I’ve written a couple of posts about getting ready for the holidays and I’ve mentioned that I would be gathering ideas for activities for the kiddos. The following list is some of the activities that we already had on hand… hopefully, they will still be available for you to download if you wish. If they aren’t available a quick Google search will quickly deliver a list of fun activities.
I have already pulled out the Fall-Themed activity box for the youngest… it is just a plastic shoebox filled with fake leaves, bugs, nuts, and pinecones. She loves to dump them out and look for the bugs.
Last week I posted about some of the things we are doing to help prepare our homes for the holidays and hopefully prevent a little of the CHAOS. We will continue to review those things and work on a few more things this week.
As we do our weekly ‘Home Blessings’ we will 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.
We will sit down and discuss where and when we will be having dinners and get-togethers as well as menu ideas so we can begin preparing those grocery lists! We like to have a special breakfast for St. Nicholas day and something special for Christmas morning plus we have some favorite desserts and cookies that we make around the holidays so we need to make sure that we add all of those things to our list. We may even try out a few new recipes beforehand to make sure that we like them.
If we plan to do any Black Friday shopping we will start making plans of where to go and with whom but this isn’t something I usually participate in. I may try to do a little ‘Cyber Monday’ shopping but who knows?
I’ll try to make a few freezer meals so that we have them for busy days during the holiday season as well as make a list of desserts, like pumpkin rolls, and things that can be made ahead of time and put in the freezer… these may also make great gifts!
I also need to check over our calendars as we have a lot of birthdays and special occasions that we don’t want to forget in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.
I will review and mail order items that we want to purchase and try to get them crossed off the list so that they will have plenty of time to get here before the holiday rush arrives. It’s not fun when your ‘perfect’ gift idea doesn’t arrive because it was back ordered or delayed for some unforeseen reason. By ordering early you will have time to prepare if the unforeseen happens.
I will review the menu lists in my Holiday Planner so I can find a few things to add to my weekly grocery list as well as 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.
We will decide what other gift ideas (and budget amounts) we may have in mind or if we would rather do a gift exchange for other family members… money is tight this year so we will be looking at some creative ideas that we can use to make sure everyone gets a little something.We may try to have a potluck on Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner to help with the cost of thingsor we may have a cookie exchange along with the Polar Express to help provide a few extra snacks for the kiddos.
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.
This dish is so unbelievably good and it’s easy and quick to make as well. I made it in the crockpot but it could come together quickly in a skillet as well. I had originally had Kielbasa and potatoes on my menu but I wanted to change it to something that Mr. Awesome and I could eat on our ‘diet’… this was the perfect dish to replace our old favorite!
I didn’t get any pictures as it just didn’t last long enough to take pictures. We ate this with a pot of ‘Get Methylating Soup‘ (lentils), riced cauliflower, and some fresh-picked Rosella greens… yum! I think the next time I might make some veggies other than the soup though. Fried potatoes and macaroni-n-cheese go really well with this dish.
I’ve made this recipe several times now, the first time being at Sweet Shyanne’s 2nd birthday party, and people have not stopped talking about them!
Mr. Awesome has jumped on the keto/THM bandwagon and has been asking for these again and again… the kids beg for them as well so I guess I just need to start making a double batch of them. The first time I saw these cupcakes mentioned was in the Trim Healthy Table cookbook and I thought some silly thoughts about the ‘surprise’ ingredient but I’m so glad I decided to give them a try and I think you will be too!
This time of year gets crazy around here, and sometimes I feel like I can’t sign up for one. more. thing! I did however just sign up for these workshops. I can fit them into our school schedule, as we are schooling year-round, to help keep things fun and interesting.
I’m all about the quick and easy. I also think that it might come in handy to have the kids be a little more independent around the house as I am scheduled to be out of commission for a bit toward the end of summer… more on that later.
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