Christmas in October

This year I'm going to take a different approach to Christmas.  In years past, I've been a crazed shopper, baker and gift wrapper in the weeks leading up to Christmas.  I don't think I've ever been as stressed as I was last year.  Last year was the first Christmas season for my Etsy shop and I had no idea how busy it would be.  Unfortunately, the busy time in the shop and the busy time in life are at the SAME TIME!  I was completely unprepared.  Throw in a 3 year old and an 18 month old and I was ready for the loony bin.

This year, I'm going to take a more organized approach.  At the grocery store yesterday, I bought sugar cookie mix and I'm planning to bake and freeze those cookies this weekend (while the kids are conveniently at Gram's!).  That way, when we want to decorate the cookies for Christmas, all I have to do is thaw them out.  There are some things I will want to bake at Christmas time, but at least this will lighten the load.

I also have a better handle on gifts this year.  I am terrible at thinking up gifts for people and certainly this one of the more stressful things about Christmas for me.  I really want to get people something they will like/use/enjoy.  This isn't always an easy task, especially for the men in my life.  Surprisingly, I've actually been able to come up with some ideas myself this year and I'm getting a head start on shopping.

I haven't sent out Christmas cards in the last couple of years and I think I'll continue that this year.  It's really a pain to address so many envelopes.  It's much simplier to create the card and post it to Facebook as it pretty much reaches the same people that way anyway.

I really want to relax and enjoy the holiday season this year instead of dreading it.  I'd also like to start new traditions now that the kids are older and have the time to enjoy those.  I'm still on the hunt for ways to make it simpler and if I find any, I'll share those too.