Making Christmas Memories

I have always loved Christmas. My mom, in my opinion, did a great job making the whole month special for her kids and it is something I have striven to do as well for my own family. As I was reflecting upon what made that time of year special it was never anything to do with presents. All of my most favorite memories revolve around family togetherness.

I loved loading up in the car to drive to the Kaibab to find the perfect tree. It was always so much fun to get to play in the snow and eat a snowy picnic together. My mom, no matter how busy she was, always made time to make her grandmother's old-fashioned butter cookies for us to decorate and then we would deliver plates of them to our neighbors. When we were teenagers we added reading the Forgotten Carols to our list of traditions. It was something I looked forward to all month.

One year, when I was in elementary school still, I remember coming upstairs to find my parents sitting in the living room cutting out snowflakes. I discovered that my dad has a hidden talent for making beautiful and unique snowflakes. I secretly went down to my room and tried to make my own, but sadly, they fell short, but I vowed that someday I would develop a talent for making beautiful snowflakes just like my dad. It took a lot of years to perfect my snowflakes but I have learned to make creative and pretty snowflakes just like him. I have received many compliments on the snowflakes I create to hang in the windows.

As I said before, I have tried to make Christmases memorable for my kids too. A few years ago I was feeling extremely crafty and created a Christmas Memory Advent calendar for my family. The goal was to create something that we could incorporate all of our favorite things to do at Christmas time and create family togetherness and memories at the same time.

The calendar itself was quite simple to make. All it is is a large piece of felt on which I sewed a felt Christmas tree to and three rows of felt sewn into pockets for the traditions. The ornaments on the tree are decorative buttons I found at Michael's. They are hung on the tree by hooks made of floral wire which I hot glued to the tree. The title letters are simple foam letters and the snowmen on the sides are pieces of scrap ribbon. Each day the kids reach into a pocket and pull out an ornament to hang on the tree and a tradition to do.

As far as the memories go, I wrote down things we do every year like attending the Ward Christmas Party, looking at Christmas lights and decorating Christmas cookies. I also included lots of family activities such as going on winter walks, watching Christmas movies, and doing good deeds for each other. My kids love it and look forward to seeing what the calendar is going to say everyday.

The Christmas season is not meant to just be endured. It is not meant as a time to get and give presents or attend parties and fill every moment with activities. It is a time to remember the true meaning, the birth of our Savior. For without him, none of us would ever have the chance to return to our Father in Heaven. Our families are so important to this plan. I hope we can all make the time, just as my mom did, to make wonderful Christmas memories and make it a time of year that will be remembered for years to come.

Chill Out on your Carpet

The other night Nathan and I were relaxing in the living room. We had endured a hectic weekend and needed some time to just sit quietly and de-stress. After a little while we decided we needed to rearrange the furniture. Did you know that rearranging furniture is a proven stress-reliever? I don't know why exactly. Maybe it's the exertion of pushing around heavy furniture or it's symbolic to rearranging things in your life to a more harmonious way. Who knows, but it always works for me!

Anyway, after we had moved everything around and were satisfied with the results we were left with unsightly indentations in the carpet where the couch and chair had once been. I remembered reading recently in an Ask Heloise column in Good Housekeeping Magazine that if you place ice cubes in the divots and let them melt it will cause the carpet to spring back up. Well, I tried it and sure enough by morning I could barely see them! After vacuuming, I couldn't see them at all. It worked great and that's definitely a little trick I'll use again and again. :)

Christmas in a Bin

One bin for each kid!

Yes, I know my last post was also about Christmas. It's because I'm trying to tell you something... Get your Christmas shopping done early so you can enjoy the Holidays!

My husband, Nathan, is my perfect match. He and I complicate each other in every way. Where I am weak he is strong and vice versa. We also share many of the same traits. One of them is list making. We both love to make lists and plan ahead!

Nathan and I start planning Christmas in September. We start by making a running list of all the presents we want to buy, complete with estimated prices. As we think of more things we add them to list or subtract them as we learn more about what our kids and each other really want for Christmas. Then we get to work collecting the gifts. Most of our shopping is done online which is much less hectic and much more convenient.

Each of our children have a bin in the garage numbered with their corresponding birth number. As the gifts arrive, they go in the bin to await wrapping time. My mom used to hide our presents in her closet and there were a few times that things got lost in there only to be found years later. Hmm, there's probably still some lost in there!

Thanksgiving weekend, the tree goes up and the presents get wrapped. They're all bought by then so why not? Nathan helps me wrap and we get through them in about a week. Then we have the whole month of December to enjoy the Christmas season. No last minute chaos at our house. See how much Christmas shopping you can get done this month. The less stress the better!