Christmas Helps For a Busy Season

I don't believe I've said before, but the church we belong to is The Salvation Army.  Mr. Man grew up in it, and my family joined officially when I was 15.  It is the church that Mr. Man and I were pastors in, and are now working on rejoining as pastors.  

If you know anything about The Salvation Army, you know that they do a LOT of social service ministries, especially around the holidays.  With all the planning and work that goes into ministries like bell ringing and angel trees, Christmas really gets going by the beginning of October for many Salvation Army officers.  The most important thing to me during this time is that my children not grow up feeling that the season was "ruined" for them by how busy their parents were and the lack of time spent together.  I know many families see an increase in activities during this time of year, however, whether they are in "the ministry" or not.  I'd like to share some tools that may help cut down on some of the craziness, and even help keep the focus where it should be - Jesus!

Photo Credit:  stock.xchng

• A tool I just discovered last year was The 12-Week Holiday Planner by Sheri Graham and Marilyn Moll.  It starts October 1st (whoops!), and has all kinds of goodies in it like check lists (shopping, cards, gifts, etc), menus, recipes, schedules, gifts to make, and more!  I'm excited to try it out this year!  You can also sign up to be notified of updates to the planner if you choose to buy it!
• On a tight budget?  There are free ones available, too.  The FlyLady has a holiday control journal, which starts before Thanksgiving, that you can print out and pop in a binder.  Organized Home has tips on how to create your own Christmas planner, as well as forms you can print out.
• I haven't tried it, but the Springpad app sounds like a useful thing.  I'm a list-maker (I'm making one right now!), and this seems like just the thing for me - if I had a phone that used apps...  I often have pieces of paper floating around with lists of things I wanted to remember or look into later.  I'm definitely trying Springpad out!
• Jen at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam has a list of quite a few Christmas traditions to try with your family.  I really want to do some of them with mine.  I'd love to try out something she mentions in the "Candy Cane Trail" post - only opening a few presents per hour.  I'd love to slow down the whole morning, and make the kids really focus on what they just opened, rather than flinging off the paper and then moving on to the next present.  It just sounds so peaceful!  And, lastly...
• Do you read A Holy Experience?  If not, YOU SHOULD!  Ann Voskamp has a way of connecting EVERY. LITTLE. THING. to living a more full relationship with God.  One post was about the power going out in their pig barn and her sons working together to keep the pigs from overheating.  Somehow, she found a spiritual application in it!  And, it touched me!  Anyhow, if you sign up for email updates from her blog, there is a link at the bottom of each one for her Jesse Tree Journey, which she wrote with Nancy Rodden.  If I do nothing else this Christmas season, I want to make sure I do this advent series with my family.  We need it.

I hope you've found something in that list to help you out this Christmas season - whether it is a way to stay better organized or an activity to help recenter your family on the true meaning of the season!


**Note:  The link to The 12-Week Holiday Planner is my affiliate link.

Christmas Cards by Shutterfly

I confess, I haven't sent out Christmas cards in years. So long, in fact, that I can't remember when the last time was! I don't even give them out in person! Don't get me wrong - I always mean to. I just never get around to it! With a little one that seems to change every day, I find my desire to send some cards out this year to be even stronger! I was excited when I saw an advertisement for Shutterfly's blogger special - in exchange for writing a post about their photo cards, I will receive 50 cards free! I don't know about you, but this fits my budget perfectly!

As I have never ordered from Shutterfly before, I headed over to check out their selection of Christmas cards. I've seen numerous deals for photo cards for free or next-to-nothing, but I never really found any I wanted to pay the shipping for. That changed when I got to Shutterfly's site! They have page after page of card designs! There are options available for one photo, or if a photo collage is your taste, they have quite a few of those, too! It's so easy to customize your design choice with your family's names, and then drop your photo into your card. The cards are printed on cardstock, which appeals to me, as I've received bent photo cards from friends and family more than once. If you prefer photo paper, they have that option, too.


After making six different cards, this is the one I finally chose (except it will have our names and my own children on it, of course!). I liked so many of the designs, it was hard to only pick one! Shutterfly also has many other items you can customize with your photos - what grandparent wouldn't like a mug or calendar featuring their precious grandchildren?

If you haven't gotten started on your cards yet, you can click here and use the code ZP9A-4N4K-TWWZ-EUC5C5 to get 10 cards free - just pay shipping and handling, which starts at $5.99. Hurry, because this code only lasts through December 8th!


* I am receiving photo cards from Snapfish in exchange for writing this post; however, the opinions expressed are all mine.

Christmas Party

Last night was the Christmas party for Mr. Man's employer. It was in Chicago, across the street from Wrigley Field. It was interesting, driving up there. We lived in that neighborhood 10 years ago, and I always like to see if my favorite places have changed. I would really like to spend a day walking around there some time. The last time I was there was a year ago, and it was February - we didn't do much walking around.

Anyhow, the party was nice. It's a small office, so it wasn't really crowded. I still think I only met a handful of the people that were there. My brother stayed with us last night, so that he could watch the kids for us. That way they were able to go to sleep in their own beds, and he's also comfortable with our dog. Plus, he did it for free.

Today, being New Years Eve, I am planning to do an appetizer dinner like we did when I was growing up. We always had a plethora of deep fried stuff, like chicken nuggets and mushrooms. We also had spinach dip and little things my mom would make. We'd load up the table and snack all night long. I don't know if any of us will actually make it to midnight this year, but I'll do what I can with the snacks.