Morning Sickness and the Holidays

If you've noticed a huge absence of posts lately, it's because I've been blessed with a bout of morning sickness. For those who have not experienced it, there is no way to really describe it. Constant nausea and vomiting have prevented me from doing anything, and I'm thankful that my first trimester will be coming to a close in the next few weeks! My house has been neglected, menu plans have been thrown out the window and the Christmas Countdown has been suspended. Until I am feeling better, life will be a little chaotic!

I did manage to take down all my fall decor today, which is a huge feat for me. Everything seems so bare! I am going to wait until the weekend to begin putting up the Christmas and winter decor since all of the stuff must be dragged out of storage. I'm a litle sad to realize how far behind I am (I put up fall decor in September!) with all my holiday planning, but I know that it's totally worth it. I'm still ahead of a lot of folks who wait until after Thanksgiving! lol

How is your holiday planning going? Have you put up any decor or lights yet? Leave a link to your Christmas posts here!

Week 2: Christmas Countdown

Can you believe it's already week 2 of our Christmas countdown?! I hope you were able to accomplish the goals from last week, as there is much to think about this week. Here is the list:

• Divide Christmas card list into five groups. Write and address one group this week.
• Make a holiday budget. Work together with your spouse to set a comfortable level of holiday spending. We make it easy with our printable holiday budget form. Add a printable master shopping list to speed errand days.
• Do your visual field a favor with a quick decor declutter. A clean sweep now makes holiday decorations all the more impressive!
• Set up a holiday housework plan. Print our chore checklist form. Post it publicly and hold family members accountable for delegated tasks.
• Make a family wardrobe check. Fill out the family wardrobe worksheet, and put any "To Buy" items on your shopping list.
• Print a master shopping list, to organize shopping excursions through the holiday season.
• Do you keep a gift closet, adding new gift items year-round? Take inventory now, before you shop for holiday gifts. Use our printable gift closet inventory form.
• Establish good health habits to cushion you and your family from holiday stresses. Focus on regular bedtimes, proper diet, mild exercise and stress reduction.
• Perform a tabletop check. Inventory serving pieces, table linens, china and flatware. Check store flyers for sales. Will you be ready to set a pretty holiday table?
• Schedule family haircut appointments.
• Check smoke, carbon monoxide detectors on Time Change Sunday. Change the batteries and test detectors to keep your family safe.

-from the Christmas Countdown webpage

If you haven't already, now is the perfect time to get your Christmas planner organized and ready. I confess, I am still working on my planner! I've been struggling with morning sickness the past week, so I may be running a bit behind. But I encourage you to stay on task!

Start buying gifts now while the lines at the mall are still short and traffic is light. Since Halloween is over, most stores are in full-scale Christmas mode, so there is sure to be plenty of decorations to help get you in the mood!

I personally love the idea of breaking the Christmas card writing into a groups. That makes it so much more manageable. A holiday budget is also essential. My husband and I began saving for the season in August, so we are prepared to spend a set amount of money. Avoid using credit cards for gifts, since this can cause great financial strain if not paid in full.

Be on the lookout for special early sales a store might be having in attempt to ring in more customers. This is also the perfect time to start looking at decor in places like Hobby Lobby, since inventory tends to run out fast and it may not be stocked as high this year because of the recession.

Don't forget to link to your current Christmas countdown projects here!

Christmas Countdown Begins

November will be here next week, so now is the time to get organized for the holidays. This year, I am preparing for Christmas by following the Christmas Countdown. It's a six week journey to have everything ready for the holidays by the first weekend in December. Will you join me?

This week's assignment is to get organized. This includes printing and/or making a Christmas planner, gathering addresses and greeting cards, designating a Christmas planning space, starting a master gift list and making travel and photo reservations.

Since we tend to run out of ink rather quickly, I won't be printing the actual worksheets. Instead, I will be decorating a composition-like notebook and inserting tabs where needed. I got the idea here. Much cuter than a 3-ring binder!

If you plan to participate in this countdown, leave a link to your blog using Mr. Linky. Share your thoughts on the Get Organized week, your Christmas planner and your Christmas planning space!

Party Planning and Ice Skates

Last night, Rob and I went ice-skating downtown with our friends. We had so much fun and the holiday lights, decor and hot chocolate really made it awesome. I love ice-skating and I enjoy going fast around the rink and spinning until I get dizzy. It was quite cold, but we did not notice it much because of the fun.

Next Saturday is my Christmas party that I am hosting. The theme is silver and gold, but I have not yet figured out how to do it. I like the concept of a silver and gold party, but I do not have any real ideas! I wish I had more time to work on it all, but the wonderfulness of the holiday season is always downtrodden by the prospect of final exams. Thankfully this is my very last time doing this. It will be so wonderful next year to have more time and energy to devote to Christmas parties and decor and gifts. One of the things I love best is being a hostess. I am so happy to be blessed with wonderful friends so I can have them over for parties.

In order to get some lights for our tree as well as some more decor and ideas for the party, we are going to the dollar tree this afternoon. I hope that I can figure out what to do for my party when I am surrounded by tinsel, lights and miniature santas!

Christmas Crafts

Its that time of year again. The malls are packed, the roads are jammed, the stores are lit up, the houses are too, the santas are everywhere and the bell ringers are ho hoing. Credit cards are being maxed out, pine trees line the sidewalks, tinsel is hung and carols are everywhere.

Its Christmas season 2008.

I love Christmas season not for the gifts I receive but the gifts I get to give. I also love the decorations and the lights. The cookies and the warm smelling pastries are great too. This Christmas is extra special, however, since it is Rob and I's first Christmas together. Although a good chunk of it will be spent traveling and visiting with family, there will be time for us to create our new traditions as well.

This year, since we are quite tight on funds (and who isn't when the world economy is in a recession?) we are handmaking all of our gifts this year. Today we went to Hobby Lobby and the dollar store and got our supplies- I can hardly wait to start working on them! So far we have spent 40 dollars total which includes gifts for 6 people. Although the expense of most of our gifts is low, a lot of time will be spent in making it all come together. I won't reveal any secrets here just yet (there could be family members who read this!) but I will say that the things we plan on creating will be priceless. And isn't that the heart of Christmas after all? Sharing and showing you love for others.