25 Days of Christmas

One tradition I have been working on for our family is The 25 Days of Christmas. I love Christmas so much and I want Andrew to enjoy the season too. It seems like the month of December takes over and passes by before you know it. So I set out to give us something small to do each day (mostly in the evenings as a family).

I cut each one out and put it in the Advent box we have. Each night one of us can pull one out. I didn't put everything we are doing in the boxes. We will march in the Kris Kringle parade and cut a tree and such but I wanted mostly hometime things that mommy, daddy, and Andrew could do together.

I also looked ahead to see who would be with us what days...and made them so guests could join in. We will see how it goes. I hope to put up a blog entry each day so Andrew's grandparents who can't be close by can enjoy the activites with him. Maybe it will bring them near just a little. I know they miss him terribly.

This is hopefully a way to bless my home with the true spirit of Christmas, engage my family, and get the most out of the holidays.

I made a list of everything we needed for these activities and put them in a basket so it is stress free for me. I just have to pull out the basket each night.

1st~ Get out the Manger Scene

2nd~ Tonight we will hang some
Twinkling lights

3rd~ Tonight we will read how
Mary said Yes to God


4th~ Lets make a Craft
Ask mommy & Daddy
for the rings

5th~ We will read about St. Nicholas
Who left coins just like these
for people in their shoes


6th~ Tonight we trim
the Christmas tree!

7th~ Lets String some Popcorn
& Cranberries


8th~Today we will bake
Christmas Cookies


9th~Lets play a Christmas
Game with Daddy!

10th~Lets decorate a Gingerbread house
together as a family

11th~Lets put up the outside
lights and turn them on!


12th~Story time tonight
Pick a Christmas book

13th~Lets watch a Christmas movie

14th~Lets make Cards for everyone
we love and mail them

15th~Ask Mommy for a special gift today

16th~Lets go see special lights tonight

17th~Light the candles and
turn out the lights
Its time to play a game!

18th~Sing Christmas songs and Dance!

19th~Lets Read about Mary and Joseph

20th~Lets make some holiday treats!

21st~ Make a Christmas Craft

22nd~Surprise!

23rd~ Share dinner with friends tonight!

24th~Here is a gift from mommy and Daddy
Lets hang out stocking and go to sleep

25th~Lets read about Baby Jesus' birth
and how he loved us so much

FlyLady How I Love Thee!

I stumbled on an article in Woman's day in October of 2002. It was written by a woman who called herself the FlyLady. At the time I was a brand new housewife with a full time job. I was struggling to find a way to keep up with everything I thought I was supposed to as a new wife.

It caught my eye because FlyLady mentioned her inspiration came from a book. The Side Tracked Home Executives. As a young girl I remember my mother reading the book, and I too read the book just after I got married. It was funny, true to my life, and had a good system. I however got lost in the many pieces of paper associated with this system.

FlyLady's plan was simple. 15 minutes a day! I could do that right? Yep I sure could! She would even send out reminder emails. I could do that!

I also loved that she started preparing for the holidays in October. By preparing I mean cleaning the house well, gathering supplies, and making things ready...so on December 1st I would be ready to do the fun party of Christmas. This appealed to me the one who would celebrate Christmas year round if I could!

It turned out to be a great Christmas. I had found a great routine, I had found great friends who also were working on her routines. Over the years I have gone though good time and not so great times in my quest to be a domestic goddess! I have read many books on organization and effeciency in keeping the home. I always end up back with FlyLady.

This year is the same. I struggled after having Andrew to find a good routine, so at the begining of the year I jumped back into getting the house organized and running well. I had let it slip pretty badly Andrew's first year of life (which is completely understandable).

Stephanie a friend of mine who should be FlyLady's poster child has been such a great source of support and encouragement. We chat each week about our goals, and projects. She has helped me completely flip a few rooms back in the summer. Recently she sponsored a great FlyLady BootCamp to get our butts in gear again. It was a great 9 weeks!

So this Christmas looks vastly different from last December. My house is clean and ready for company, I finished my shopping a month ago and came in under budget, my Christmas cards are addressed and ready to go. All I have to do is maintain everything and do the fun stuff now!

FlyLady may not be for everyone... but if there is a moral to this Blog Post, it would be, find what works for you and don't stop trying. Love yourself and your family enough to keep trying!

For those who do not know who FlyLady is check out her website: www.flylady.net. She is on Facebook too! When I joined her site it was very small and growing. It has grown SO much and there are SO many resources for all areas of life. It really is great!

The stressed out woman!

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(Page 11)

I stumbled upon this article while eating breakfast. It provoked thoughts that I have had for sometime. I have to agree with this article. I have been privileged to know many great moms. Some work full time out of the home, some work full time in the home, and others are SAHM's who work in the home for now monetary gain. They all are wonderful parents!

One thing that I have thought for a long time is that in our quest for Liberation we have finally gotten the right to do and be who we want to be. No matter if that is a corporate position or a humanitarian position. For many years it was an uphill fight and it still is difficult for some to attain equal recognition and pay. Even as a volunteer Site Administrator for a large Mommy site I see the power women have when they come together united for a specific cause. We are a force to be reckoned with.

I have also seen a down side to what our mother's generation (and the current one) fought so hard for. While we do have choice, we end up still taking on the role of doing the majority of raising the children, keeping the house, and running all the domestic things our parents did. We have the different tools to do that now, such as the drive-thru meal and stores being open late.

I have a wonderful husband, who helped out when I worked full-time out of the home. We share cleaning and life's responsibilities. However no matter how it was slanted. I took the heavier domestic load. I see so many of my mommy friends who work full-time "to make ends meet" and still come home to cook dinner and do the majority of the work. I think two main reasons for this is our social culture has not quite caught up. Many men try to help but honestly our culture does not expect men to come home and work the same. Women also nurture on different level so if it must get done, we will do it, regardless of the impact on ourselves.

I would not change history, our freedom and liberties as women are important. I am grateful to have the choice of staying home to keep the house or working (I know Many women don't have that option anymore, they have to work). I think more than anything our culture is having to catch up with our new way of life. A more equal sharing of responsibilities between men and women. I also think women need to stand up (or rather sit down once in a while) and say we are doing too much, and work just as hard to achieve balance of responsibilities as our mothers did to gain the liberties we have.

Out on the town!

This Housewife is going out tonight to act like a teenage girl and squeal at New Moon for the midnight showing! I can't wait to spend the late night with the girlies.

Traditions at Home

This week I find myself looking toward the upcoming holidays. Thanksgiving will be here soon and then onto my favorite time of year. My son's birthday and Christmas. December is so full of Joy in my household.

I have been giving a lot of thought to what traditions we would love to continue building on each year. An obvious one is cutting a Christmas Tree and but there are other things I would love to do each year so that when my family is grown they will remember the joyfulness of the season, the loving that pours from our hearts, and comfort of traditions that are always there each year.

When I was young we had traditions, all of which I cherish. Some of them I have chosen to continue in adulthood, and a few I have created myself and will see how they work in the next few years. This year I find myself thankful once again for family, and traditions.

Life with a touch of Whimsy

whimsical |ˈ(h)wimzikəl|adjective1 playfully quaint or fanciful, esp. in an appealing and amusing way : a whimsical sense of humor.2 acting or behaving in a capricious manner.
So many times I find my life get into ruts. It is easy to only see the next meal to fix or the next load of laundry to be done. But what I really want my home environment to be is a simple blend of comfort, efficiency, love, and warmth. Where my family and friends always know dropping by will find something new, and interesting going on. I want life never to be boring.
This is why I love the word whimsical! Appealing, and fanciful to me are great adjectives of a place to raise children, invite friends in, and daily love my husband.