Day 9: Christmas Concert

If you were expecting a chore assignment every day for 31 days, I'm sorry, but I'm going to disappoint you.  I, personally, cannot drive myself that way.  If I try, I burn out early and fall back into my old ways.  Knowing that about myself, I am purposely having days within this challenge where I do other things that are important for maintaining harmony in my home.  This is going to be one of those posts.

While I am scheduled for an exorbitant amount of overtime at work, I purposely slated an early out for Sunday.  Having been a band mom for the past 10 years (they start performing in 6th grade), I put in my vacation request far enough in advance to guarantee that I would be able to attend.  I'm so glad I did. (=

My son is a junior (11th grader) in high school this year.  Marching band has ended for the year, and the annual Christmas concert is the band's first performance of the year that is concert, rather than marching, style.  This year, in addition to being a member of the concert band, my son is also in jazz band and the drum line.  So, I was able to see (and hear) him performing through quite a bit of the show.

When the show was over, we attended an informational meeting for Winter Drumline.  Then, we went home and ordered subs for dinner from the local pizza place.

Isn't he handsome? (=

Day 8: The Tree

Part of having a harmonious home is celebrating the things that are important. Sometimes that means taking a day off from the cleaning and organizing so that you can enjoy time with family. To that end, we've hung our Christmas tree and gotten it decorated, and we'll be indulging in a couple Christmas movies once the delivery person shows up with dinner. (=

My Pre-Black Friday Sale Post

For the past few years, I have spent Black Friday shopping with my daughter.  This year, the purse strings are tighter than they've been in about a decade.  And, as I mentioned previously, I really am tired of Christmas being all about things.  It shouldn't be.  What it should be about is remembering why we have Christmas in the first place and spending time with our loved ones and appreciating the time we have with them.

This year for Black Friday, I am going to do something different.  My daughter is already not going to go shopping (not because she doesn't want to, but because she was unable to get time off from work).  So, this year, I'm spending Black Friday with my son.  I think we'll do some of the same things my daughter and I have done in years past: get up ridiculously early, bundle up, go out into the throngs.  But I think we'll skip the crazy shopping lines filled with little old ladies who'll club you over the head when you reach to grab the last $2 waffle iron.  I think we'll still do breakfast (bagels and hot chocolate at Panera, maybe?) and even the time-honored traditional lunch at Olga's Kitchen.  We may even buy something stocking stuffer-ish (new toothbrushes and the like).  But no pouring over the ads, making a list of stuff that we don't really need.  Instead, we'll spend time making memories and perhaps start a new tradition that includes talking more and spending less.

When we come home, I think we'll sit down and plan out how we'll celebrate the rest of the holiday season.  There are plenty of fun activities if you take the time to look for them.  Maybe we'll start by checking our local listings for the annual Christmas movies and shows. (=

So, how will you spend Black Friday?  Any changes in store for you and yours?  Or have you managed to avoid the hullabaloo thus far?  Any tips, tricks, or favorite traditions you'd like to share?

Christmas without Consumerism?

I've mentioned before that I started reading The Year of Less a little while back.  Well, she's started a new monthly challenge, but this one's so big, she's stretched it to two months.


What's funny is that I actually proposed something similar to this earlier this year to my less-than-enthusiastic children.  What I proposed was a homemade/handmade Christmas.  At the time, there was plenty of prep time, so even the less crafty in the bunch would have had ample time to prepare a thoughtful gift for each person on his or her list.  But the holidays are quickly approaching, and I get the impression that I'm the only one who's done any prep work at all.

Now, I'm not saying we won't do any shopping at all.  I fully intend to peruse the Black Friday ads looking for those items we've deemed necessary to purchase (like new sleeping bags for camping, since our old ones are nearly destroyed); however, I won't be doing my usual, throw-caution-to-the-wind Christmas crunch.  And I hope that the kids won't be too terribly upset when they see that I was actually serious about how I intend our holidays to play out this year.

Instead of piles and piles of store-bought gifts that lose meaning almost as quickly as they're opened, I intend to give of my skills and my time.  Instead of spending tons of time wrapping and unwrapping all those trinkets, I want to have fun together, spending that time with each other instead of with things.  I want us to be grateful for each other and for the mountains of things we already have in ample supply.  And if we have things for which we aren't grateful, I want us to spend the time we would have spent adding to those piles, removing those things for which we are no longer grateful.  There are plenty of others out there who have so little that, perhaps we should embrace the spirit of the season and give to others instead.

My Joys

I've signed up for the online class "Cut the Crazy Out of Christmas" over at Big Picture Scrapbooking, and one of our pre-class assignments was to do a layout showing something that brings us joy. Here's mine:


I used "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson.

What's the Matter with Misfits?

As the page explains, these are the ornaments for which we could neither find nor remember creation or receipt dates.



Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson

2006 Cassidy's Fifteenth Christmas

Cassidy and I learned how to make these paper pinecones at a Christmas crop. (Thanks, Annie!) We ended up making them as Christmas presents for just about everyone we could think of. I'm seriously considering making them up to use on the tree once the kids have moved out and taken their ornaments with them. They look gorgeous on the tree.



Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson

2005 Cassidy's Fourteenth Christmas

Cassidy became a teenager this year ... scary stuff.



Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson

2004 Cassidy's Thirteenth Christmas

Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson
Can I just say that I love these trees?

2003 Cassidy's Twelfth Christmas

Another year where finances kept me from getting to Hallmark in time to get ornaments before the ones we wanted were gone. At least there was a cool Tweety ornament available. Cassidy loved Tweety.



Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson

2002 Cassidy's Eleventh Christmas

My baby girl hit double-digit age this year. We also moved in the midst of the first quarter of the school year. To make the transition easier, we drove the children to their old school for the remainder of the quarter and allowed them to transfer at the start of the second quarter. It gave them time to get used to the new house while getting a bit longer to say goodbye to the friends they were leaving behind. The homemade items in this layout were made with her classmates at the old school.



Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson

2001 Cassidy's Tenth Christmas

No homemade ornaments this year, though I'm not sure why.



Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson

2000 Cassidy's Ninth Christmas

Welcome to the second grade, where we don't just make ornaments for the tree, but we also perform in musical plays for our parents. The green shiny "thing" is from a Christmas program at the church, and the item in Cassidy's hand (yes, I forced her to participate) is something she found when she was walking from the school to the car and just had to keep.



Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson

1999 Cassidy's Eighth Christmas

And so it begins ... Actually, it had already begun, but two of Cassidy's earlier homemade ornaments had already been lost to falling trees by the time 1999 rolled around. The first grade, though, brought hardier ornaments that have held up fairly well over time.



Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson

1998 Cassidy's Seventh Christmas

I was to late to get a Madame Alexander ornament, as they'd all sold out. However, I've learned that I can find dated ornaments on eBay, so I may still replace the one from 1998 to complete her collection.



Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson

1997 Cassidy's Sixth Christmas

1997 marked the beginning of the Madame Alexander ornaments. Cassidy loves them even now. There were also two gifted ornaments and a punch-out from a Christmas card to decorate and hang from the tree.



Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson

1996 Cassidy's Fifth Christmas

We're not really sure where the snowman ornament came from anymore. We know it was a gift, but we no longer remember from whom. One gift received this year that won't be forgotten was the gift of baby brother Austin, born 23April.



Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson

1995 Cassidy's Fourth Christmas

On 27May1995, I married a wonderful man and allowed him to move my child and I away from sunny Florida to Michigan. The ornaments this year, with the exception of the candy cane-toting bear, were ones she made herself with some guidance from Aaron's mom.



Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson

1994 Cassidy's Third Christmas

Elmo was a major part of life for us when Cassidy was toddling. She had him on her clothes, on her sippy cup, and on her Christmas tree.



Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson

1993 Cassidy's Second Christmas

For her second Christmas, Cassidy received two ornaments, one to continue the teddy bear set started on her first Christmas, and one to commemorate her adoration of Elmo.



Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson