Holidays in Hand - Assignment One

Today is the first day of Jessica Sprague's Holidays in Hand class. I love her approach to projects and took last year's Stories in Hand class and loved it, too. Plus, you've gotta really adore free. I think today may be the last day to sign up so visit jessicasprague.com if you haven't already!

My first assignment is to focus on holiday values and create goals to meet those values. So, I put together a list of words/phrases that matches what I think matters most through the holidays. Here goes:

Togetherness
Family
Fun
Tradition - same activities that bring JOY
Gifts
Sharing
Delicious treats (not-your-everyday stuff!)
Carols
Tree decorating
warmth
magic/wonder
glow
stockings
special
connecting
meaningful
memorable

So, my goals for this holiday season include:
1. I would like to create memories that will be special for my kids to reflect on when they are grown and maybe carry on their favorites as well. We will pick three of our favorite activities we do every year and do them! Decorate the tree and drink egg nog, bake cookies, and drive around looking at lights.
2. I want to keep some magic and wonder with my kids during this season. We will do that by giving gifts to others and both Kevin and I shopping for a few of those items on their lists.
3. I would like to feel connected with my family. I would like togetherness, with those that we will be with and those that will be distant. I will send greetings and personal messages to those that I miss most! We have offered to host the family gathering this year with Kevin's family.
4. I would like the gifts we share with family to be more meaningful and special and that involve much less/none at all money to obtain. I plan to make some homemade gifts and will suggest some sort of exchange this year with that in mind.
5. I want to listen to as many carols as possible until they go away until next year. Thank you Magic 105.1 FM. :) I will also dig out my Christmas CD's and see if I can download some favorites as well.
6. I'd like to celebrate and have fun this year that is both the same and different than other years. We'll get new jammies on Christmas Eve and plan to do an activity together this year at our gathering, like have the kids build a gingerbread house.
7. I'd like to be a big part of making the day special and sweet for someone else by touching their heart. I think saying "I appreciate you" is the nicest thing during the season so we'll be sending many greetings around. Also, we will choose one charity or benefit to give to this season. Last year it was Make a Wish foundation. This year I'd like to find a local charity or organization.
8. I would like to have breakfast & dinner on Christmas Day be something we don't normally have very often and is considered a real treat! So, I plan to make stuffed cabbage to go along with the main course and will bake our favorite Christmas cookies. Yum, I can taste those pecan sandies right now!

For now, I will keep these close to me so I can plan to have enjoyable holidays. Wow, what a focused start to the season! Anyone else thinking about their own plans?

Thankful for scrap time!

As I type out this simple blog post tonight, I am feeling thankful. 'Tis the month for that, right? I have been running and working and doing, well, too much lately. So, I am thankful for November and all the slowness it brings with it. I had no plans this weekend. NONE. So, the family had some down time. Aaaahh, that's nice.
I used all my spare moments to scrap. Yep, I totally did! I scrapped more than I have in the last three months! So, as I sit in my cozy basement family room, I am thankful that no one really cares if I didn't vaccuum or pick up my mess down here this weekend. I am thankful for relaxing TV like football & NASCAR. I am thankful that we had the fireplace going, the crockpot cooking, and the laundry humming while I played with paper until my heart's content. And, I am content that the family is tucked in and I get time for the final relaxing hour or so until I give in to the work week once again. :)

I thought I'd share the results of my creative downtime (thanks TSR for the challenges this month!). Thanks for checking them out! :)

Halloween fun

Megan dressed as a crazy witch this year and it was my fave costume of hers so far. It just turned out cute, I think.
We met up down the street with some neighbors and their kids for trick or treating and handing out candy. We get so many kids through our family-friendly neighborhood and I went through 250 pieces of candy! We got home and sorted through the bag, which is always such a fun part of the night. Now I can share Megan's candy for my faves - Milky Way, Twix, and Reese's. That is - when she'll let me or when I can sneak.

Now it's November and I can quickly start getting into Christmas mode. Yep, carols will play on the radio already and I am getting shopping done early. I think if I get things started every payday I'll be in good shape! :)