Glass Deco

Over the weekend as part of our "gradual" Christmas decorating, the kids and I made some Christmas stained glass window pictures with a Glass Deco kit I ordered through one of our preschools fundraising toy catalogues. On Saturday the kids had a great time making these and then on Sunday they were most excited as I peeled each one off and stuck them on our cupboard doors in the kitchen.

This first picture is the one done by my not quite 10-year old son. Each of them chose their own picture from those I had found and printed off.

DD chose an angel. No surprises there! :-) (She gets to dress up as an angel twice in Christmas performances this year. Once for school and once for Sunday School. She is very excited about that.)

The black outlines are done first. I did them throughout the week in preparation as they're quite fiddly to do. This meant that on Saturday the kids were able to fill in the sections with whatever colours they liked. The sparkly sections are done using a Glass Deco confetti kit (so the glitter is already in the paint). I think you can get glitter ones in some stores too but this catalogue only had the plain colours and the confetti.


This tree is my "turning 4 this Saturday" little mans efforts. How cute is it? :-) I had to stop myself from encouraging him to use colours that I thought would be best. He needs to be able to express himself in whatever way he likes. He is so proud of this and points it out every day.

These are really designed to go onto glass - windows, doors, jars etc but they stick to any surface that is reasonably smooth. Stuck to my kitchen cupboard doors (the floor to ceiling ones) they sure do make my kitchen look festive.

I love things that the kids can do instead of using only store bought decorations. At the moment I am making some different pictures to add to jars for some of my homemade Christmas gifts. I'm hoping to have enough paint left that the children can make another one each for us to add to our glass back door.

There are some great Christmas colouring pages available all over the internet. I found these particular pictures here . I'm planning to print off some more colouring pages for them to colour in when school lets out for the year. Only two weeks to go now!! (my children have tommorow off so today is the end of week 7 here). They have a little over a week between school breaking up and Christmas Day so it'll be helpful to have a few fun "Christmassy" type activities for them to do. :-)

HELP

I am REALLY bad at asking for help. It's a pride thing, I know. But I wonder if it's also a cultural thing. Once upon a time neighbours were more aware of people's situations and therefore their struggles and would automatically lend a hand at times. These days it would seem that a combination of our busy lifestyles and our desire not to "interfere" has made that sense of community gradually disappear.

Isn't it sad that our lives are so busy that we find it hard to fit in reaching out to another? Isn't it sad that our desire for privacy and "individuality" has caused us to shut others out of our lives?

What about help within a family? DH and I have been talking about this lately. We've been trying to work out why his parents seem to want to help his sister and her family and yet seem reluctant to help us out - even when it seems really obvious to us that we're in need of some help. At first I thought perhaps it was the son/daughter issue. BUT, he has 2 sisters and only one of them gets the attention and the help.

Is it that they're not interested in helping us? Do they love her more than they love my DH and the other siblings? Does she appear more "needy" than the rest of us?

Sadly, DH and I have come to the conclusion that the only way to get help from his mother is to basically "tell her" this is what's happening. Occasionally I have gotten to the point of actually asking her for help, only to have her turn me down. This was very perplexing to me as it takes me quite a lot to actually ask for help and when I ask, I'm really DESPERATE. Not that she would know that I guess.

DH has taken over the "asking" now and he basically says "we need you to have the kids.....". And 99% of the time that works out well. I struggle a little because I feel like we're being "demanding" and that we shouldn't expect anything from her. We should wait until it's offered. I guess we've waited for over a decade now...... It's not that she doesn't really want to help. It's sort of a case of "the squeaky wheel gets the oil".

I guess on reflecting on all of this I feel a great sadness. A sadness that we've all let our lives get so busy that we just don't have the time to reach out to others when they're in need. I know that before my breakdown I was as guilty of this as anyone. I also feel sad that many people feel they need to put on an act of "having it all together" and not opening up to others about how they're really feeling. Again, I'm really bad at this myself.

So many people have commented at how shocked they were when I had my breakdown. Nobody could even imagine that I'd be struck by something like depression. Even my poor DH was rather shocked by the whole event. Me, well.....I knew something wasn't right and that if things kept going the way they were I felt like I was going to collapse in a heap. To be honest, I did try to tell my DH about it. He thought he could "fix it". :-) He's Mr "fixit" himself. He and I make for a bad mix when it comes to getting help because neither of us is very good at admitting when we need it.

I wanted to tell someone. For months I had it in my head that if an opportunity would come up, I would say something to one of my closest friends. Sadly, the opportunity never came up. Maybe I was supposed to *make* the opportunity. Maybe I was so used to putting on a "front" that I didn't know how to let down my guard enough to show people the tank underneath had run completely dry.

When I saw a Psychiatrist for the first time in January of this year, he diagnosed me with having zero self esteem. Not "low" self esteem but "NO" self esteem. I remember sitting and talking with a friend about this (finally getting to the point of opening up and being more honest) and she was rather shocked. Her comment went something along the lines of thinking that no-one would EVER have picked that about me. Do people really see me so much differently to the way I see myself? Sometimes, I'd really like the opportunity to just sneak a peek at the way others see me. Curious minds want to know and all that.

It's ironic that now I sit behind a keyboard and spill my guts in such a very public way. Not that the whole world reads my blog or anything. But they could if they wanted to..... :-)

In 2006 I was out of circulation for many months. In that time I was sent 1 card. Just the one. If I had been in hospital, do you think I might have received more cards than that? Don't get me wrong. We weren't abandoned by our friends or anything like that. Many people from our church cooked meals and cakes for us. I did receive a few emails. And people were constantly asking my DH how I was going and sending their regards and love via him.

But just 1 person of all the people in my life took the time to actually sit down, write a card and send it. To be perfectly honest, that hurt me a little bit. I know my friends care. I know how busy they are. And it's challenged me to consider how often in my life I've stopped and taken the time to write someone a card. Just a note to let them know I'm thinking of them. Nowhere near often enough.

I have been as guilty as anyone else of filling my life up to capacity and then some. Running from one thing to another. Constantly on the go. Constantly running so close to empty that there's nothing left to give another person. The hearts desire might be there. But if I don't act on it, how can that person ever know I was thinking of them?

I think we all need to take a step back and really examine our lives. Are we too busy to help someone in need? Are we too busy to bake a cake for our own family, let alone find the time to bake a cake for a neighbour or friend? Are we so busy trying to tread water ourselves that we don't even notice those drowning around us? And if we do notice - are we in a position to help them without drowning ourselves?

This is a challenge I want to take on myself and I encourage any of you reading this to do so also. As we move into the busy, festive season and then in to a New Year. Do we really want to keep living this fast paced life where people don't matter enough to us? Can we pause a moment and take a step back long enough to look around us and see how others are doing? Can we pop a little note or card in the post telling someone how much they mean to us?

What can we do today to make someone smile? What can we do to make their day just that little bit brighter?

Some of you may have noticed I've changed the title of this blog. I felt the old title was rather long and cumbersome. The definitions I've posted underneath are my own. They're not who I AM but who I desire to be.

What can you do today to spread a little "lightening" in the world. :-)

Christmas Countdown

Well, whether you like it or not, the Christmas Countdown is ON. :-) We're now exactly one month away from Christmas. I hope that makes you smile and not freak out. LOL.

It certainly makes me smile. :-) Did you notice my Christmas Tree widget with the countdown to christmas on it? That makes me smile too. No idea if it's in Australian days or US days but oh well, close enough will have to be good enough for now. :-)

I was thinking this morning about the fact that the US Christmas Season begins in earnest the day after Thanksgiving. What an awesome way to get into the "Christmas Spirit" than having a festival with the emphasis on being thankful. :-)

So today, I'm having my own little Blog Thanksgiving. That is, I'm wanting to be mindful of some of the things in my life that I am thankful for.

I am Thankful for:

* The birth of Jesus which ultimately led to me being able to have a relationship with my creator God.

* My husband who is the light of my life and I love him more and more each day.

* My beautiful children who make me smile more often than they make me tear my hair out. :-)

* My church family whom I adore. We go to the most awesome church that sits in the middle of nowhere all on it's own and is bursting at the seem with children. I was walking around in church this morning, no shoes on, rocking someone else's baby to sleep and I could honestly say there was no place I would have rather been right then.

* My extended family and friends.

* The fact that the sun rises each morning and sets each night.

* My blog where I get to have my say and through which I have made some wonderful new friends.

* My bed which is sooooo comfy and my pillow which I love! :-)

* Having a roof over my head. Not only a roof but a roof over a house I was able to design and choose colours for. A home that is also paid for. I am so blessed.

* A reliable car which enables us to move about and not be confined to a small area.

* My garden which makes me smile and gives me peace as well as giving us nutritious food to eat.

* Never having to go hungry or wonder where my next meal will come from. An abundantly stocked cupboard, fridge and freezer.

* The internet through which I have made friends and learnt so many new things.

* Chocolate. LOL.

* More clothes than I really need. Shoes to protect my feet and hats to protect me from the sun.

* The beach. We were able to take our children to the beach yesterday (about half an hours drive but we already had to go half the way for voting anyway) and they had such a GREAT time. It was an excellent reminder to me how much children really NEED in order to have fun!

* My knitting needles and loom which has brought me much pleasure, relaxation and created some useful items.

* That I have time to do things that I enjoy doing.

* That I live in a democratic country, even if I have my doubts about the outcome of that democratic process. :-)

* Freedom. I am free to have an opinion. I am free to believe what I like. I am free from fear of being harmed or persecuted in any way. I am free to be who I am.

* My books which are a font of information and a source of relaxation and escape.

I feel like I could go on and on and on here. My life is so blessed and I am surrounded by wonderful people and a LOT more things than I really have need for. It truly is amazing how content it makes me feel when I begin to list some of the things I have to be thankful for.

Do I really need anything more for Christmas? No, I don't. I really don't.

What are you thankful for? Perhaps you'd like to add it to the comments here or write your own blog post about it (for those who haven't already done so). :-)

Christmas Decorating

I have decided to do my Christmas decorating in stages this year. Sunday afternoons tend to be family time. DH is busy at the moment trying to get our crops reapt but takes Sundays off so this time of year it's often only Sunday afternoons that we're all home together. So I thought that each Sunday afternoon we could do a small amount of decorating as part of our family time.

I like the idea of spreading out our Christmas decorating. It makes it only a small task to do each week so it's not overwhelming. It also spreads out the fun of Christmas. Plus it will help mark the coming of Christmas. The closer Christmas gets, the more "festive" the house will hopefully look. :-) I'm planning on a similar approach to the blog. Adding something each week to signal the gradual approach of Christmas (yeah, I know I added 2 things this week but I did miss last week lol).

Last week we put out our Santa. This week we've put out the nativity scene. It's a nice reminder to us of *why* we celebrate Christmas and not *too* dazzling when we're still a number of weeks away from the big event. :-)

I looked for years for a Nativity Scene that I liked and ended up finding this one in a fundraising toy catalogue from the kindy. We've had it for a couple of years now. The youngest 2 kids have already had fun playing with it before it was put on top of my china cabinet. No doubt it will get moved and played with a lot more yet. :-) I like the idea of having a nativity scene that doubles as both decoration and a toy.

While we're on the topic of Christmas. Yesterday, I actually began my Christmas gift wrapping. Every year I plan to start early and get as many gifts wrapped as possible before December. But usually it arrives before I've even started and I have to cram all the wrapping into those last few weeks when we're busy with end of year and Christmas celebrations as well as school holidays. We also have 3 family birthdays in December (DS plus both of DH's parents). Which reminds me, I have no idea what I'm going to get them for their birthdays. Eeek!

I think I have nearly all my Christmas shopping sorted now. Not that everything is actually bought yet but I at least have a plan in my head of what I'm going to do. That always makes me feel much better (to have an idea of what I'm giving people).

I finally put my Identity Direct order in. Not sure why I kept procrastinating on that but it's done now. My nephew is getting a personalised Cars book from us with our kids names in them as well. I'm pretty sure he'll love it - he LOVES his cousins and he's a big Lightning McQueen fan. He's also getting a set of dinosaur stompers ordered from a fundraising catalogue. I also found a cute musical set in their catalogue for my niece to go with the musical DVD I have for her. I was stoked to find they had quite a range of items on clearance as well so I've ordered a few stocking fillers from their clearance section. Oooh, I can't wait until it arrives. LOL. I'm particularly happy to have my nieces and nephews presents sorted as I'm the kind of auntie who really likes to get the "perfect" gift so I have a bit of a tendency to stress until I've found something I'm happy with.

Here's a link* if you want to have a look at what they have on sale:

Just scroll down their categories list (usually to the top left hand side of the page) to find the clearance stuff. They're offering free freight on orders over $65 until November 20th (which is only 2 days away so get in fast if you want to take advantage of that). Since I needed to order more name labels for the kids as well as my Christmas gifts it wasn't hard to spend over the $65 and it saved me $8.50 in freight so I was a happy camper (or should I say shopper?). :-)

How is everyone else going with their pre-Christmas preparations? You might notice I've added a "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" decoration in my sidebar. If you visit A Juggling Mum (link is under the picture) you can find links to other peoples posts about Christmas and can add your own links too if you like. I think she's posting the "Mr Linky" on a Thursday each week.

* This is an affiliate link which means if you click through it and buy something, the company give me a small percentage of the sale. I'm using affiliate links *when* I want to talk about a company (if they're available) NOT mentioning this company because they offer an affiliate link. Does that make sense? LOL. Like I said, I have just ordered through them myself. :-) If you prefer not to use the link that's fine too.

The Spirit of Christmas

THE SPIRIT OF GIVING

With an emphasis on gifts, the spirit of giving is an obvious one at Christmas time. Unfortunately it's also the one that commercialism has exploited the most. But there are so many great ideas out there that involve giving without adding to peoples clutter and that still fit well within the ideals of simple living.

One of my favourites at the moment is the wide range of charity gifts that are now available and becoming more well known as each year passes. Last year I used Oxfam Unwrapped and World Vision Smiles Catalogue. This year I've used TEAR useful gifts. For those of you not in Australia, I'm sure there are similar projects available overseas.

These make great gifts for those "hard to buy for" type people. I also enjoy using them to go with a smallish handmade gift. I love the way the charities have set them up so that there is a great range in prices (and they don't usually include how much you've paid on the gift card they send so it's more like a "regular" type gift and there's not the pressure to spend "more" in order to impress/not feel cheap). I enjoy choosing things that I think the recipient will appreciate and writing a note to go with them as to why I've chosen that particular gift for that particular recipient (therefore making them more personal).

For example, last year my grandparents moved into a retirement village. They had always enjoyed a large garden and giving away lots of produce from that garden. So I bought them a vegetable garden for a family living in poverty and expressed how much I appreciated their giving spirit and that I thought they'd enjoy knowing they still had a garden somewhere and it was feeding people who really needed it.

This year I have bought $5 student packs for each of my child's teachers and will include that with some homemade goodies. I'm hoping that given their passion for education, they will enjoy the thought that a child somewhere in the world is being given an opportunity to learn. It doesn't need to be a lot of money to make a big difference and with LOTS of people making small contributions, BIG changes can be made in our world. :-)

Extended family are getting train a farmer packs (since DH is a farmer). We really LOVE the programs that give people skills and resources to go on and "help themselves". We also have started a tradition of purchasing something for our own family - to help our children maintain an awareness of others that don't have all that they do. This year I've purchased a vegetable garden pack because our children are so interested in our own vegetable garden at the moment.

I have had so much fun browsing online and selecting these gifts. It's such a "simple" way of Christmas shopping and truly embraces the spirit of giving.

I'm venturing a little more into homemade gifts this year. I've done some things in the past and at times have struggled with the concern that people would feel this is me being "cheap". At that point in my life, I didn't really place a high enough value on my time. Now that I understand a bit more about the value of time, I feel more comfortable in myself about giving homemade gifts.

One thing I am learning as I make this journey toward a simpler lifestyle is the fact that all time isn't created "equally". Many people would argue that the time it takes to make something really isn't worthwhile. That it would be better to go out to work, earn the money and purchase the item. I've been thinking about this one lately as I'm in the process of knitting a dress for DD's barbie doll. My intention was to knit a couple of items to use as a gift for her at Christmas time. I think I've lost count of the number of hours it has taken me so far. Yes, I will save a few $$ over buying something. But that isn't really the point is it? There are many, many hours of love poured into that tiny little garment. And while I've been knitting it, not only has love been poured into it, but the love in my heart has grown. It's been an interesting experience really and not at all like I expected it to be. There is also the factor of how much more I'm enjoying it than I could ever imagine enjoying working to earn the money saved, then having to go out shopping to buy a product that might be cheap but also wouldn't be as nice (I hope). But the way the love interaction has worked - that I didn't expect. It's not something that money can buy.

There are an almost endless number of ideas out there for homemade gifts. You only have to do a search on the internet to find many more than you'd ever have time to use. LOL. I will mention one of my favourite websites though (no doubt many of you have already seen and/or used it).

Organized Christmas

I particularly like the printable labels they offer - it's a way to make your gift look that little bit more "finished" (unless you're incredibly creative and can do your own - which I'm not really).

Giving doesn't stop at gifts though does it. You can give the gift of time. There are plenty of charities and community organisations out there desperate for an extra pair of hands at this time of year. Sadly time is something that we all seem to be short of these days, especially at this time of year.

You can give the gift of a smile. How many people do you see rushing about the stores wearing a smile. I wonder what would happen if you were to wander through a crowded shopping centre just giving people the gift of a smile? I remember when I was in year 12 and having a particularly stressed out day. I went down to the library to "study" (or attempt to lol). We had a section of the library set aside for the year 12's to use during their free lessons. I walked into the library and the librarian gave me the most wonderful smile. He didn't have to say anything. I very much doubt he would even have known my name to say hello to. But he gave me something very special that day. So much so that I wrote a poem in my English journal (yes, it was study - lol - we were supposed to write in our journals every day). I won't frighten you with my version of poetry (lol) but here we are more than 15 years later and that experience was so profound for me that I've never forgotten just how powerful a simple smile can be. It certainly turned my day around that particular day.

I'm sure we could come up with quite a list of ideas for giving. Feel free to share your own ideas in the comments section (or feel free to blog about it yourself and link back to here if you like). Interestingly enough, as I was reading my regular blogs yesterday I came across this post on A Bootyful Life . There are some wonderful ideas listed for ways in which we can give. Perhaps some that you haven't thought of. I know there were some that I hadn't really considered as ways of giving.



THE SPIRIT OF FORGIVING

This one isn't an easy one and is such a complex subject that we could probably fill a novel on the ins and outs of forgiveness. There seems to be something about Christmas that can make us that little bit more open to the idea of forgiving one another. I guess perhaps it has something to do with the love that abounds at that time of year (sometimes ;-) ).

I won't go into great depth about this but just wanted to share a couple of quotes with you.

"When I chose to forgive, I realised a prisoner was set free...and that prisoner was me!" (Debbie Morris: Author of Forgiving Dead Man Walking - at 16 she was kidnapped by 2 men and raped repeatedly over the course of 36 hours)

"Forgiveness does not remove the fact or event of wrongdoing but instead relies upon the recognition of the wrong having been committed, in order for the process of forgiveness to be made possible." (Joanna North, "Exploring Forgiveness" p17)

"Forgiveness is another way of saying, 'I'm human. I make mistakes. I want to be granted that privilege, and so I grant you that privilege'." (Philip Yancey)

"What is annulled in the act of forgiveness is not the crime itself, but the distorting effect that this wrong has upon one's relations with the wrongdoer and perhaps with others". (Joanna North, "Exploring Forgiveness" p17)

Is there someone you could extend the "spirit of forgiveness" to this season?


THE SPIRIT OF "YOU MEAN SOMETHING TO ME"

Sadly, Christmas seems to have become for some the "season of obligation". The feeling of dread over family get togethers and all the family politics and conflict that may arise (or just be an undercurrent of tension the whole day). The "I HAVE to buy a present for so and so" type issues. And of course, the dreaded Christmas card list. :-)

I'm not condemning anyone for having those feelings. Most of them have come about for a very good reason. Families do often have tensions - add some alcohol into the mix and some very hurtful things can be said. Present buying out of obligation really isn't much fun at all. And there is some validity to the whole "Christmas cards just add to landfill" argument.

I see a couple of issues that seem to get in the way of the Christmas spirit here. One of them is the spirit of "me". We look to Christmas for what we get OUT of it rather than what we could GIVE. The other is the spirit of obligation. If you give because you feel like you HAVE to rather than because you WANT to, the spirit of giving becomes overwhelmed by the spirit of obligation.

This year I want to challenge you (and I'm challenging myself in this one as well) to take the time to tell someone how much they mean to you (or have meant to you at some time in the past). How often do people touch our lives and we never tell them? I know there are plenty of people in my life that I've failed to tell them how special they are and/or were to me. It's easy to assume that people don't want to hear how much they mean to us. Perhaps that's too mushy or too personal. Perhaps we think that it wouldn't mean much to someone that appears to have it all together. Let me tell you, it matters. It makes a difference.

Are Christmas cards simply landfill? If they're written with a sense of obligation, yes. If they're written with the intention of reaching out to others, then I say no. I have to admit that I'm often not all that great with sending out Christmas cards. It gets put off until it's too late. But just sending 1 card with heartfelt meaning will mean more than sending out 50 hurriedly written "out of obligation" cards.

So there you have it - just a few thoughts from me on the "spirit of Christmas" :-)

Simple Living during the Silly Season

This time of year is not nicknamed the "silly season" for nothing is it? Here it is, the middle of November and already I'm finding my calendar is getting out of control. This is particularly challenging for someone like me who is recovering from a Nervous Breakdown. The temptation is there to really push my boundaries and "make things happen". Or at least - make myself do things.

I'm finding myself gradually returning to the state I was in before where everything seemed important and I couldn't decide what not to do. It's not easy to maintain a simple, low stress lifestyle in todays culture.

I guess we can't blame the approach of Christmas on all of our busy-ness. Perhaps because our lives are often already full, the extra burden of Christmas activities are what tips the scales. Here in Australia, with it being the conclusion of the school year, we have "end of year" activities added in as well.

My DD had a wind up for her kindermusik classes yesterday, which is why I guess I'm feeling like the pressures of the "silly season" have begun in earnest. For someone who is really only up to going out once a week at best, needing to go out 3 times in the one week is a little too much. Today is my "regular" day for going out. Tomorrow just happens to be the day my DD's class is hosting the primary assembly (her first time ever of being involved in hosting) and so the extra kindermusik break-up yesterday was an activity that tipped the scales in favour of "too busy". So, it's not really "Christmases fault" after all - but poor old Christmas gets the blame.

One thing that has saddened me recently is reading about how some "simple livers" have decided to avoid Christmas altogether. That they're celebrating the fact that they're free from the "burden" of Christmas. To me that's saying that if you take the commercialism out of Christmas, there is nothing left.

How incredibly sad that commercialism has so sucked the life out of Christmas that people don't seem to be able to see any other reason to celebrate it. Now most of you know that I am a Christian and so for me, there really IS so much more to Christmas than spending more money than you can afford on gifts people don't really want, clogging up storage space with way too many Christmas decorations and eating so much unhealthy food that you then turn around and have to pay money to try and lose the weight you gained doing so.

What about those who don't have a "religious" reason for celebrating Christmas? Is the commercial side of Christmas all there is? I don't believe so. The sentiments of "peace on earth" and "goodwill to men" are awesome things to be celebrated.

I have an online friend who claims that her family no longer celebrate Christmas. They've decided to do away with the commercialism that Christmas seems to be closely associated with. I respect their decision to do that. BUT.... here's the thing. Their decision as a family has been to donate a portion of what they would normally "waste" during the "silly season" and donate that money to a charity of their choice. In my mind, they ARE celebrating Christmas. The REAL Christmas. The true spirit of giving.

So, if you're starting to feel a little overwhelmed with the whole "commercialism" of Christmas. Consider that you don't really *need* to cancel Christmas altogether. Instead, let's get back to the true meaning of Christmas. Let's uncover that spirit that has been deeply buried in wrapping paper, tinsel and copious amounts of food and find the spirit of giving. The spirit of forgiving and reaching out to friends, family and maybe even strangers.

To me, Christmas is the perfect time to embrace the concepts of Simple Living. To consider that less really is more. Less overspending leaves us with more money to give to those who really don't have anything. Giving to those less fortunate than us helps us to grow and understand how much we truly do HAVE and how blessed we are. Forgiving others frees us from the bonds of hurt, anger and bitterness. Showing love to others allows us to grow in ways that are beyond our comprehension. Taking time out to get in touch with and/or spend time with friends and family - not because we *have* to but because they're special to us and we want them to know that.

This year, let's have the courage not to "cancel" Christmas but to celebrate in the true spirit of the season! :-)

(I have more I'd like to say on this topic so come back tomorrow for part 2....:-) ).

Santa Claus is Coming to Town.....

Actually that title isn't strictly correct. Cos Santa is in our front paddock relaxing with a drink! :) Yesterday was the Credit Union Christmas Pageant which heralds the arrival of Father Christmas in our state. Today Father Christmas arrived here (he usually arrives in our front paddock the day after the state's major Christmas Pageant).

This is our third year with Santa in our front paddock (and consequently our 3rd Christmas here in our own house - yippee!!!!). The first year he was seated up on an very old open cab tractor. Last year we put him in the old Fire Truck . This year he's reclining in a rather relaxed manner, surrounded by hay bales and merrily waving to passers by.

He's something of a community "legend" these days. LOL. The kids on the school bus have already been talking about whether the hay bales stacked in the front paddock have been set up ready for Santa. They've been there over a month now (I think) - since DH had some hay baled in that paddock. Hopefully they'll all enjoy seeing him set up there tomorrow.

Setting up Santa out the front has become quite a fun Christmas tradition in our family. I bought the suit from Cheap as Chips for $8.95 a few years ago and we made a paper mache head together. The poor old thing is just about ready to retire which is okay as I managed to find another suit this year (Spotlight this time for $9.95). The first time I've come across one since I bought the original so that'll be popped away in the cupboard next year.

I also picked up some solar powered bud lights this year so Santa is draped in 1 set of those and we've got the other set around our sign at the front (that says who lives here). It'll be interesting to see how well they work!!!!


Well, the Christmas season has officially begun.... I'm soooooo excited!!!!! Might have to start wrapping presents soon..... :-) Ho....Ho....Ho.....!!!!!!

Christmas Stockings

I am one of those people who have 2 feet firmly planted in the "I LOVE CHRISTMAS" camp. To me it really is "the most magical time of the year". :-) I know it's still a little way off yet but well, with November set to be a very BUSY month, it will be here before I know it. So it's nice to get a few *little* preparations out of the way early.

For as long as I can remember, I have been a HUGE fan of Christmas stockings. I wonder if it has anything to do with my primary love language being gifts? All those little bits and pieces.....very exciting!!!! :-) In fact, I seem to remember my love of Christmas stockings causing my mum a certain amount of grief. All those little bits and pieces can sure add up when you're on a tight budget.

Not that I find filling our kids Christmas stockings too bad. I often add things that I would have bought anyway like sunscreen, lipbalm, toothbrush, toothpaste, hair ties etc. Somehow getting all these things in a stocking makes them more exciting. Not that my kids are all that old yet (eldest being not quite 10). Sometimes I have freebies that I've collected through the year that go in there. Calendars and stationery passed on to us from various local businesses (although these things seem to be getting less and less each year). Last year DS got a calculator that had been sent as a freebie with a catalogue order I had placed.

What works for me is collecting bits and pieces through the year and then topping them up with a few practical things and some edible things. Can't have a Christmas Stocking without chocolate coins now can you? :-) My biggest problem seems to be collecting too many things and they don't all fit in the stocking. LOL. DH likes to tease me about this.

During my "spendaholic" years I solved this problem by buying BIGGER stockings. DH likes to tease me about that as well. :-) At that time we only had 2 children though so I ended up with 2 large stockings and my youngest used one we already had which was considerably smaller. Not a problem when they're a baby. But this year I think he's old enough to notice the difference in size.

Our stocking stash consisted of 2 stockings my mum gave DH and I just before we got married, one smaller stocking that I think we bought when our first DS was born, then the 2 larger stockings I bought for our older 2. After looking around the past few years for a 3rd "large" stocking for my youngest and not finding one the same, I decided that this year was the time for 3 new stockings.

Before our firstborn was even thought of, I remember seeing those kits you can buy where you cross-stitch a personalised stocking. I liked the idea of something that I had actually *made* for our children as well as the idea of having their names on the stocking. Great idea in theory but seriously lacking a "roundtoit" in practise. They're not cheap either at $60+ per stocking. I'm sure my children will have left home by the time I managed to actually cross-stitch 3 of them!!!

Then I saw some lovely ones in an identity direct catalogue and wondered if they would be the way to go. Personalised and all, and not relying on my "roundtoit" in order to be completed. Still at $40 each they still seemed like a hefty investment for something that is pulled out only once a year.

I then began to wonder if I could find a stocking to buy and then add the kids names myself. I'm not sure why I hadn't thought of it before but I guess making those felted bags with names on them for my nieces gave me the idea and confidence to give it a go. In Coles a few weeks ago I found some stockings I liked for just $2.98 each. Nice and blank on the top cuff just waiting for a name to be added.

I'm really happy with how they have come up. They still give the kids the "mum made this especially for me" factor without being either a high time outlay or a high cost outlay. And of course, it'll make it much easier for "Santa" to remember which stocking belongs to which child. With the only difference in the past being silver decorations or gold decorations, poor old Santa was left scratching his head a few times. LOL.

My "mathematically minded, extremely frugal" 9 year old was very quick to calculate the savings on buying personalised ones from the identity direct catalogue he'd recently been browsing (because there is a chance to *win* $10,000 so he wants to know if I'm planning on ordering anything....which I am but NOT to win $10,000 LOL. Just cos there's something in there I want to get for my nephew for Christmas). I spent $9 on 3 stockings plus $4 on gold glitter fabric paint. So $13 all up (is it bad that I just had to use my fingers to add that up???? *blush*). 3 personalised stockings would have cost around $120 (that's $40 x 3 isn't it???). Forget the cents.....that's just too complicated for me!!!! So I SAVED a grand total of $107!!!!

I didn't get into the fact that I didn't *really* save $107 because I NEVER would have spent $120 on Christmas stockings. Did I say never? Well....maybe I *might* have once upon a time but not anymore. No, I didn't get into all that. I was too busy enjoying the fact that I was a hero in my 9 year olds eyes. It doesn't happen very often so you have to enjoy it while you can. :-) I wonder how much longer NOT spending money will make me a hero in his eyes? Do they stay like that or does adolescence kind of *ruin* them?

And if you're still groaning about the fact that she's talking about CHRISTMAS already..... I guess you don't want me to mention that there is LESS than 2 months to go????? And 2 months isn't really all that long when you consider how frantic December tends to be. And of course with all the writing that will be happening during November.... well, some of you just RAN out of time. LOLOL. Why am I laughing? Some of you includes ME!!!!!

Oh well, I still LOVE Christmas. :-)

Photo of Santa

Well it's taken me a while but we've finally downloaded our photo's onto the computer so here's a photo of our Santa in his fire truck.

I'm glad he was inside the fire truck as last night while we were out we had fierce winds and heavy rainfalls. We're glad for the rain but poor old Santa probably wouldn't have survived.

As I'm expecting this to be my last entry before Christmas I just wanted to wish you all a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! Hope you have a happy and safe one with your loved ones. :-)

Edible Playdough

My 5 year old has been wanting to make peppermint creams for quite a while now. I told her we could make some in the holidays before Christmas. So, today was the day. Naturally all 3 kids wanted to be in on the action so I set them up to make a batch each. That worked out great as the recipe suggests dividing it up to make 3 colours. This way they could make 1 colour each and I knew we'd have plenty for "taste tests" as well as some leftover for Christmas Day.

It was such a simple recipe that it was perfect for even the 3 year old's involvement (with a bit of help from mum of course). His favourite part was the rolling and he made all kinds of shapes. Just like playdough really. Only it's safer to eat the finished product. :-)

For anyone interested, here's the recipe:

PEPPERMINT CREAMS

1 egg white
300g icing sugar
few drops of peppermint essence
food colouring (we made white, green and pink)

Whisk egg white in a bowl until light and frothy

Sift icing sugar and add gradually to egg white

Add peppermint essence and food colouring (if desired) - at this point you can divide your mix into 3 parts to make different colours if you desire

Kneed into a smooth ball - and until food colouring is evenly mixed

Roll into smooth balls, place on a baking tray and flatten with a fork


We plan to half dip ours in melted chocolate when they're set

I'm sure the kids are going to love eating their own creations on Christmas Day. And what's better is that they're so cheap. I usually spend around $6 on buying after dinner mints to have for Christmas. We already had the peppermint essence and food colouring and free eggs from our chooks so all up these cost me less than $1.00 to make the 3 batches. A little more if you count the chocolate but dark chcolate is on my list of "use it up" items so as an added bonus I get some help using up ingredients I'd bought for past baking adventures.

Simplifying Christmas

I'm one of those people who has always loved Christmas. I remember when I was about 7 or 8 saving up the lollies my grandma used to give me (we saw her every second weekend) and then dividing them up so that I could give my older cousins a Christmas present. They thought it was "cute". LOL. When I got into my teenage years and had a little bit of pocket money I'd always buy gifts for my family and friends. Nothing very big. I didn't have a lot of money. I just love giving people gifts.

This is one of those "good traits" that can turn into a "not so good" trait. I have a tendency to go overboard when it comes to buying gifts, particularly for my children. We have had years where the kids haven't even "discovered" all of their new things until weeks after Christmas.

Gifts aren't the only part of Christmas I love. I love the Christmas music and decorating and cooking. My mum was never really into buying and giving gifts but one thing she was into at Christmas time was FOOD. To her you can't have Christmas without 6 or 7 different types of meat and about 15 salads. Add onto that about 4 choices of dessert and numerous nibbles and drinks and you have a feast fit for a king. :-) I think I've inherited her ability to "overcater". If we have Christmas here it's always a big affair taking heaps of time to prepare for and then days of "headache" trying to use it all up without too much wastage. In fact this year we were still using up snacky type stuff I had bought in October. Admittedly that was because some of it got "lost" in the back of the top shelf of the pantry cupboard.

In the past few years we've been trying to gradually simplify our lives. It's been a very slow and sometimes frustrating process. I think it's one of those "ongoing" things we'll always be striving for. Especially when it comes to "stuff". I've been doing better at not "overdoing" things on the present front when it comes to our kids but other than that I haven't really tried to "simplify Christmas".

So this is the year we're working on "simplifying Christmas". I started by not buying too much too early in the year. I already had some things in the cupboard but I made it somewhat of a "rule" that I wouldn't buy toys in the mid-year sale unless they were more heavily discounted that the usual 20% off. That wasn't an easy decision to make as we live a long way from department stores so we don't always have access to those kind of sales. My problem was that I'd buy too much too early and then the kids would ask for something else so I'd end up buying extra and in the end we'd have way too much stuff. Stocking fillers were even worse. I'd pick up things throughout the year and end up with enough to fill at least 2 stockings per child (and our stockings aren't small). They especially get left until late in the year and that's cut down dramatically on my overbuying. We've also tried to include a lot more "practical" and "consumable" type gifts to cut down on clutter but still have a number of packages for them to open come Christmas morning.

The next part of our simplification of Christmas has taken the form of cutting down on gifts bought for extended family. While this does cut down on costs, it wasn't the motivating factor in us making this change. I do enjoy buying gifts for people but being a perfectionist, I'd put a lot of time and stress into trying to find the "perfect" gift for each person. That gets harder as you all get older and really have more "stuff" than you need. I like the idea of homemade gifts and do do this a bit, especially for anyone we're going to be seeing Christmas Day. Most of our family members don't really appreciate "homemade" gifts if they've bought you something so we figured it was time to just make the break from the whole gift thing. We still buy for both sets of parents but there is no real "expectation" thing happening there which makes it easier. We also buy for my grandparents and also our nieces and nephews. I do love kids gifts because you can spend a small amount or a large amount and the kids still love it (at the age my nieces and nephews are anyway). I've gone for charity style gifts for the parents and grandparents this year with just a smaller thing for them to unwrap. Hopefully they like the idea.

Probably the biggest step we've made in simplifying Christmas this year though will be our plans for Christmas Day. Every year we go through the "which family will we be with this Christmas". There's 1000km between them so doing them both is mostly impossible (unless they both come to us which we've sometimes done). This year we're going camping and avoiding the whole "big family Christmas" thing. It'll be just the 5 of us (DH, me and the 3 kids). I'm really looking forward to it. Camping lends itself to a more simplistic style of Christmas food too. DH and I discussed it today and we're going to have 3 meats (corned beef, turkey roll and bought shaved ham) and 3 salads (potato, noodle and tossed). Preparation should be easy and because we have to pack it all up to take with us I won't be making huge amounts of anything. Christmas morning there should be very little for me to do other than the tossed salad.

I've even given the baking I usually do the flick this year and have just bought a small box of shortbread (I usually make shortbread which is a lot cheaper than buying it but fairly time consuming). The kids want to make peppermint creams but that's the only baking I plan to do this year unless the fancy takes me to do something else between now and then. The main thing is I'm not putting pressure on myself to achieve a "to do" list a mile long.

So, I've always been a big fan of Christmas but this year I feel like I'm looking forward to it even more than usual. :-)