Don’t wait until December 25th to celebrate Christmas – start counting down on December 1st with this creative “Countdown to Christmas” idea — it’s a cross between an advent calendar and a mom’s to-do list. By getting the kids involved, you’ll tackle some of your must-do tasks and have fun celebrating Christmas all through the month of December.

How it works:

Find a central location to start your countdown. We use the front room mirror, which displays the words “only (SPACE FOR CARD) days til Christmas”. Each morning, I put up a piece of coloured cardstock with the number of days left til Christmas written on the front. On the back is a surprise – sometimes just a gift or a fun activity, other times a gift/task combo. The kids take the card down after school or on Sat/Sun morning and we do what the card says. (Hint: Have your cards ready the night before so you stick with the countdown!)

What goes on the cards? Be creative and choose activities that are fun for the kids and the family and mix in some tasks that are fun but need to get done. Here’s a list to help you get started.

• Go look in the fridge (leave glasses of eggnog with candy canes for stir sticks).
•  We’re going to decorate the family Christmas tree tonight!
•  Today we’re baking cookies for Santa (good for weekends, and you get some baking done!).
•  We’re going on a Christmas lights, hot chocolate & popcorn drive (that is, a drive around town to look at lights, then home for popcorn & hot chocolate).
•  Go look under the Christmas tree (where there’s a new holiday movie for everyone to enjoy.)
•  Go look on your bed (where there’s a simple holiday craft to make together).
•  Let’s find out how many Christmas books we have. (Get the kids to pullout all of the holiday titles, put them in a basket and pick their favourites to read now.)
•  It’s Christmas cards night. (Do it assembly-style so everyone can help, then off to the mailbox – another task done.)
•  Grab your coat and boots, we’re going to see a holiday movie at the theatre!
•  Let’s surprise a neighbour with a plate of cookies.
•  We’re making bird treats to decorate the backyard tree.

Once you get started, you’ll see how much the kids look forward to their daily surprise and how much you’ve accomplished. Most importantly, your entire family will have a longer and more enjoyable holiday season.

Watch beginning December 1st when I share how we’re celebrating the holiday season.  I wish I could share photos from last season but my computer crashed and I lost them - if you don’t backup your photos — go do it now!

If you have any ideas to add to our list please share them with me!

Helen

It’s Project Day!  Each week I have a day set aside to do the things I either don’t have time to do, or avoid because I don’t want to do them.  During my countdown to Christmas I use this day to do things that will help make the holiday season easier for all of us.  I had planned to work on a closet that needs shelves but a more important task is getting my office moved.  We still have to paint and it is a complicated move - daughter to our room, our room to lower level, office to upper level…. so that is NOT getting done today but I am going to switch and setup the desk so the move will at least be easier.  My husband is taking over the old office along with the treadmill and hockey table (the one noone plays with!) and I am using his old desk when I eventually move my office upstairs.  So, today the goal is to get the other desk setup so I can work there, get my current office cleared out so he can move his stuff in and finish getting my scrapbook stuff out of the way.  Once this is done, I will have gotten rid of a lot of junk and feel a lot more organized!  Wish me luck!

If you don’t have a plan for today look around and pick something that will make you feel more organized and move you one step closer to being ready for the holiday season!

Helen

For those of you who are following along, I hope you got some wrapping done yesterday.  I know SarahN prefers to wrap all at one time, and I think if you have found something that works well for you, like it does for Sarah then you should stick with it.  For me, wrapping all at once, especially on Christmas Eve was just not working.  So if you find another way works better, share like Sarah did so we can all learn from one another!

OK - now on to today.  Tuesdays is my scrapbooking day but I have decided to work on organizing my scrapbook stuff instead of actually scrapbook photos.  I am moving my office so the scrapbook portion of my room is a little crazy right now.  So, tonight I am going to prep the scrapbook portion of my office so I can easily move it later this month when the painting is finished.

What are you doing?  Remember, if you are making gifts they will get done if you carve out a little time for the creation of each item.  So, if you don’t have plans today or tonight, consider tackling one of the projects so you can get another task crossed off your list!

Enjoy your day.

Helen

It’s Monday again! See how fast time goes! For those of you reluctant to jump in to Christmas prep, think back to years past and consider some of those rushed feelings - maybe missed opportunities - or the feeling of exhaustion! We are not celebrating right now, simply doing some of the things that can eat up our time and prevent us from the things we most want to do with our families during the holiday season. So…. why not join us as we begin a new week!

This past weekend I had the opportunity to join some friends at a Crop (scrapbooking day) and I spent most of my day creating a fun countdown calendar for our family to enjoy this holiday season.

We do the usual countdown with chocolates (I have a cute felt hanging countdown that we have had for years) but this one is small and will be used to encourage us to dive into our collection of holiday story books.

Even though my kids are now 12 and 12 they still LOVE picture books, especially at Christmastime. So, inside each little drawer I will put a slip or two of paper, or maybe even a small photocopy of the book cover to guide us in our selection of books. We always read but I think this will be fun surprise each day for all of us. If you are interested in making this project, watch the CPO memory section for step by step instructions, coming next week!

OK - on to today… it’s wrapping day and a great opportunity to get a jump on the one thing many of us leave until the last minute. If you prefer to shop at the last minute or have your budget setup to shop in December then today can be used in preparation for your wrapping. Do you have supplies? Make a master list and add it to your shopping list so you can pick things up this week when you shop or pick things up a little at a time.

For those of you who have been making gifts or picking them up a little at a time - pick a time today and get your supplies out so you can get these items wrapped. Some of these items are a surprise so find a spot that you can store them. I use black garabage bags that can be easily recycled year after year. I find sorting by person is easiest and I use some inexpensive string or yarn which is color-coded so I can easily see what is what. I keep a master list of the gifts so I know what I have purchased, what is wrapped and I even use small stickers to help me identify what is in the package because I like to put things under the tree in a way that helps the opening order! An example of my list might be Name|TonkaTruck|Purchased|Wrapped|*Santa Sticker.

If you have an unwrapped gift in your house - please wrap it. When you can pull out your finished bags on Christmas Eve, open and place under the tree - then sit down and enjoy a quiet moment before heading to bed, you will be so glad you did!

Enjoy your day!

Helen

My week is so busy that I have found Sunday is my best day to pick up my groceries. This is also the day when I do a few errands to drop envelopes into the mailbox and at this time of year, I also take a bit of time to check a few gifts or holiday items off my shopping list.

Today my focus is just getting groceries - so I have my list with the ingredients I need over the holidays on hand. I will not buy everything but I will pickup a little at a time so I am not going out to buy a huge amount of stuff at one time.

When I get home I put the freezer stuff away but I keep it separate so it is not consumed - a bag or a basket is a good idea - if you have older kids who help themselves or a family who help with meals (I don’t!) then you might want to leave a note too!

As for the dry stuff - I recommend keeping these items together in a bin or a shelf where you know they won’t be consumed or used. When I get around to Wednesday, my project will be putting some shelves in a closet that I would like to use for storage like this . So for now, I am putting a basket into the closet in my room and will tranfer when I have my weekly project done.

If you are buying gifts be sure to keep a master list of your gifts and check off what you have purchased. When you wrap the gifts on Monday you can store them knowing you have an updated list which will save you wondering later - or worse, unwrapping because you can’t remember!

Whatever you do - just do something. When December rolls around and you are able to sit and enjoy your family and home you will be glad you did! A little at a time makes a HUGE difference!