2 more sleeps

I haven't been blogging for a few days, because I had lost my Christmas Spirit, and it's hard to blog about Christmas without it.

Everybody here is under the weather in some way or another. I had a personal spiritual problem I had to work through, and one of my good friends found out she is no longer in remission for Breast Cancer. To top it off, my ever growing list of things to do is dwindling much too slowly, especially as I add things to it.

Then, I found some insight to my problem, and my friend just found out yesterday that she has the best case scenario for survival.

The Spirit is returning, but slowly. I catch glimpses of it, sneaking around corners and trying to cheer me up.

I'm hoping for a good two night's sleep before Christmas is here.

One week until Santa comes to town.

Hmm.

So here we are. Down to the one week mark. Sure it's technically 8 days until Christmas (7-1/2)... but if we aren't ready in one week, we never will be.

I may have been a little too relaxed about Christmas this year and am finding myself in a bit of a pickle. So much to do, so little time. The difference for me this year is realizing that the important things get done, time moves on, and if I take time to relax, the world won't end.

Slow and steady will win this race against time, it will get done, presents will find themselves under the tree. We've seen so many of our wonderful friends, done the cookie exchange, Christmas concert, etc. And I have enjoyed every minute this year... and let myself enjoy it without the pressure of what's next bearing down on me. And I don't lay awake at night worrying about the piles of money that I have spent, sure I've spent money, but I know where every penny has gone and haven't done all that much damage.

Please if you find yourself stressed out... remember this, you are a fantastic person, but you are not all that powerful - you can't make or break Christmas, it will happen even if you mess up. The biggest gift you can give yourself and your family is a peaceful, happy home.

Let it Snow!

Snow.

It's pretty, it's fun, it's a delightful wonder of nature.

It's also deadly and cruel.

This time of year is full of contradictions. We want the pretty fluffy snow for Christmas, we want snow angels, and snow men, and friendly snowball fights. We want to watch the sky dusting us with beautiful dancing snowflakes. At the same time, we want all this when we are all safe and sound inside, with a hot beverage in hand. And preferably sitting around a roaring fire; secure in the knowledge that our friends and family are okay as well. As Canadians we grumble and groan about driving in it, shoveling it, and bundling up, but we are fiercely protective of it as well, especially when it comes to our 'toughness' regarding bad weather.

I say "let it snow"but I can say that knowing that it's going to happen whether I want it or not. It's good to be reminded of things we cannot control, that somebody else is ultimately in control, and I do not need to make that decision. All I have to do is go with the flow, dig out the snowsuits, get up a little earlier to account for the extra bundling and travel time, and start stretching those back muscles.

Winter will come and go. Some days I will love the snow, some days I will look at it as another 4 letter word. But love it or hate it, it is here.

Sorrow

Just followed a story to a tragic end today. A little boy of 7 years wandered out into the woods while following his dog. A boy and his dog, usually such a treat. But this little boy had autism. He spent not one, but two nights in a snowstorm, alone save for the company of his dog. He was not wearing winter clothes, only his indoor clothes. We followed the story on the radio, screening out all the background noise to catch even the faintest news pertaining to him.. then joy of joys - he was found ALIVE yesterday.. His dog had wandered back home and the search party was able to follow the tracks. But tragically, today while I was busying myself with online shopping, holiday organizing and the like, I came across the news in awful black and white... the little boy had died after all. My thoughts immediately flew to my own children, especially my own little 5 year old boy - who even without autism would be apt to follow his dog into the woods too. How as a parent could you survive knowing that your baby is out in the cold, lonely and probably so afraid. I am hoping this poor little soul fell asleep quickly and never fully woke up again... and that now he is resting warm and comfortable for eternity.

Perhaps in the face of tragedy the most noble thing we can do, is pick ourselves up, pray for the family and then take it as a warning to yourself. To never take your own life for granted. As much as I try to never do that, I am sure I do. We need these horrible reminders that life is precious, our children and families are more important than ANYTHING else and to go to bed with your head bowed in thanks to have made it through another day, family intact, and count your blessings.

May we all hold our loved ones a little tighter.

Surprise!

Well well well.

So I found out my husband, in-laws, parents, friends and other family are all capable of pulling a fast one on me. I never in a million years thought I could be surprised by a surprise party. My husband knows this. In fact, I am a great surprise party thrower... I "get" it. But throwing the party after another party that was distracting me was genius. I was so into the other party, and stress over finding the right make up, the right way to wear my hair and getting my husband suitably dressed preoccupied me to an extent that I wasn't at my sharpest. Looking back, there were a few clues that I missed.

Having said that, please do not mistake my surprise at the ability to surprise as anything negative.

I came home from the Christmas party the following afternoon, still not feeling 100%. I had a wicked hangover that I did not deserve. The kind that *some* people actually pitied me for because I really did not over indulge that much. I rushed into a house filled to the brim with family and friends and children. I was so overwhelmed and vulnerable I thought I might cry on the spot, especially when I saw my father, stepmother and little brother. The thought that so many people were there just to celebrate me, that some would travel 1000 miles to see me... I am still feeling overwhelmed.

I don't think I have ever had a better weekend. It started with dinner out on Thursday, a day to myself including a spa trip on Friday, followed by a Christmas party and surprise hotel room upgrade, the wonderful surprise party and then finished up with family games night and some alone time with my husband...chilling out and watching tv.

Today I am trying to find my house, I know it's buried here someplace...

I want to send a huge thank you out to my friends and family who actually do read this and who showed up for that party. I've never felt so loved and cared about. And I am totally okay with turning 30, life only gets better and better.

To tie this in with Christmas, I would like to extend my best wishes to you for a Christmas that leaves you feeling loved as well, and with a peaceful feeling of anticipation for the future. And I should mention my birthday is on Christmas Day.

Plans gone astray.

As is true in any situation, sometimes even the best plans can go wrong.

Take this week, I had imagined it many times. Busy but fun. Just a nice steady pace. We had visiting with family, our puppy's first obedience class, my husbands parents coming to stay for the weekend, and finally our big night out. My husband's Christmas Party. That once a year soiree where we get out and feel like grown ups. I even have a manicure booked at the spa. If you know me, you'll know that my lifestyle does not lend itself to a manicure. However, it's so nice to get all dressed up and look at freshly polished nails rather than trying to guess what exactly a cuticle is anyways.

But I digress. This week has been eventful to say the least. Monday evening I got sick. Sick enough to go to bed and wonder if the weekend would come and go with me still in bed (ha! like I'd have that luxury!) Tuesday was fantastic with a wonderful visit with family we haven't seen in a long time. But just about the time to leave them, I started feeling really lousy as a result of a vaccination. Another early night in bed but this time with the chills and my skin crawling. Yesterday, I fell down the stairs while trying to clean up the house. I was taking a big plastic box that held the evidence of our Christmas decorations that went unused. That took a big part of my afternoon and just plain ruined it.

So I have high hopes for today. I still need to clean, and finish preparing for the party tomorrow... But the calvary is arriving in the form on loving grandparents who will kindly overlook any missed mess in favor of gazing upon their grandchildren.

Sunday is Here

Well this is the day. Remembering back to childhood, I could finish that sentence with a song. It is indeed the day that the Lord has made. But today we are taking a break from Sunday School and Nursery. Today is for the family. In a few moments we will begin baking. After that, we are going to crank up the Christmas music, sing loudly and dance badly or vice versa... We are going to decorate this house and let the kids decorate too, and not *fix* it.

After decorating it will be a Christmas video with the whole family watching, supper on our laps.

As a very happy coincidence, tonight is the first of our newly instituted Family Game nights. This will be one full hour of undivided attention. We will sit on the floor and play games with the kids. All too often their time spent with us lately, and especially during this time of year, is full of distracted togetherness. We're all here, but I'm ashamed to say there are too many "not right now honey"s and "Mommy and Daddy are BUSY" s for my liking. Oh I know we need to be busy and they have to learn that, but I also think we need to be not busy too. So from 6:00 p.m to 7:00 p.m, if you call, you'll have to leave a message ;-)

Sunday Afternoon.

I have the most perfect Sunday afternoon planned for this weekend. My children are so excited that it makes me smile just to talk about it.

It's a rare occasion during the school year to have a Sunday morning off from church. One that is not off for us to travel someplace or because somebody is sick. Not that I don't love to go to church, it's a big big part of my life and I am proud and happy to belong to my church. It centers me and grounds me. My husband and I are both very involved in our church community, filling many volunteer positions. One of those is working in the nursery with my husband. Our daughter goes with us, and our son goes to Sunday school. When we go to church, our whole morning is taken up getting ready for church, then we go to church and get home well after our normal lunch time. Everybody is tired by then, we usually have a couple of coffees, regroup and then catch up on last minute chores that we planned to finish on the weekend. So essentially Sunday is "church day" and that is wonderful. We need to work on our afternoons to make us less stressed, but essentially it's a good day. We've decided to take a good day a step further by instituting a Sunday night Games Night.

But there is something so deliciously decadent about planning the day off.

My husband is helping friends in the morning with a reno project, but he will be home late morning. The children and I will spend a lazy morning in our p.j.s, maybe bake something special. When Daddy comes home, we'll crank up the Christmas music! We'll bust out all the unbreakable ornaments, and all our new ornaments that we are going to make today. We'll drink obscene amounts of hot chocolate, eat a lazy supper in front of a Christmas movie... play games with the kids (as per our new Games Night) It will be a day of pure Christmas preparations, and Monday morning the house will be transformed. Not only in appearance but in spirit.

Christmas is coming... and we'll be ready!

Filling up the Schedule

Well it has started. Having to consult my calendar to make sure that Christmas festivities do not interfere with the host of other activities we have going on. We have barely begun the November twenties. By this time next week I'm certain we will be having to juggle. And these are all the ones we consider really important, like our son's Christmas pageant, my husband's work party, my husband's party for the kids, get-togethers with close friends & family, etc. Usually by now I have a semi-permanent crick in my neck from the coat of stress that slips on mid November, becomes a parka by mid-December and slowly morphs into a light sweater until mid January. There are those three distinct stages, getting ready for Christmas, "doing" Christmas and cleaning up after Christmas.

This year feels different. I am looking forward to all the things we are doing, and instead of stress I feel serene that it will all work out somehow. I will take some time to be alone, to be with my husband alone, and spend some one-on-one time with each child. We will slow down and not race from one thing to another. We will not throw gobs of money away trying to keep up with everybody else. We will gladly spend our money on gifts that matter, and will anticipate them being opened.

Here's a toast to Christmas Cheer and Spirit. Close your eyes right now, pray to God that you will remember to include Him in your day to day life and not just Christmas Eve / morning when you go to church. He will keep that reassuring hand on your shoulder and whisper "It's okay". Don't be too preoccupied to let Him in when he knocks.

Oh Christmas Tree

Last night we brought out our very old, very small artificial Christmas tree. It stands about 4 feet high and is maybe 3 feet in width. My husband and I bought it a very long time ago when we had no space or ability to buy a real tree. We keep it around for those years when we will not be celebrating Christmas in our own home.

The funny thing is, our children are in love with it. They don't care that it's old, or small. They think it's wonderful! And the fact that it is adorned with a few snowmen that they made with me last year, that makes them positively gleam with pride. "Who made those snowmen Mommy?" in that sly-they-already-know-the-answer way that only the very young can pull off. "Why only the cleverest and cutest children in the world" in that only-your-Mommy-can-say-that way.

You know what - they've changed my mind on the old fake tree. It doesn't really matter what it looks like, it's magical to them, and that makes it magical to me.

Free yourself.

At this very moment, I am elbow deep in various kinds of kitchen wares, dishes, cutlery, appliances, food and misc. items that have no business in a kitchen. We just finished painting our kitchen and rearranging some furniture. For about $50 we've done a huge transformation. In the near future are plans to paint our old "european" cupboards. In the long run are a new counter and door, and also a floor, and a new fridge if I'm ever lucky enough to need one ;-)

I am always amazed at the sense of freedom that comes with completely clearing a room out and starting over. You give yourself permission to express yourself, to throw out things that you have kept out of obligation and can now say "it just doesn't go". You rearrange things so that they finally have real function and your room flows and you can just take a deep breath and go "yes, this is how it should be".

We've moved our dishes to our dining room, at a spot that the kids can reach, so they may get their own cups, and bowls. They can also participate in setting the table, and emptying the dishwasher. Our son is very excited about this. We don't realize when we sell them short by not allowing them the freedom to be part of everyday life. Simple acts like letting them reach their own cups give them so much more than the ability to get their own drink.

This is part of the slow transformation of our house, to make it the best it can possibly be. Life is too short to live it cluttered and bound by a home that brings you down. We must uplift ourselves. And it doesn't have to cost a lot, for less than a dinner out in a restaurant (okay a nice restaurant) we have been able to totally change two rooms. Maybe soon we will stop living in chaos (can't have anybody over syndrome) because it will no longer be such an ordeal to put things away or find "homes" for things that just don't belong.

Library

We just got home from another wonderful Library Class. What a great program for my 3 year old daughter.

Don't overlook the library as a great source of information for crafts, songs, and of course Christmas books and videos. Starting early, we will get the chance to get them all out before the rush.

Todays feature "Caillou's Holiday Movie"

Blood, A Great Christmas Gift!

I am not one to brag, but I am proud of my blood donations. Last night I gave blood for the 10th time. It has never been easy for me. I tend to have low blood pressure, and am pretty borderline with my iron - I've never been turned away for low iron, but I've squeaked by their second test numerous times.

The first time, I went grey and my husband said I looked like a corpse.

The second through 8th time I took over 1/2 hour to give.

The 9th time left me woozy for 3 days.

And this last time I was overcome with dizziness and fell back into recline when trying to sit up. That is embarrassing to say the least, you get a whole lot of attention, and getting iced down in mid-November is not very comfortable. But I did get an extra cookie and juice box. As I write this I am still weak and a bit woozy.

So not to exaggerate, it is not easy. But when I think of how much worse the person(s) who receive my blood feel, it's an easy choice. I'll gag down spoonfuls of blackstrap molasses, eat some beans, drink lots of water and will soon feel better. The people in need of the blood have to go through so much more that I feel guilty even complaining about my symptoms.

Please consider donating blood this Christmas season, it's one gift that is guaranteed to be welcomed, and you just may save a life, what can feel better than that?

Remembrance Day

Stepping back from Christmas for today.

Today I will remember my Grampie. He's been gone since 2004 but he lives with me every single day. I will imagine him in the trenches of WWII, and the pain and horror he lived through. I will think of his brother who died in Italy during the war. I cannot begin to imagine the sorrow, the anger, the fear that these men and women lived through, not only the soldiers, but the families, and the population at large, including the opposing side.

I will remember that we still have wars raging all over the world. That our own country is losing good men and women every week.

I will be thankful that my children do not understand war. I tried to explain it to my son this morning and his reaction was "why do they die - are they not being careful?" How do you tell them that war isn't fighting fair, that it doesn't matter how careful they are, that even children hiding under their beds died in the war?? I thank God for giving me the good fortune of being born in this country, and in the decade that I was born in. It's all by chance.

Please take your 2 minutes, remember the hell they went through and are still going through and show your respect.

And also take time to think of the horror the people in Fredericton NB faced earlier this week with vandals destroying their cenotaph.

Let the sorrow and remembrance flood you today. It's the least you can do.

Guilt

Here I am again.

Wondering if I am guilty of being a hypocrite. It seems that once you "go public" with your feelings you feel so vulnerable. Today I took the kids through a fast food drive-thru. And we ate meat. I did it because we were tired, starving and had more errands to run. On the rush out the door I forgot to pack a lunch. We went to get the kids their H1N1 flu shots, and my son's was not entirely expected. I was hoping they would take him, but we only had an appointment for his little sister. They took him in no problem, although he did not appreciate the good fortune. In any event, I got caught in a rain of my own contempt.

As I sat in my car eating the fast food fare, and talking to my husband via cell phone I wondered just how much of a hypocrite I am and what people would say if they could see me. I know what some would say, but what about the others, the opinions that I care about.

So it makes me want to recant a bit. To say I'm not ALWAYS opposed to choosing the lazy way out. And it's possible you may run into me in a Walmart or dollar store. But I do truly and honestly believe that it's necessary to put serious thought into it. Choose not to do fast food more often, choose to give home made more often, choose to walk more often. It's the little things that really do add up. If you can answer to yourself that you've made the right choice, than that's what matters. But if you feel as though you are on auto-pilot and don't know what you spent that $230 on at the department store, and are reading the fast food menu and shaking your head - maybe it's time to rethink your strategy?

Why is it more complicated to live a simple life?

I was thinking that it's very ironic that going simple is more difficult than being complicated!

We have to drive 45 mins out of our way to buy fair trade, hand made items at Ten Thousand Villages, rather than going to the dollar store or department store. We have to seek out and sign up for a special program for fresh local produce. Walking to the grocery store means spending on average $20 more than driving 20 minutes away to the nearest city, and takes nearly as long. Not caving in to the trip to Walmart when we need to buy a gift means getting creative and taking much longer to find the right gift. And this is only available to us because we live in an area that is blessed with many local farms, a fair trade warehouse & head office, and a town that is laid out in a way that we were lucky enough to find a house within walking distance to a grocery store. Also - we are extremely fortunate to have been able to buy an incredible stroller which allows me to cart home all my groceries and my daughter without having to carry bags.

The price of convenience is costing us all. We are losing our life skills, for example, there are new houses being built with the option of not having a kitchen! Sewing and knitting are considered hobbies instead of essential. Our environment is suffering, our health is suffering and our minds are suffering.

We need to take back the simple life. We need to embrace it and find comfort in it. There is room in life for convenience and luxury. We all like to watch a good movie, surf the internet, buy a bottle of juice, and dried pasta. But we should all know how to entertain ourselves instead of relying on technology, how to make juice, and that pasta is simply eggs and flour.

It's started.

Our Christmas season has officially started.

Bah Humbug to all those who say it's too early. We'll probably start decorating soon, although I like to wait until Remembrance Day has passed, it feels a bit wrong to be too jolly before that. My own Grandfather, God rest his soul, was a War Vet.

Yesterday we started our Christmas shopping at my favorite store on the planet. It's Ten Thousand Villages, and it's the kind of place where I actually feel good about shopping. My purchases can be traced back to the villages and artisans who make the goods. Instead of picturing a child in a sweatshop, I can picture a child eating breakfast. Not to mention the items are gorgeous, and the food is superb! I really cannot understand why somebody (once they are aware of it) would choose to buy ornaments, decorative goods, etc from a big commercial store when they could shop and make a difference in a person's life - other than fattening up a capitalists wallet. This extends to buying from your local farmer's market where there are loads of crafts and such to select from. Or maybe it's a local store in your downtown? How about a Church sale? Even better, make your own!!! One year, before getting caught up in the hustle and bustle of kids, my husband and I bought or made all of our Christmas presents without stepping foot in a mall or box store! That was the best Christmas shopping we ever did.

So, we have the Christmas music out! And a couple of new (to us) Christmas VHS videos which we snuggled up with the kids and watched last night. Watching Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, which was recorded before I was born, was an example of the kinds of things I want to do differently this year.

We're going to make a list together with the kids (and not just for Santa!) of all the things we want to do this year. And we are going to really try to do them this year. Baking cookies, making gingerbread houses, caroling with the church, making Christmas cards, etc. Maybe this year we'll finally get around to watching It's a Wonderful Life (which I picked up on VHS at a yardsale for $0.50 this summer)

I am so proud of my two kids! Yesterday we were in a thrift store and they did not bug even once for a toy. They have gotten the message. I am really guilty of thrift store and garage sale spoiling because it costs so little money, that I literally would buy them something EVERYTIME because it was cheap and made them happy, and let me finish shopping in peace. But I resolved right after my Daughter's birthday at the beginning of October to not get any more toys until Christmas. And NO COMPLAINTS! Not a single one. We cleaned up their play area and found all the pieces (okay, MOST of them) to all their favorite toys and they are having so much fun rediscovering those. We also take a little more time to play with them, and you know what, they think we're the best toys of all :-)

Pajama Rants

My Stepmother started a tradition in my family, on Christmas Eve everybody gets new pajamas. They're fresh and new, and you sit around sipping your hot drink and take in the whole Night Before Christmas scene, the little ones looking so scrubbed and excited, the older ones with that glint in their eye because they know a secret. Getting up Christmas morning in the new pajamas was so much fun we never got dressed before noon.. The new pajamas just seemed to be the highlight. They helped to make the great memory an unforgettable one. Well darn it, I figured I would continue that tradition in my own family. My son's first Christmas, we hosted family and friends and I bought 4 new pairs of pajamas for all the kids that were here. It was thoughtful and well liked and we all felt good about it. Since then I've kept up the tradition. But somewhere between year one, and last year, it lost it's magic. Buying the pajamas became just another thing to have to buy, wash and get ready in time for Christmas! Last year I actually resented it and almost gave up! I placed an ad in the online classifieds because I was fed up with paying $25 a pair for pj's it added up to an additional $50 we were spending just on pajamas at Christmas! This was mostly due to procrastinating and ending up with the last of the store inventory (I know I know you can buy PJ's for $12 but that's not the moral of the story) In my ad I just asked for some clean pajamas in good condition, preferably from a smoke-free home. Oh my goodness! The feedback was so intense it ran the gamut from one end to the other. One generous soul offered to make me some pajamas for my poor children so they would not freeze and would have something special for Christmas. Another anonymous person sent me an e-mail describing what a low-life I was, that I should get a job and that "beggars can't be choosers" ! It struck me that it was such an odd request to people. How could a person who wasn't in great need or incredibly lazy want to buy second hand pajamas for Christmas? I'll tell you how - I ended up buying my son 5 pairs of pajamas for $15 from a very nice lady. I politely thanked and declined the lady who offered to make me some by explaining we are not a "family in need" and she was most grateful for the honesty.

I'm hoping that more people can come around to thinking it's not just needy people (or dirty beggars!) that are looking to economize, recycle and reuse things, even kids pajamas. My kids were 2 and 4 at the time, they don't care if the pajamas are new! And I wasn't going to buy them old stained rags for Christmas, just nice good clean ones.

The other point is that the pajamas were special because we didn't get 25 other gifts to go with them, they were not just another thing to add to the list, they were a big part of the overall gifts and we appreciated them, and did not get other pairs often.

So, I'm going to re-ignite that wonderful memory, with new pajamas for the kids this year, but they will hopefully be gently used or an incredibly good deal, and will make up a big part of what they get. And you can bet I will be putting up another ad.

The next day - musings about money.

Wow. I am overwhelmed by the support and positive feedback from friends and family. Thank you!

I feel as though I've been relieved of a great weight, like I've come out of the closet somehow. We are surrounded with wonderful caring people but even in the midst of that we feel this incredible pressure to keep up with others, not through their doing but in general. I come from a family that did not have much money but never made us feel poor. Christmases and birthdays were always special and we usually got one of the items on our list that we had REALLY wanted for months before. Then for awhile, my husband and I had quite a bit of disposable income and got very used to frequent restaurant meals, travel and buying whatever we wanted. When we made the decision to have children and for me to become a stay-at-home mother, we talked about how hard it would be to live on one income, to remain true to ourselves and not go massively in debt... but some days we are astonished at just how hard it is! For the first couple of years, we didn't do much differently but now that we're well into the 5th year, we've decided that in order to keep our goals we need to let go of the "need to spend". We need to opt out of the shopping trips more often, stay home more and pack a lunch when we go on car trips! It's funny though when you start this process and you let everybody know - you start feeling really judged. When we choose to buy something, or go somewhere, we feel people are saying "wait a minute I thought they were supposed to not have any money?" And then sometimes you worry about hurting people's feelings. Making decisions that reflect your own families values can sometimes leave you feeing vulnerable to criticism. But folks,we do have "some" money. We have "enough" money but we do not have "disposable" money. We are never seeking pity or complaining - we are simply deciding not to go with the flow of modern society.

Over the last couple of years, we have started making choices that seem unusual to people. We've kept the same old car that we bought brand new in 2000, and our "new" car is a 2001 rust bucket. Most of our friends have since upgraded to bigger and better by now. And yes we have been tempted, especially with 2 kids and a big dog. But we're waiting until we feel we can afford it reasonably. Both of our cars run, we are not putting massive amounts of money into repairs. And since we've waited it out so long, we are happy to say that sometime between the next two Januarys we will probably have a brand new (slightly bigger and better) car. We decided that although it would be lovely to have a bigger, newer home, we would stay here and raise our family. We will make the most of what we have in terms of decorating and updates. We are resisting the urge to go bigger and better just because we can (or will be able to soon). I don't want my children to learn that you need to constantly upgrade in order to be happy, I want them to learn to adapt their circumstances to make them happy. I asked my 5 year old son this morning, "do you like our house" as we were walking to the school bus, and he said "Yes of course Mommy, my puppy lives there, and our computer too!" I answered I liked it to because love lives there.

For the past 2 years, we have been on a constant purging spree, and we are still overwhelmed by clutter. It is only this past year where we started emotionally letting go of "things" and "stuff" that we have. The big things that are obvious to let go, like the crib once we decided our family was complete, that was hard emotionally but we knew it had to go. The harder things are purging toys that you remember your child playing with but they no longer have any interest in. We are only keeping a VERY few things and I do worry that in the long run we'll be sorry we never kept more.

What makes this Christmas the "one" for us is that our kids are growing and starting to get commercialistic ideas. My daughter recently told me "Mommy I need Moxie Girls" I said "why" and she said "because they color my world" "oh yeah, how do they do that?" "I dunno, but I NEEED them Mommy!" And she is only 3. My son is in senior kindergarten and is just starting to feel pressure from friends to have the "latest and coolest". We feel it's our responsibility as parents to not give in and to give them everything they want. We really want them to learn the great feeling of anticipation and then getting what you want. That deep appreciation . Like when we were kids and we would wish for something out of the Sears book for months, and then on Christmas morning our parents would make it wait until the very end and there was always that moment of hesitation where you were not sure if you got it... but the lo and behold there it was!! Oh my gosh, and then you would keep it and play with it and love it and treasure it for so long. You would disappear for the rest of the day and play and be happy. Now the kids take hours to open presents and most of them are forgotten by supper time.

I feel like the Spirit of Christmas has been lost at the mall... and this year we are going to capture it again! I intend to update this daily so please follow me on this crazy adventure.

Day One

November 5.

Won't be long until the Christmas Rush is upon us.

This year, it will be different. This year, my children will learn the value of generosity. They will learn that Christ is the REAL reason for the season and will make many happy memories with their family.

This is the year where as a family we have decided ENOUGH of the madness. ENOUGH of the over spending. And ENOUGH of the commercialism.

I started a group on Facebook, and if you're interested you're welcome to join. It's called A Simple Christmas.

Picture a season with gifts you are excited about giving because you've put a great deal of thought into them and not just selected them from a catalogue or store because you were running out of time and it was (sort of) in your budget. Take yourself back to being a child and giving your parents a present you had made yourself, or spent hours plotting how to buy. Rediscover that magic this year. Start thinking now. Start making what you are able to make yourself - maybe you can sew. Think of a little girl in your life and how much she would love some new Barbie dresses? Perhaps you can REALLY cook or bake - yummy snacks accompanied with the recipe and ingredients to make / or little gadgets can be wonderful!

Think past the Walmart and Toys R Us. Maybe you can make a gift to charity in the name of a loved one? One of the best birthday gifts I have rec'd (my birthday is also Christmas Day) is a donation to fund Breast Cancer research in honor of my grandmother who just went through it.

Do you really want to receive or contribute to the mountains of plastic packaging and wrapping to give a gift to a kid that will hold their interest for 20 mins and then languish for years in the toybox because you have just instilled guilt in the parents because they would feel bad about getting rid of a gift that you spent good $ on?

As a society we are FINALLY starting to come around to less "stuff" thank goodness. When shopping think "how much would the kid REALLY like this?" Are you just getting "something" for them? It doesn't take any money to think! Another idea is to check with the parents to see what the kid already has that you can build on - maybe they have a train collection and could use a new set of tracks? Maybe you can buy some furniture for an existing doll house?

I know I will be doing it differently this year. This year my kids will gain more memories than things, and we will all be better off!