Is it New Year's yet?

This is the most crazy but most fun filled time of the year and probably the only part of the winter that I enjoy. This year more than most though I have realized how hectic the season has become and how much more relaxing/ less stressful it would be to do less. I was shocked by the number of trips we had to make into the attic to retrieve all the decorations and am finding a conflict in our schedule more days than not. We have already decided that each child will get only three gifts under the tree this year including one from Santa and one being a joint family gift.  We picked names out of a hat for the kids and they will each give each other a special gift of something nice they will do for that person but they are still working on the ideas.  We are donating the gifts that they received from DJ's work holiday party. Of course they wanted to open them right then and there but have not asked about then since we decided to give them away.  The real eye opener for me was at the party last weekend one of the little cousins said to his mom that our playroom was better than the Target store. This was a real indication to me that they have way too much stuff and most of it goes unplayed with, only to be a constant source of material to be cleaned up. It is not that we buy them things often and almost never on a whim but just that having 4 kids and a large generous extended family makes the toys add up over the years. So one of my missions for this new year is to simplify things for all of us in both activities and in possessions that require our attention and care. For me this means continuing to purge closets, drawers and files and for the kids it will mean selecting favorite toys and both donating and tossing the remainder. I am also trying not to bring anything into the house that is not a consumable unless it is absolutely necessary. The kids are not totally on board yet but we will take baby steps. DJ grabbed a few library books about simplifying life with kids and there are tons of great ideas that I am going to start implementing. The other thing that we are working on curbing is TV time for DJ and the kids and computer time for mommy. (including recreational blogging) :-) My hope is that in making these steps we will be able to relax and enjoy our time together more and concentrate on some new outside interests.   One new fun thing that I am looking forward to learning this winter is ice fishing.  I found myself an all season fishing mentor and he is going to show me all the ropes or should I say lines this winter.  Should be fun,  I just need to break out the thermals and hope that I can take the cold!  I am also trying to put more time into a business idea that I have been tossing around for the last two years and that I finally have a workable game plan for. It is a long term project and I believe it will take several years to reach fruition but it should allow me to make my own hours and work in my field of interest. We shall see how it all works out but at the very least we will all have less to clean and more time in which to do it.


Happy Holidays to everyone and Best Wishes for a Great New Year!

We will eventually be getting our Christmas cards in the mail and my goal is to have them beat Santa's arrival. It might be a close call...

*I will add more pictures to this Holliday slideshow as time allows.

It's officially December

Our Christmas tree looks more chaotic each year.  Everyone wants to help and they all want to put their own special ornaments up and the traditional glass balls get left in the boxes.  Oh well, it still looks beautiful in a disorganized, random way!

Thanksgiving

We decided to spend the Thanksgiving holiday in Vermont and I think we may have the makings of a new tradition. We stayed in Newport a couple of years ago during Thanksgiving and that was enjoyable and the mansions were beautifully decorated but I think Vermont was even nicer. Things were hectic the previous week so we didn't end up leaving until Sunday and made the trip in an uneventful 6 hours. I was concerned at first that there might not be enough to do in the area this time of year and the kids would get restless. It turns out that there was so much to see and do that we could have easily spent an additional week there without skiing and still not have seen/done everything we wanted to. They had a great little water park and play zone at the resort and everyone was incredibly friendly. I was initially planning to go out for our Thanksgiving meal but once we were there and settled in, it just seemed like it would be more relaxing to cook in and spend the day at the resort. It was a little of an adventure in shopping to get the ingredients together for the Thanksgiving meal and it took a few stops at local stores to gather up all the fixings. As it turned out I forgot to buy sugar to make the cranberry sauce and didn't realize it until I was ready to make it. I had to improvise and use honey instead. The kids baulked at the idea at first but soon realized that it still was tasty and went as far as to ask me to prepare it that way next year. The one big downer about this trip was that DJ had a project due for work and ended up spending about 2 days on the laptop and phone in order to make the deadline. That left me to play lifeguard to the kids, which was no simple task when everyone wanted to be doing something different and they had no real lifeguards on duty. Personally, I think they should have someone on staff there at all times. I was shocked at how little some people watched their children in this potentially dangerous environment. The other bummer was that it was unseasonably warm when we arrived. This was perfect for hikes and sightseeing but not conducive to skiing. We will hit the slopes later in the season. We did get snow the day before we left that transformed the mountains and gave us a taste of the winter to come.

We arrived home with Christmas on our minds and in our ears from the holiday songs on the radio. We decided to pick out our Christmas tree early this year since the calendar was not looking friendly for the month of December. It has been trimmed and the house is decorated. Now it's time to add Christmas to the yard but we still have more leaves to rake.

Less than 24hrs on the job and Gavin has fixed our old elf on the shelf.

Raking leaves

An ongoing project!