19 hours ago
Do you have a signature dish?
A signature dish is a food item that you are known for, that everyone loves when they taste it, that is one of the first things to run out at a potluck because it's general knowledge that you make this particular thing very well.
I have long wished to have a signature dish.
Last year I finished my Christmas Shopping in August.
That year, 2020, was (as you know) one of the most stressful and uncertain in modern history, at least for Americans, with shutdowns, riots, toilet paper shortages, and a contentious election (as always). With all of that going on, I just had a feeling it would be a good idea to get my shopping done early. Who knew if we were going to shut down again, or if tensions would be so high after the election that I wouldn't want to go into stores? Best to be prepared.
Ironically, I am still working on Christmas shopping as I write this in October, and this happens to be the year when I probably should have finished my shopping early. Fox Business has been warning since July that we might encounter shipping problems leading up to Christmas, and even the VP warned Americans to start Christmas shopping in August.
Rats. My instincts are clearly off, and I kind of wish now that I had followed my habits from last year.
Thankfully, Derek and I finished our family's Christmas shopping last weekend, and now it's just a matter of waiting for packages to get here. They are indeed taking longer than normal, but nothing has gotten lost in the mail yet, so that's a good sign.
Nevertheless, all these warnings about Christmas have reminded me that my Christmases always tend to go better when I start crossing things off my list early. If I can have most of my to-do list accomplished by the beginning of December, then I can take some time to relax and remember what the season is truly about - celebrating the birth of Jesus. So I thought I'd re-share a few of my ideas for how to have a less stressful Christmas season.
Start Early
As I already explained above, if you can finish some of the Christmas prep now, do it. This isn't just because things may get crazy this year, but because every Christmas tends to be a little crazy, especially for us moms. I don't know how many times I have been so frazzled and stressed during December that I very nearly missed the joy of the season. Here are a few things to consider starting to prepare early, some of them even as early as August or September (though if you start them now, you'll still be ahead):
-Buying Christmas presents. Start any time of year. My sister actually does her shopping for Christmas all year long, and this gives her the chance to get some great deals!
-Wrapping presents. Ironically, the one thing I actually do think I may have trouble finding this year is wrapping paper - usually by October Hobby Lobby has a full aisle of paper, but my local Hobby Lobby still has relatively bare Christmas shelves. This concerns me probably more than it should!
-Taking your Christmas card picture and/or writing your newsletter. Doing this now will eliminate that down-to-the-wire stress you might feel if you wait until December.
-Addressing Christmas cards. This is a tedious chore, and one that I like getting done early.
-Request Christmas books from the library. You want to do this sometime in November before Thanksgiving, and with any luck, the timing of your library holds will last you into December!
-Christmas baking. A lot of Christmas cookies freeze well.
-Cleaning out old toys. I told my kids the other day that they should start clearing out toys they no longer play with to make room for Christmas presents. They did surprisingly well at choosing things to get rid of.
Decorate Gradually
Decorating day can get a little tense around here, especially when I try to accomplish it all in one day. Last year I tried something new and started putting out our decorations gradually, decorating one room at a time. I did miss a little bit of the festivity of transforming the house all in one day, but the Christmas tree was still a big event, with wassail and Christmas carols playing. Decorating more gradually allowed me to be less frazzled about the mess, which in turn was good for my family, so I'll probably deck the halls this way again this year.
Say No To Non-Essentials
One thing that has been a hard lesson for me as an adult is that as much as I might want to do it all, I can't. Or I should say, I can't do every possible Christmas activity and not find myself running around like a maniac and crying at dumb things because of all the stress. I've had to learn to let some things go. Sure, we loved that Christmas parade when they kids were little, but maybe we want some of our weekends to be unrushed in December, and so I have to say no. Gingerbread houses are fun, but if we don't get to building one every year, that's okay. If I find myself with so many holiday events on the calendar that I'm wearing myself out, it's okay (and good) to only choose a few and let the rest go.
One thing that I think is helpful for deciding what should stay and what should go is to have a family meeting, especially with older kids. Tell them that you can't do every Christmas activity every December, and ask them to list their top three Christmas traditions. Then go through everyone's lists, and see what things are favorites that you want to do yearly, and what things you can make a semi-annual occurrence. It may even surprise you what traditions are treasured by your family, and what things they could do without.
Protect Your Time
Christmas is a time to be together with family and friends, and because of that, the invitations tend to pile up in December. Being together with those we love is a really good thing, but there has to be a balance. I am the type of person who doesn't like to miss any party or event, but when I say yes to so many things that I don't have any significant periods of time to refresh and rest, my family suffers. I've learned to plan out certain days or weekends in December where I don't have anything scheduled - this lets us have time to recover from the busyness, so we can enjoy and look forward Christmas gatherings instead of dreading leaving the house again. Does blocking off a certain number of days mean I have to say no to some things? Yes, it often does, but I found it's a good trade-off.
Consider Christmastide
Did you know Christmastide is a thing? I read about it in a book called Loving My Actual Christmas, and it was a revelation to me when I realized it's okay to save some Christmas-y activities until after Christmas. This site does a great job of explaining it, but Christmastide is a celebration and honoring of Jesus's birth from Christmas Eve until January 5th, and it is a traditional part of the liturgical calendar. Traditionally, you are not even supposed to take down your Christmas decorations until January 6th, the official ending of the celebration of Jesus's birth. Christmastide is where the idea of 12 days of Christmas comes from! So if you need a little more time to enjoy the Christmas season, you have a long tradition to back you up.
Make Time To Celebrate Advent
One of the most memorable traditions for my kids is our advent calendar, which is filled by their aunt and uncle each year. Not only do my kids enjoy the chocolate and presents during the month of December, but it's a daily way to point them to the One we are celebrating. Celebrating advent doesn't have to complicated - if you don't have relatives that plan advent out for you, just grab some advent readings online (this post has a bunch of options), and buy a couple bags of chocolates to pass out as you do the reading each day. A little chocolate goes a long way in memory making.
Slow Down
I struggled for years with constantly running to catch up every December, to the point where I dreaded all the work and planning of the holiday season. This makes me sad now, because in the midst of all the chaos of December, I found myself missing what it is really about.
This is our season to celebrate that we have a Savior, Jesus Christ, God made into flesh so He could take our sin upon Himself and die in our place. He came to die so we could live, a gift of eternal life with Him when we believe and put our trust for our eternity in Christ alone. Is there anything more beautiful about Christmas than that? If I am too busy during December to take time to ponder on that, to find joy in it, to spend time in prayer and Bible study with the One who left Heaven for me - well, then I am too busy.
It took me a while to learn that, but now that I have learned it the hard way, I have found myself enjoying December more than I ever have over the last couple years. Remembering that it's truly about Jesus - that my first priority needs to be slowing down and praising my Savior during the Christmas season - that has been what has helped me to prioritize, protect my time in December, and let some things go. Because if I miss celebrating the gift of Jesus in December, then I've missed the whole thing.
Do you ever find yourself stressed during the Christmas season, as I have, or missing the true meaning of it all because you are too busy?
Have you started getting ready for Christmas yet?
What do you think about the Hobby Lobby wrapping paper situation, should I be worried?
When you first arrive at the Creation Museum, you walk through extensive gardens leading up to the entrance. The interesting plants and landscapes they've created are very impressive! We spent the first half hour just wandering through the gardens and taking pictures. Wyatt even spotted some carnivorous pitcher plants in the swampy area, which we learned about in our botany study last year!
It started to rain on us, so we headed into the museum, and the entrance exhibits are all dedicated to different dragons in literature and legends, which could well have been inspired by dinosaurs. So even the entrance was full of interesting information!
Finally we went inside, grabbed a pumpkin spice latte at the coffee shop, and started our tour. The Creation Museum exhibits had themes including the difference between an evolutionary and creationist worldview, lots of exhibits dedicated to evidence that supports creation, and examining different fossils that have been claimed to be "missing links". There was a whole section about the archeological evidence for different biblical accounts, the importance of Genesis to the Christian faith, and finally an animatronic journey through the entire beginning of Genesis and the Gospel using the 7 C's - Creation, Corruption, Catastrophe, Confusion, Christ, Cross, Consummation. The Gospel presentation at the museum was so well done, I found myself getting emotional at times. It was very moving to walk through all these different stages of human history, including Jesus's sacrifice to save us from our sins by dying on the cross, and then to have the museum point us ahead to someday when He will return!
About halfway through the exhibits we took a break for lunch, and then bought tickets to a planetarium presentation. I haven't been to a planetarium in years, and this presentation was about the vast size of the universe. I tried to follow, but my mind turns off when I try to understand how big the universe is - I just can't. It was amazing to watch a presentation in a planetarium that ultimately pointed to how great our God is to create our universe, the size of which we can hardly fathom.
When we made it all the way through the main exhibits, we ended up in a gift shop and conference area, where I bought too many books, and then we watched a live presentation called Snakes Alive! And yes, several of my children allowed snakes to be hung around their necks. Mainly because Georgie, my three year old, volunteered to go first and made it look so easy.
After the presentation we went through a few more bonus exhibit rooms that I didn't even know were there - one about dinosaurs, one about insects, and one about Israel during the time of Christ. They are still working on an exhibit about life in the womb, and I am looking forward to seeing that one when we visit again in the future!
Before we left for the day we bought more fudge (we couldn't resist), and tried to check out the petting zoo before we left. Then we let the kids play on another really cool playground which was very similar to the one at the Ark Encounter.
We topped this whole day off with a trip to The Cracker Barrel for dinner, which felt appropriate since we Kentucky is part of the South. I had my standby of meatloaf and mashed potatoes, which never disappoints.
I'm so glad we didn't skip the Creation Museum, because there was so much interesting information there. I think the Creation Museum was especially a cool experience for Wyatt - he is my museum buddy, and the two of us were often lagging behind the others while we tried to read everything we could! I loved that we were able to go with friends as well - it was more fun spending the day together there, and I also think having friends around kept things fun for my younger kids who can't read yet. We tried to read as much as we could to them, but we just couldn't read everything! I highly recommend going with friends if you can, especially if you have younger kids.
Next up, all about the caves in Kentucky!
This has been one of those days that I knew would come over the course of this challenge, where I just don’t have a lot to say. So I hope you’ll forgive me if I just share a few lines from another hymn that I read in the book In The Year Of Our Lord by Sinclair Ferguson. This hymn stood out to me because of the “evermore evermore!” at the end of each stanza. I would love to hear this sung!
Of The Father’s Love Begotten by Aurelius Clemens Prudentiou (348-413)Of the Father’s love begotten, ere the worlds began to be,He is the Alpha and Omega, He is the source, the ending He,Of the things that are, that have been,And that future years shall see, evermore and evermore!He is found in human fashion, death and sorrow here to know,That the race of Adam’s children doomed by law to endless woe,May not henceforth die and perishIn the dreadful golf below, evermore and evermore!O ye heights of heaven adore Him; angel hosts, His praises sing;Powers, dominions, bow before Him, and extol our God and King!Let no tongue on earth be silent, every voice in concert sing, evermore and evermore!Christ, to Thee with God the Father, and, O Holy Ghost, to Thee,Hymn and chant with high thanksgiving, and unwearied praises be:Honor, glory, and dominion,And eternal victory, evermore and evermore evermore!
(This great shirt was from Diet Of Worms Apparel, which sadly is no longer in business! I keep hoping one day they will return.)
For the last three years we have been celebrating Reformation Day as a family, and doing lessons together about the Protestant Reformation. My kids have learned so much during this time, and they have come to expect that we'll do something fun to mark Reformation Day!
Since it falls on a Sunday this year, I plan on doing a few activities with them in the week leading up to Reformation Day (stay tuned). But for today's post, I thought I'd just share some of my past posts on Reformation Day as a starting place for resources and ideas. More to come!
---
First, recap of why our family chooses not to celebrate Halloween:
In this next post I share so many great resources I found for teaching kids about Reformation Day, plus some resources for learning more as a grown-up:
In this post I explained a few of the fun things we did on our very first attempt at celebrating Reformation Day:
And last year I shared a few more Reformation Day learning resources I found.
Happy Saturday!
Not only did some of my pieces not even fit anymore, but I noticed some of them were on their way (or already) out of style. I'm not sure when they styles started shifting, but it was sometime during my last pregnancy. While I was in new-baby limbo, what was considered "trendy" shifted right under my feet.
I don't fully know what the new rules are, and I also started to realize that I'm reaching that age where I should be going for more timeless looks anyway. So I'm falling back on classic pieces mixed in with a few newer cuts, which I think is an age-appropriate approach now that I'm well into my thirties.
One rule I have picked up on (probably from this Youtube style channel, which is the only such channel I watch), is that right now your lower "half" should look longer than the upper portion of your body. See, I like those concrete rules, and this one is fair enough. I can work with that.
But you'll notice that I still reach for those long flannel shirts in the fall. What can I say, I like what I like.
(I've also heard that showing your socks is back in - all the kids are doing it.)
Anyway, here are a few of my current cozy outfits for the fall, as I've been gradually updated my closet.
A few of my current favorites have come from an under-appreciated store - Walmart! I know there are a lot of Walmart-haters out there, but I have to say, I've been liking a lot of the clothing there lately, and the quality is way better than previously. And actually, it's main competition, Target, has been hit or miss for me for the last year. Is Walmart surpassing Target for my go-to for clothes shopping? I don't know, but I did get some great shorts at Walmart this summer, and I found the tan blazer, the light-wash skinny jeans, the grey t-shirt, and the faux leather joggers there this fall. (The Free Assembly and Scoop brands are particularly good for the price, but you have to check in the store - it's hard to find certain items online.)
Next thing to update - my shoes, since the heels I wore in one of the photos above are literally falling apart. I don't think I've bought any new shoes for the last three-ish years (except sneakers on clearance).
How often do you update your wardrobe? Any new style "rules" you've picked up on?
Aside from the snow we had yesterday and the snow we have in the forecast tomorrow, the wind was howling so fiercely last night. It's a blustery week, and I've been thinking of different ways to make my house feel a little warmer, a little cozier.
I was reminded of the hominess of stovetop potpourri by a friend a couple weeks ago. It's so easy to throw a few good-smelling things in my small saucepan, and the warmth fills the house.
A few essentials to have on hand for a simmer pot are:
-Fruit of some sort. My favorites are any citrus, and apples.
-A smattering of essential oils. Spearmint and cinnamon leaf have been particularly useful for me.
-Baking flavors. I add vanilla flavoring to a lot of my simmer pots, and coconut has also been a useful one.
-Various spices. Whole spices, like whole cloves or cinnamon sticks, are especially fun, but you can get the same effect with ground spices. I like cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and rosemary.
-Herb plants. In the spring and summer, I always buy a bunch of herbs, and I'm not going to lie, the main reason is to use the leaves in my simmer pots! There's nothing like min leaves, rosemary sprigs, or fresh lavender if you can get them!
I've tried a bunch of different simmer pot combinations, and they are almost always great, but there have been a few that I've written down because I liked them so much. I thought I'd share them over the next couple weeks. Here is one that I invented two years ago, and I'm going to re-create it today while it snows outside!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
