Holidays

Holidays, Recipes

Christmas morning I plan to set out this super healthy bread, bagels, coffee and juice while we open presents. The kids will get some healthy snacks in their stockings.

Around 11, I’ll serve brunch. Here’s the menu.

Make-Ahead Christmas Brunch

Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole

Even though I’m on the path to greatly reducing our gluten intake, this will be a hit with my family.  My friend served it at her daughter’s Thomas Buzz Lightyear Rainbow party and it was amazing.

Zucchini and Green Chili Egg Breakfast Casserole

I made this last Christmas and it was wonderful. Much lighter than your typical breakfast casserole.

Cranberry Harvest Muffins

I’m going to use my new Arrowhead Mills Gluten Free Baking Mix instead of flour. And it will make the house smell wonderful.

Merry Christmas!

Advice (Unsolicited), Holidays, Inspiration, Joy

I recently participated in something called the Holiday Joy UP. It was essentially a 10-day online retreat for women interested in tapping in to the joy and magic of the holiday season.

Led by the lovely Hannah Marcotti (whose writing I cannot get enough of), the Joy UP delivered a letter each day which explored a particular aspect of joy, along with a video from Hannah and the day’s assignment.

So for instance, one day we focused on Blessings, and the assignment was to be a blessing fairy–spreading little gifts or acts of kindness everywhere we went. (I’m still trying to practice being a blessing fairy in the high-strung parking lots around town.)

So many years I’ve longed to feel the holiday magic I felt as a kid.

I’d go to the mall just to try to get “in the mood.” This only made me feel worse.

I’d indulge in holiday treats. This only made me feel groggy.

I’d overspend on gifts, panicked that there wasn’t enough under the tree. This made my stomach hurt.

Having children of my own has helped bring back the excitement of the holidays.

We have our holiday channel on Pandora, our Advent activity calendar, our Elf on the Shelf.

But much of that is superficial “busyness”

Making cookies, opening early presents (holiday books or jammies), watching more TV than normal in the name of holiday fun, being more lax about sugary treats.

So while I started the Holiday joy UP thinking I was already full-on in the spirit of Chirstmas, having an opportunity to create a quiet space each day just to think about Joy from different angles actually left me a bit blue at first. As it turns out, pursuing joy can be hard work!

Getting quiet

The best part of the Joy UP was having an hour of focused quiet time each day (I did it during our mandatory 1-hour naptime/quiet time where everyone goes to their own room even if they no longer nap). Each day, I was able to open my Joy UP “letter”, watch Hannah’s video, and think/write about the day’s assignment.

The Holiday Joy UP helped me think about my intention for the holiday season. And it left me with a deeper connection to joy, along with the clarity that there’s a lot more to be explored.

Joy is Unfolding

Joy is Spirit

Joy is Blessings

Joy is Love

Joy is Desire

Joy is Faith

Joy is Magic

Joy is Celebration

Joy is Peace

Joy is our Gratitude

Thanks to Hannahfor this wonderful journey.

If you are interested in doing something similar, here’s where Hannah posts upcoming programs. I’m looking forward to her 2012 Making Space Cleanse.

(By the way, this is not a sponsored post.)

Holidays, Toddler

 

In our family, the key to holiday activities is keeping them simple and flexible.

To that point, I decide each morning what the days’ activity will be. I pull out a pre-cut red circle (I’m loving my new 1 circle punch), write the day’s activity, and put it in our Advent calendar each morning. (More about our Here Comes Santa Clause Advent calendar, and other adorable ones.)

We’ve been taping all the activities on the kitchen door, which is a fun way to remember all the fun things we’ve done.

Our Advent activity calendar list so far

  • Look for the elf on the shelf (he arrives today!) and read the book
  • Go downtown and watch the tree lighting (never made it to this one!)
  • Have fun for Judah’s birthday party
  • Go to our neighbor’s Christmas party
  • Get a Christmas tree and decorate it
  • See the holiday magic in the city
  • Watch Polar Express before bed
  • Open an early Christmas present (a popcorn maker) and watch a movie
  • Make Christmas ornaments (we’re going to make these)
  • Bake a treat for our friend’s dinner party (thank god for Trader Joe’s awesome box mixes)
  • Do our gingerbread village kit

And more tricks up my sleeve

  • Practice being blessing fairies (more on this in a future post)
  • Celebrate one night of Hannukah with friends
  • Take treats to our neighbors (best intentions…)
  • Go stargazing and soak up the wonder
  • Read Christmas books (we do this pretty much every day, but it’s a good low-key standby)
  • Welcome out of town family
  • Take our visitors to the city to see the big tree
  • Go to the Big Apple Circus
  • Take a night drive in our jammies to see Christmas lights
  • Make or buy presents for each other (I’m thinking about having our 3-year-old select a toy he doesn’t use anymore to give to his brother. Not sure how this will go over.)
  • Wrap presents
  • Attend a Christmas concert

 

That’s it–pretty low key. What’s on your list?

Advice (Unsolicited), Holidays

Let's spend christmas this way! And not in a hospital!

Last year I offered up “5 Mistakes I’ll Avoid Next Christmas,” in which I vowed to not wait until December for all my Christmas to-do’s.

If you share that goal, here are a few things to do before it gets too crazy.

1) Organize your photos

Each year I like to send out a photo calendar to close family members. I also like the idea of giving each child their own “best of 2011” photo book (not sure whether Christmas or birthdays is a better time for this, but we have a holiday-time birthday boy, so I’d need to get this organized either way).

  • Round up all the photos (your computer, anything that needs to be dowloaded from the camera, your iPhone, your partner’s iPhone, etc.)
  • Import everything into iPhoto
  • Put together a “best of” folder and upload to Shutterfly (This is the most time consuming step and I suppose you could always just skip iPhoto and upload everything to Shutterfly or whichever photo storage/printing service you use.)
  • Bonus: Start putting together the annual calendar and photo books

2) Plan your holiday card

Those superfamilies down the street are all booking photographers to come over and do their family photo for their annual holiday card. As much as I’d like to roll my eyes at this, we had professional shots done last November and it was well worth the time it took to plan it.

  • If you want a pro photographer, book now. (But remember this is not completely necessary, especially if you only plan on sending out a photo of the kids.)
  • Brainstorm some photography ideas, including wardrobes. (No khaki pants on the beach!!) Flip through Tiny Prints or Minted for some updated, gorgeous ideas.
  • Update addresses and add/purge people to/from your holiday card list.
  • Here’s a novel concept: Schedule a deadline for sending them out so they don’t arrive mid-January, like most of mine did last year.

3) Think strategically about gifts

During my children’s first couple of Christmases, I couldn’t wait to add all the loot to our playroom. We were new parents starting from scratch. Now we have an overflow room in the basement of toys. I want to think strategically about the “stuff” we bring into our home.

  • It’s a great time of year to do a toy purge, which will also help you assess what your children have outgrown and things you might like them to have more of (art supplies, anyone?)
  • Not everyone loves these, but I think Amazon Wishlists are a brilliant way for you to collect your thoughts about things you’d like your children to have–and hopefully their grandparents will agree. If anything, it should give them a better idea of the kinds of things your kids are into. The trick is how to GET them to the Wishlist…
  • Where do you stand on the volume of gifts you give to your family? If you want to do things a little differently this year, what criteria will you use?
  • I love this idea I read on Simple Mom (I’m still looking for the direct link): Each child gets 5 presents: Something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read, and something to eat. Not sure if I could be this disciplined, but I love the concept and it could be a great model for giving to a spouse.
  • I wrote last year that this Christmas, I won’t let extended family members get away with not telling me what they want. (Maybe that’s the way to get them to our Wishlists–have them create one for themselves!) I’m even thinking about suggesting we draw names so everyone gets one quality present they really want. (Instead of leaving them in our guest closets like my parents did when they flew home!)
  • Decide now how you’ll keep an inventory of things you buy along the way. Will you store everything in a little-used room in the house or basement? Keep a Google spreadsheet or list on Evernote? Don’t make the mistake I did and find stashes of little gifts hidden away–in January.

4) Decide what holiday activities are most important to you

And how you’ll make time for them in the midst of your already full family life.

Last year we didn’t go to a single Christmas event. Not one!

This year, I’d like to:

  • Be more plugged in to what my community is up to (the lighting of the village Christmas tree!)
  • Attend a church concert (how I love Handel’s Messiah)
  • Make at least a handful of the amazing crafts and treats I’ve pinned on Pinterest
  • Stroll down Fifth Avenue at night to admire the holiday windows (Bendel! Bergdorfs!)
  • Do an Activity Advent Calendar with the boys
  • Go to church at least a couple of times (first must find a church)
  • And a whoooole bunch of other things…But if I don’t look at the calendar and start blocking off some time, I know my family would just as easily stay home in front of the fire in our respective “comfy pants.” Which isn’t always a bad thing.

What else? What helps you prepare for the holidays?

Leave a comment here!

 

Image: US National Archives