Hey everybody!

I know it has been very busy around here and it seems that we truly have been jumping from one challenge to another here lately but we are surviving! We pray that you are doing well too and that everyone is starting to feel like they can breathe a little easier with all the events that have unfolded around us recently.

I really don’t want to think about the holidays yet but they are fast approaching. I know that they will be a little different this year but that’s ok. We are so blessed and thankful for all that we already have. I just wanted to throw out a couple little reminders of things that you can do now if you are planning any special dinners or events. We know that getting family and friends together can help lift everyone’s spirits and we like to try to have a few special events a year… this year has been a little extra but that’s ok.

Now is the time to start looking for Christmas decorations… if you wait much longer then they may be gone. Take a few minutes this weekend and look over your plans for Advent, Christmas, or Polar Express to see what things you may need to get so that you can start buying them now. If you are planning to do something for St. Nicholas Day then now would be the time to start looking for those gold-covered coins and any study guides or activity ideas that you would like to use.

Another thing that you may want to grab right now is candy corn and/or candy pumpkins for those Thanksgiving crafts and treats. You may even want to get the menu planned for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and any other events that you are thinking about. There have been predictions of food shortages and we have seen some of this in our area already. By starting to buy things now you can help alleviate stress later on.

Holiday Meals

You may also check into charities that are taking donations to the hardest-hit areas. There should be places that will be making Thanksgiving dinners and such for those communities. A lot of them are completely dependent on donations.

One last tip that I saw mentioned recently was to go through your kid’s closets and toys now… donate the things now or post them on your local swap pages. A lot of people wait until after Christmas to donate things and the thrift stores are overloaded with toys and clothes. If you can donate them earlier then the parents who are looking for gifts before Christmas may have a chance to find what they are looking for so that they have something for their kiddos to open on Christmas morning.

Event Planning Guide

If you want a little more help getting ready for the Holidays you can check out my FREE Event Planning Notebook and make sure that you are subscribed to the blog as I do have some planning posts that are broken down week by week… I wrote them last year not knowing what we’d be going through this year. It’s a good thing that they were already written because that would’ve been another thing to stress me out right when my time seems to be in short supply and feel like I’m being stretched a little too thin at times.

12 Weeks of Holiday Planning

We hope you have a great weekend!

God Bless!

P.S. If you are planning a garden for the winter or next spring then now is the time to work on that as well! A lot of trees do best when they are planted while dormant and many places are selling them at a discount right now so you may want to consider adding a fruit tree or two to your property or maybe even buying them as gifts for others… that would truly be a gift that keeps on giving.

Here are links to a few of those planning posts to get you started:

Getting Ready for the Holidays Weeks 1 & 2

Getting Ready for the Holidays Week 3

Getting Ready for the Holidays Week 4