Christmas Wrap-Up

I'm starting to see Valentine's Day stuff everywhere, so I thought I'd better finish up my thoughts on Christmas.  It's hard to give it up - the lights, the decorations, the activity - but I have officially put everything away for the season and have been tidying the whole house.

The last thing I do before putting the boxes in storage is write in my "Christmas Memories" book.  This book chronicles 20 years of Christmases, asking what we did, who we saw, what we ate, what gifts we received, and what special memories we want to remember!  The last page of each year has a space for a favorite holiday photo or card.  It's shocking to admit that we're half way through!  It has been such a joy to be able to look back and see what we did and how we felt over the years.  I've learned that we like to keep things low-key, love making special food for the holiday, and that my friend Becky gives the best cards (hers are in our book twice already!)  I remember Ali Edwards writing that it was the journaling in her scrapbooks that she loved the most, so I think this book will be a treasure for our family.

Do you have any traditions for putting away for the season?  How are you feeling about it all being over?

Half-finished Projects

Advent Calendar 2011

Sometimes I just can't follow through.  I have many half-finished projects to attest to this fact.  Though it's much more fun to write about and feature the stuff that I do accomplish, it's definitely more realistic to let you in on (at least a few) of the things that don't get done.  I mentioned here in late November that I was using Pinterest to inspire my Advent Calendar for Beansprout this year.  It looks great!  I used old socks of Beansprout's and filled in with a few socks bought at thrift shops, the dollar store, and Superstore.  I printed pictures to represent  the activities we would do each day, cut small pieces of scrapbook paper, added a number sticker, and stuck them into each of the 24 socks.

Counting Down 2011

Little Stocking All in a Row

Oh, how I had big ideas!  I thought I'd take a picture of each activity we did and feature them weekly to show all that we'd been up to in December.  Big ideas.  The truth is, we probably only did 3/4 of the activities and somehow the recording and posting of the activities dwindled out of sight.  I guess it's a lesson learned?  I now realize that a mixture of small gifts and activities would probably suit us better.  Luckily, Beansprout is really just too young to actually grasp the concept of counting down everyday, and so this year the Advent Calendar was more for me.  I also realize that prioritizing "me" time is difficult.  When things get busy and hectic, photographing and blogging are the to-dos that get cut.  To look on the bright side, I guess I have some built-in resolutions for the New Year!

Thanks for reading!  I love your comments and would love to hear how do you handle finding "me" time.  Also, are you able to balance the big ideas with realistic follow-through?  Share your secrets!


Wishing you love and joy as you ring in the new year!  All the best in 2012!!!

Advent Calendar Traditions

Advent Calendar 2011

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was working on a Pinterest-inspired Advent calendar!  It is (finally) complete, albeit a few days late.  I hope you'll come back for a weekly post showing all that my little Beansprout did to countdown and prepare for Christmas!

Counting down the days 'til Christmas is such a wonderful tradition.  I can remember having the paper link chains and my fair share of the chocolate window variety, but it was my year studying in Germany many years ago that opened my eyes to a whole new way of approaching the Advent calendar.  My "German Mom" sent me a fabric calendar with 24 little gifts affixed to round red rings.  I was in heaven.  I learned what Raffaelo candies were, gave walnut cracking a try, and learned that sometimes the simplest gift can make your day.  A new tradition was born.

Upon returning home, I began to gift one to a family member or friend every year.  It was so much fun thinking of little gifts that would fit and to imagine the delight of the person who got a nice treat throughout most of December.  In recent years, I have only had the energy to create them for our niece and nephews, and as more nephews came, I decided I had to have an age limit.  This year the two youngest of the group get to keep the tradition going.  I pulled out the flat rate shipping box, the Santa treat bags, and some tissue paper, wrapped everything up and sent them off via USPS.  I hope the little guys are enjoying the socks, Christmas crafts, stickers, and books that will help them count down!

Do you have any Advent Calendar traditions?  Do you remember counting down until the big day as a kid?

Pinterest Inspired Advent calendar

I've mentioned before how much I love Pinterest!  The trouble is, I collect a lot of ideas, yet rarely do anything with them.  So in the spirit of the Pinterest Challenge Sherry from Young House Love started with her friend, I've decided to create my own diy goals inspired by this wonderful website!  

First up?  The Advent calendar.  After receiving the best Advent calendar in the world from my "German Mom", I have been creating Advent calendars for family members for years now, actually for over 15 years!  More on that soon . . .  Now that Beansprout is old enough, I want to start the tradition for him.  And though I'm holding to my pledge to avoid decorating for Christmas too soon, with December 1st fast approaching, I need to have a plan.  

There are a ton of creative ideas out there, but I've decided on a combination of the following:  

Simply ADORABLE!

An activity for every day of Advent.

I can't resist the baby sock Advent calendar, and love the fact that I really would have to stick to buying a small gift that could fit inside the little socks.  However, I have read over and over again that it is the experiences of life that bring us happiness, so the idea of creating a special activity for the first 24 days of December sounds lovely!

It's taken me this long to come up with a plan, because I've felt slightly paralyzed by the fact that I want this to be a tradition for Beansprout.  Once I finally let go of that and realized that I can change the what of the Advent calendar anytime, I was ready to embrace my idea for this year.  By December 1st, I'll have a row of 24 baby socks filled with an activity for the day hanging just out of Beansprout's height.  I can't wait to show you how it looks!!!