Holiday Preparations

Yes, it IS that time of year...or pretty darn close! This year I decided to start my Holiday prep EARLY for a change!

This evening I had Jeff (the wonderful) bring in all my Christmas decorations in from the shed so we could inventory them.  I knew I had a lot of junk and some crappy, old stuff that needed to be pitched, and plus since we've been budgeting I needed to go through them to get a good grip on what I NEED and don't need this year.

Last year we bought about 5 sets of indoor/outdoor lights to decorate the porch and windows with. We discovered they all blew out!!! Jeff thinks the shed got hit with lightening because they all worked when we put them away last year. The only ones that work are the tree lights, and they were in a more insulated box with some white fluffy pillow stuffing.  So, I don't think we will use lights outside this year...boo.  I really love seeing the house all lit up and decorated at Christmas! I don't know, maybe I can squeeze a set or two out of the grocery budget.

In addition to that, I sat down with my mom and went over the Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas menus.  We celebrate all the Holiday's at our house because it's the biggest. We planned out what everyone was going to bring for each of the big meals.  Christmas Eve, we play a game that I named $10 Pick and Swap.  Some people call it a white elephant or pauper's Christmas, but we don't play with used gifts.  We each buy 5-$10 gifts, wrap them anonymously, and put them in a big pile in the middle of the floor.  We put numbers in a hat, everyone draws 5 numbers and as your number comes up you can either draw from the pile or steal from someone else.  We set rules like a gift can only be stolen 3 times because otherwise you could be there all night with a stealing back and forth deal going on. Anyway, we are having a Mexican bar that night! Yum.  Thanksgiving will be the traditional turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, dinner rolls and pie! Christmas we will have ham, potatoes, salad, rolls, and some yummy Christmas desserts I have to find online yet! We are also having hot chocolate with ice cream! Have you ever had that??? It's the best!!!

I'm feeling somewhat prepared now for the Holidays and can't wait for them to start! I think I will decorate the house for Christmas on Thanksgiving.  This year if we get a tree that early, like last year, we will definitely have to make sure it gets lots of water. Last year our tree's needles were falling off bad really early.  We watered it but I don't think the water was getting into the trunk.  I think you're supposed to drill a hole in the bottom of the trunk so water can get up into the tree.

Anyway, hope your plans are going well! Happy Holidays!