This week we will be having our St. Nicholas Day celebration and putting up our Christmas tree and Winter decor so those will be our main focus but we also have our annual Polar Express party coming up so we will be focusing some attention on that as well. Here are some of the things that we will be working on this week:

1. We continue to look for things that don’t belong and get them put away where they belong or get rid of things we don’t really need as we do our weekly ‘Home Blessings’. I will also have the kids sorting through their toys and clothes to make room for things that may be coming in soon.
2. I’m hoping that we have already mailed everything that needs to be mailed and received all of the gifts that we have ordered but if we haven’t then we definitely need to make sure that those things are taken care of this week!
3. I should already have all of the wrapping supplies I need by now so that I can begin the process of wrapping things up. I will try to have a wrapping station set up in one of our sheds and usually, I keep a notebook to write down what I’ve wrapped. I don’t put names on anything until we are ready to deliver it or put it under the tree so that maybe we can prevent some of the sneak peeks. Ex: 1 – Joey, toy car, 2 – Bella, sweater, etc. I make sure to keep the notebook in a safe place as well and occasionally snap a quick pic of the list to share with Mr. Awesome.
4. I will review the menu lists in my Holiday Planner so I can try to add as many of the pantry goods to my weekly grocery list as well as double checking to make sure that we have plenty of the everyday essentials like toilet paper and paper towels because we don’t want to run out of those things when we have guests.
5. I’ll review my list of ‘make-ahead’ items and try to knock out a few of them so there will be less to do at Polar Express and Christmas. I will also make a trip to the store to gather any small gifts that we may want to use for St. Nicholas Day as well. There are a lot of cookie recipes that can easily be made ahead of time.
6. I need to make a plan for the crafts that we plan to do during the Polar Express, we usually try to make gingerbread houses so I’m not sure if that’s the plan this year but I should have an idea before this post is ready. I will need to have some candies, icing, and graham crackers on hand to make these as well as whistles, bells, hats, and other goodies for the party. We need to make sure that we have plenty of cups for hot cocoa and be sure that our little caddies are ready for use.**
7. I will also review what items we have ordered and what we may still need for decorations and small party favors for the upcoming holidays and events. If we have any last-minute gift items we will continue to shop as we get closer to the holiday season but hopefully the majority of the shopping will be finished by now.
8. I’m also trying to plan to do the 3 gift rule here this year but I’m not sure how it will go yet. I’ve got some links about this idea HERE, HERE, and HERE. This will hopefully encourage the focus to be more on Jesus than Santa and the gifts he will bring.
9. We will work on our homemade gift ideas as well. Some of these will need to happen closer to the Polar Express Party and Christmas so that they are fresh but we will try to knock out a few of the craft-based ones as we can. We have found some great ideas HERE, HERE, and HERE. I really love the ideas I found at Homesteading Family too!
10. We will be focusing on some Advent activities in our homeschool along with some reading and math but the schedules will allow for a lot more time to enjoy the holidays. You can check this post HERE for some ideas! We have some old posts about St. Nicholas Day HERE. I really want to make some paper mache wooden shoes this year so I have been looking up a ton of links like these HERE, HERE, and HERE. I even came across an idea for baking bread to look like shoes!*
11. We also plan to fit in some time to go see Christmas lights or Nativity scenes. I’ll need to make sure that we have some popcorn on hand to take with us and mix up some Hot Cocoa mix so we can take some of that along as well… don’t forget to add the marshmallows to your grocery list!

Life is crazy enough without adding holiday stress to it. The simpler we can keep things, the better in most cases and we are always trying to find creative solutions to things we need to get done. By spending just a few minutes a day working on these tasks it helps to get us prepared without causing a lot of unnecessary stress.

*Don’t try to do EVERYTHING all at once… we have gradually incorporated more ideas into our holiday season but there have been years when we just couldn’t do it all. The kids still had a great holiday season and everyone appreciated the special events more the next time we were able to have them. If you aren’t sure where to start then just try to think of the most special memories you had as a child and recreate them for your little ones!

For more great ideas you can check out the FlyLady website HERE.

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**These caddies from Dollar Tree work perfectly for movie nights, Polar Express, and when we go to look at Christmas lights! They keep everything contained and easy to reach for the little ones.

I just realized that I don’t seem to have a folder for St. Nicholas Day but here are some pics of things from my Polar Express Holiday Folder: