Guest Post: Getting Ready For Christmas

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By Sinea Pies of Ducks ‘n a Row 

 

Do you believe this title?  “Getting ready for Christmas?”  Come on.  Are you like me when you walk into a store in October, or early November, and see Christmas decorations? Is your reaction like mine?  “Christmas! Can’t we at least do Thanksgiving first?”  I feel the pressure just thinking about it, and Christmas is my favorite holiday!

Perhaps it’s the “mom-thing”.  We moms are planners.  We like everything to run smoothly.  We want all of the bases covered — nobody left out, every event a winner.  We hate rushing around at the last minute, though it inevitably seems to happen, whether we like it or not.

If you start your planning now, it should lighten the load when the holidays do arrive.  Early preparation eases the tension later on.  Moms deserve to enjoy Christmas just like everybody else, don’t they?

So what can you do in October? 

Start with a schedule! Pull out a blank calendar, or find one online, to use for holiday planning only.  It feels good to start with a clean slate.  Don’t lay your other calendars aside, though.  You’ll need to refer to them to see what the family “must-do’s” are.  This will keep you from double-booking.

Now, write in Thanksgiving, Christmas eve, Christmas day, New Years Eve and New Years Day.  If your family also celebrates other holidays such as Chanukah, which is Dec. 20-28 this year, write that down.

Birthdays:  Do you have birthdays in October, November, December or early January.  My family has 9 birthdays, 1 anniversary, Christmas and Chanukah.  There should be a law, don’t you think?  LOL.  I love every one of them but it can get tiring, and expensive. This year my 5 year old granddaughter is dancing in the Nutcracker. Now, that will be an important night-out! 

Now that your overwhelming social calendar is set, what needs to happen?

Plan! There will be gifts to buy, cards to send, schedule-coordinating with others, food to purchase and prepare, decorations to get out and display.  How about special clothing needs? Does a winter coat or suit need dry cleaned or are there little sewing projects that have been put off way too long?  Pencil in when these things need to occur.  Use a pencil because this part of your schedule can be flexible.  You can change it, if you need to.

Think about what you can turn into a family memory.  Not everything has to be work.  The holidays are more about people than anything else. Make a little party around whatever you can to build lasting memories and warm-fuzzies, as I call them. 

 

Shopping! Shopping can include a stop for a bite to eat together.  How about writing out Christmas cards together at the kitchen table?  Put on some holiday music to get everyone in the mood.  Tree trimming is always a fun family event.  Finish it with a pajama party.  Everyone in the family gets on their comfiest p.j.s or sweats, grabs a fuzzy blanket, some popcorn & hot chocolate and watches a great holiday movie together! Remember to include a treat for the dog.  All of the family gets into the spirit.

When it comes to shopping, pace yourself.  If you truly enjoy going out to shop, plan it and make plenty of time to not feel rushed.  If online shopping is more to your liking, be sure to leave plenty of time for the merchandise to arrive and an exchange be made if something doesn’t work out. If you mail gifts to out-of-town relatives, that shipping time also needs to be considered.

Cookies!  What’s a holiday without decorative cookies?  Even the youngest tot can do something to be a part of the cookie baking process.  Your little ones do what they can do and you do the rest.  Make sure that everyone gets to have a hand in the decorating.  Again, you are making great memories, not just good food! 

If you have time, invite family and friends to join you for a cookie swap.  It’s a party where everyone brings several dozen of one style of Christmas cookie.   One or two dozen is brought for sampling at the party, the others you bring are your “swapping” cookies. You switch them out for an assortment of other kinds of cookies to take back home with you.  This kind of holiday party can be so much fun and much of your baking has been done by somebody else!

So, there you have it. It may be October but the New Year is right around the corner.  Get organized now and it will be easy to get into the holiday spirit…when the time comes!

Sinea Pies is a freelance writer for a popular parent magazine, social media manager and blogger.  Please visit  her website Ducks ‘n a Row and “like” her Facebook Fanpage, too.

Feel like you need more help with Christmas Planning?  You’ll love How to Have a Grocery Shrink Christmas  It is full of printable forms; recipes; gift ideas and more to help you stay organized and sane on a limited budget this holiday season.

We Have a Winner!

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Congratulations to Sarah who won the Reuse Refresh Repurpose ebook giveaway!  Her winning comment was:

Sarah Posted October 20, 2011 at 12:18 pm | Permalink

Ohhhh!!! I need this book!! You see I am not very clothes thrifty and I find my wardrobe not too appealing and needing help but I hate to spend money. My mom and I sew and I know we could do a lot of things just lack motivation!

Our winner was chosen by random number generator. Thank you to everyone who left a comment.  I read every single one and there are some gems of frugal clothing tips there.  Click here to read them too.

Also, the coupon code:  halfoff is still valid for your purchse of Centsable Style.

Lunch on the Go

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We were filming today and yesterday for a show that’s a secret.  It’s a pilot for a new reality series, but that’s all I can say about it.  (It’s a one time thing for us–not like the Dugger show.)  It was great to have so much motivation to get my house organized–even my bedroom, and my kids have had a blast with all the attention from the crew.  But that’s why I’ve been quiet here and also why my newsletter didn’t make it out this week.  There was a lot more work to do than I wanted to admit since we were welcoming the film crew into every nook and cranny of our home–even our master bedroom and the basement!

I just have a short break while the filming crew goes for lunch and thought I would show you a picture of an easy lunch idea for mom’s on the go.  I took this lunch with me to the soccer fields on Saturday.  I packed traditional sandwiches for the rest of the family, but made this salad to go along with my Fit Yummy Mummy plan. 

This is 2 cups of romaine, 1 cup of navy beans, 4 oz grilled chicken, 3 sliced baby bell peppers, a sprinkle of parmesean and light ceasar dressing.  It was so delicious and filling.  And fast to throw together since I had large batches of beans and chicken already cooked and sliced for the week.  The only bummer was I forgot to pack a fork–and ate the salad with my fingers.  Until Brandon suggested I use one of his sliced apples as a scoop.  It worked great and next time I might add some tangy chopped apples to the salad.  It complemented it well.

Wanted: Homeschool Teacher

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I have a teaching degree and taught 5th grade for two years, when I was VERY young.  I turned 22 on the first day of school and though I did a decent job, would do a much better job today after having been a parent.  I had already decided that when I was blessed with children of my own, I would be a homeschool mom.  After teaching classes of 20-25 5th graders, I figured that homeschooling a mere handful of my own children would be a piece of cake.  I WAS WRONG.  I have a huge respect for homeschooling mothers who do it right.  Especially those moms of many who persevere year after year while pregnant and nursing and during financial strain.  I wrote this little ad as a tribute to homeschool moms everywhere.  It takes a special woman to do what you do.

About Fit Yummy Mummy

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P.S. (You can still enter the ebook giveaway at the post previous to this one.)

I’ve been getting a lot of emails lately asking for more information about Fit Yummy Mummy.  I don’t mind at all, but there’s so much to say that It’s worth writing a post about.  First, here’s my before and during pictures.  The picture farthest to the right was taken this Sunday.  I won’t reach my fitness goals until March, but every day is better than the day before.

I first found Holly, aka Fit Yummy Mummy, from a youtube video.  I might have been searching for smoothie recipes–I can’t remember.  Anyway, I was impressed, but skeptical.  I found her webiste and was taken back by how long her sales page was and when I tried to exit, a pop up came.  You know the “Wait, wait, don’t go” kind of popup.    Those types of things make me wonder how legitimate a business it is. 

I continued to haunt her on youtube and finally shot her a personal email. I just found out I was pregnant with baby #6 and was determined not to gain 50+ lbs again.  But I knew I needed help.  She gave me the standard answer.  Don’t diet while pregnant.  Eat healthy foods.  After the baby’s born we can talk about weight loss.  Grrr.

Fast foward.  Grant is born after  I gained 50lbs…again.  And I received an email from one of my subscribers that said she broke down and bought the FYM ebook after I mentioned it and LOVED IT!  Really?  I promised myself as soon as I sold enough products to pay for the book, I’d buy it.  It was right after I got home from Family Camp and had to find enough fat clothes to pack for the week.  It was frustrating and I didn’t like how I looked in our memory pictures.  Plus, I tired easily.  Dragging all that extra weight around was hard work.

Babies are worth it, but a lot of extra weight is no fun.

I couldn’t wait to download her book and once the purchase was made, I was shocked at how much stuff I got.  It was an ebook  of over 100 pages, plus exercise videos, plus a meal planning guide, plus a quick start guide, plus, plus, plus.  Her stuff made sense.  It is current on the research for the best ways to loose weight.  I could do it with grocery store food and basic home equipment like a stability ball and dumbbells.  I could use protein supplements if I wanted to, but I didn’t have to. She promised the exercises only took 15 minutes a day. I could do this.

The e-book package came with a one month free membership to clubFYM (after the first month there is a subscription fee that you can cancel at any time), where Holly posts her new workouts every month plus pops in to give advice and encouragement daily.  Even better it’s a place where I keep my personal journal, recording how I feel about the journey and write down my favorite meals, recipes and workouts.  It’s a place where I can connect with other women on the same journey and give and receive encouragement.

Without ClubFYM I would have given up long ago, like I always do.  Even though her program is the best, and I get more good food than anywhere else, losing weight and getting stronger is hard work.  Sometimes I don’t feel like making good choices.  And after so many bad choices in a row, I feel like giving up.  But the FYM girls understand this and encoruage me through it.  I can do this, and you can too.

I think my favorite part about club FYM are the challenges.  There are 4 (at least) a year and are free for club members to participate in.  If you are taking part in a contest you have short homework assignments 3 times a week to help stay on track. And you get lots more of Holly in the form of live video chats and teleconferences.  Here’s my motivation board which was one of my assignments from this challenge:

I whole heartedly endorse Fit Yummy Mummy.  I even tried to get my dad to join, lol.  If I love you a lot, I’ve mentioned it, because it has made my life better.  And I want you to have some of the happiness I’ve found.

Disclaimer:  Because I like FYM so much, I signed up as an affiliate.  I make a commission from the sales of her ebook (only if you purchase through the button on this page)  but not from the sales of the club FYM membership.  I would have written this post even if there were no affiliate program, but I wanted you to know.

Ebook Giveaway: Reuse Refresh Repurpose

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Meet, Kristen, AKA The Frugal Girl.  She’s a homeschooling mom of 4 and loves all things frugal–espeically in the kitchen.  It’s impossible not to like her :). 

I first met Kristen when I wrote her asking to review my new clothing ebook, and she readily agreed, replying that she also just wrote a clothing ebook and offered a giveaway to my readers.

I was so excited to read her book, and love her great photography and new ideas.  I was also very pleased that our books are TOTALLy different.  There’s not much overlap at all and you need BOTH, for real. 

Kristen’s book is an idea starter with step by step directions for taking used clothing and making it useful again.  The book includes 2o illustrated projects that are sure to inspire you on to your own ideas and projects.  Some ideas require sewing–but several do not.  You’re going to love it.

This giveaway starts TODAY, October 11th and will run through Thursday, October 20th at 8pm.  I’ll announce the winner in my newsletter and here on the blog. 

It is super easy to enter this contest–simply leave a comment here or on facebook (on this post–and my facebook plug-in will grab it and attach it here.)  I would love it if your comment had your own frugal clothing tip, but if you can’t think of one–you can write a mushy complimentary comment instead, bwa ha ha ha.

P.S.  As a special limited time offer, use the coupon code halfoff for a $5 discount when ordering Centsable Style.

Happy Birthday to Brandon

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Life is spinning by like a merry-go-round on hyper speed.  Somtimes it’s so much fun I can hardly contain myself and somtimes I think I might be sick.  This Saturday was one of those sick types of days with 4 soccer games, orchestra and selling cubscout popcorn in between.  But these kids are so amazing, it’s worth a little craziness to let them have opportunities to build their talents and relationships.

This week we also got to celebrate some boys and there will be more boy birthdays to come this month.

And Grant is already 5 months old and has a tooth!  He’s such a happy little sweetie.

He is VERY interested in food.  Today he grabbed Heidi’s peanut butter sandwich and shoved it in his mouth.  She got it all out and rinsed his mouth out.  ( I was pretty proud of her instincts–She’s only 11.)  Thankfully peanut allergies do not run in our family.  I usually wait to introduce solids until my babies are 9 months old.  He has teeth and can sit up unassisted for short periods of time. He weighs 18lbs and is average in size for 5 months old.  He seems satisfied with nursing, but is very curious about eating food and has tried more than once to eat things off our plates.  Would you start introducing foods?

Impossible Taco Pie

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I put this dish on my menu this week with a link in my newsletter to a free recipe site and a warning that I NEVER follow a recipe.  Our version of this pie turned out so fantastic that I’m writing it down here so we can try it again :).  The variations include making our own taco seasoning blend, replacing expesive canned green chilies and fresh tomatoes with an aldi can of tomatoes and green chilies blend, and a cornbread style replacement for bisquick which is fat free!

Impossible Taco Pie:  Makes 2 pies

2 lbs ground beef (or turkey)

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp seasoning salt

2 tsp cumin

1 Tablespoon chili powder

1 can tomatoes with green chilies, drained (I used Aldi brand)

2 cups shredded cheese (I used cheddar jack from Costco)

3/4 cup unbleached flour

3/4 cup yellow corn meal

1 tsp salt

3 tsp baking powder

6 eggs

2 1/2 cups milk

Place hamburger in a large skillet and sprinkle with spices.  Brown and drain.  Place half of the hamburger mixture in the bottom of 2 greased deep dish pie pans.  Top hamburger in each pan with 1/2 the can of  tomatoes and green chilies and 1 cup of cheese.  In a mixing bowl, use a wire wisk to blend flour, cornmeal, salt and baking powder until well blended.  Whip in eggs and milk.  Pour half the mixture over each pie pan.  Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.  Makes 16 servings (or eat one, freeze one.) (or eat one, save one for tomorrow’s lunch.)

To Do Monday:

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1.  Finish planning Christmas!  I’ve been printing off the workpages from my Grocery Shrink Christmas book and am filling them out.  Ther’es not a ton of time left if I want to make gifts by hand.

2.  Make Apple Chips–Thanks to Pinterest I found this tutorial:  (I plan to use my mandolin slicer and apple corer to make it go faster.  I also have some beets that I’m hopin to make into chips–but these are more time consuming since I will need to peel them.)

Pinned Image

3.  Make Pumpkin Doughnuts (Maybe I’ll move this to another day, but I have the pumpkin thawing in the fridge from last year’s harvest to make room for cooking and pureeing more this fall.)

4.  Make Pumpkin Bagels–I’m for more grab and go breakfast options!

5.  Start cutting out the boy’s duvet covers.  I think I’ve finally decided on the random duvet, after I had definitely decided to do the patterned one.

6.  Get the main areas of my house all straightened up and clean the floors.  Which will include folding and putting away lots of laundry plus cleaning up the kitchen.

7.  Plan Brandon’s birthday gifts and games and send a list to my mom.  I’ve already grabbed him a really cool motorized ninjago motorcycle at a garage sale for $1 and a batman mask at the thrift store for $3.  I would have thought it was highway robbery for the mask, but I had recently priced them for $10 new.  Brandon loves to dress up in his bathrobe and ascot and say, “Hello, I’m Bruce Wayne.”  So I hope he gets a kick out of the mask.  It is not his year for a party, but I am planning to make homemade pizza with him and then play games as a family that he will enjoy.

Whew!  That’s enough for one day and won’t half get done.  But it’s good to think big.