let's regroup here

Ugh....I'm really not trying to let this blog die.  Just life getting in the way.  I am going to try to resurrect this blog for the Christmas season because I really love this time of year and I really do love looking back at this blog at memories from the past.  And my poor mom & Ryan...who are not Facebookers and are probably my only two readers :)...haven't seen any pictures for awhile!

So where did we leave off...

It was the middle of October when I last posted and we had just had a terrific "fall break" with pumpkin patches galore.  We were also hoping for a Royal's victory in the World Series...that didn't happen, but we love the passion and dedication of our hometown team...and they are winners in our book!

Halloween happened with a Rapunzel, Toothless dragon, & GI Joe Ninja!

We spent more time doing all the fall favorite...bonfire with s'mores!

We voted.

Ryan & I actually had a date night :).

Pretty much the month of November lots, and lots of messes happened with these two...

We had a Thanksgiving lunch with Avery!

And a little creativity thrown in!

Alrighty...we are all caught up...let's get the holiday season started!

I love doing lots of stuff with my kiddos during this season, and some may think I'm crazy for doing so much....but let me tell you my secret....plan & organize it all in November and you can sit back and enjoy the month of December!  Trust me it works!  Some may think I have decorated too early, when I put Christmas stuff up on November 15, but now it's done and one less thing I have to stress over...especially since we will be out of town over Thanksgiving break.

So here is everything I have ready to go so we can jump right in when we return from Thanksgiving...

We are decorated...done.

The one last decoration...our REAL Christmas tree, we don't have yet, but the spot is cleared out and the ornaments are ready in that container to go up as soon as we get it.

Then I focus on the several Advent activities we have going on in December.  The first one is easy because we created this wreath one at MOPS.  This one includes 25 days of activities centered around the true meaning of Christmas.  Done.

Our more than 25 Christmas books (that we already own) are wrapped and ready to open as we count down each day.  Done.

Our other Advent countdown chain is hung with activities listed for everyday labeled on it.  {Yes it's hanging from a picture in my kitchen...classy I know ;)}.  This area of my kitchen also houses our calendar that has already been switched over to December and our Christmas books.  All in one location makes life easier!  Done.

Making the activities to go with this chain is one of the more time consuming activities because you have to think carefully about your schedule and when you need to do what beforehand.  However, once it's created it is so easy to do one activity everyday.  Honestly, if I didn't write the things down where the kids would read it then they probably wouldn't get done because I would just push them off to the next day.

If you want to see what we are doing...any by all means steal as much as you want...here is my calendar.

Yes, we do have an Elf on the Shelf...and we do love to do crazy stuff with him around here, but you have to plan that ahead of time or it will be midnight and you are frantically searching for something to do with that stinker.  Also, set a daily alarm to go off to remind you to move him...trust me, it's a must!

Here's my calendar for that too!

Even all my cookie decorating supplies are out and ready to go :).  Done.

Now we can sit back and enjoy this season. 

See you in a few days!