of the Christmas preparations (gifts) done before December hits, so that I'm not spending the whole month running from one store to another!
I want to spend more time doing fun and meaningful activities with the kids. I'm trying to say "no" to the things we cannot do or aren't meaningful, without feeling horribly guilty about it.

Ahh, I'm looking forward to seeing my extended family on Boxing Day. We are beginning renovations the first of January so I'm planning to shop less, decorate more simply and ENJOY everyone!!!
Love the idea of journalling this year.
Thaks for the motivation to reflect and record the wonders of the season.

I've thankfully came across this blog through SimpleMom and I have been wanting to scrapbook more since my son was born (October '07), but now that baby number 2 has arrived (July '09), life is even more crazy!! So I'm trying the December dailies idea and doing my album ahead of time so I can truly enjoy the holidays with my husband and family while documenting it!

I plan on staying relaxed and calm by minimalizing the 'quantity' of everything. Decorations, handmade gifts, gifts under the tree, events to attend, baking. . .everything. I'm not saying I won't do those things. . .I'm simply pointing out that I'm not going to 'over-do it'. *By participating in moderation. . .I hope to improve on the 'quality' not 'quantity' of memories created. Happy Holidays everyone!

I'm hoping to be somewhat minimalist this year. Christmas comes just a few weeks after the semester at school ends, so I won't have time to do much. Hopefully that lack of time will force me to only do the things that are most important, or only the things I really want to do.
Jennie

For me a simpler christmas this year is embracing the pieces I loooove to do personally - like handmade cards for everyone on my list, pretty gift wrapping, and handmade gift card holders, and picking out our tree - and letting go of those things I always feel obligated do personally, like baking and hosting elaborate dinners replacing that guiltlessly with delicious store-bought goodies and simpler gatherings for friends.

What a fantastic giveaway! This holiday season I plan on slowing everything down and enjoying the simple things. I have 5 children and one of them has type one diabetes so it's easy to let life control me. I don't want it slipping by anymore. I am going to enjoy the process and the time we spend together.

My plan is to enjoy the moment and not worry about all the things that usually get me frazzled...like the house not being clean enough or not finding the perfect gift for the 50 people on the list, or the 50 people on the list! Finding joy in my 5 teenage boys and leaving behind the sadness that they are not my little babies anymore.

One of my major goals this year after last years hectic holiday season is to plan ahead so that I can truly enjoy all of those special moments this year. My Christmas cards have been done for a few months now and I've started my shopping and truly hope to be done by the end of November.

My husband's parents live out of the country, and every other year we head to see them to celebrate the holidays. On those years, we skip the house decorating, Christmas lights, shopping and cooking, and instead we enjoy an overseas vacation. In a way, we "skip" Christmas, but it makes the years we stay home even more fun because it feels like it's been two years since Christmas. Initially, I used to be a little bummed about missing the holidays, but I've actually come to love those years because I can sit back and relax while all my friends are frantically fighting the crowds buying gifts. And I've realized that spending TIME with family is really what's most important to me anyway.

I think this holiday season is going to be a big learning experience for us now that we have a baby. I have no idea what we'll do or how we'll feel. I think we're just going to wing it and enjoy our time together.