Christmas Trees and December Goals

As Thanksgiving weekend glided to a close, our family quickly began ramping up for Christmas with lists and my own "hurry up and do" attitude taking over. Decorating and wrapping and baking topped the list and I was headed down the wrong path. Then an unexpected out of town guest asked to stay a few days. A friend stepped into our home and spoke truth and encouragement. We were able to take a breath and refocus.

I am so thankful for the friends God has placed in our life. I need to say that phrase more often. It is so easy to overlook the community around us. I am thankful for external events that often have to force me to slow down or shift focus. I am most thankful that before I wrote down these December goals, I was given a chance to weigh them with a new perspective. Part of setting these goals is leaving space for the every day life, not cramming things in just because we think we should.

• Do one Christmas activity with Behr each week. This is the slowing down part. I want to make every day special and magical for him during the advent season. And then I get overwhelmed and we do less and fight more. So one activity a week. Some ideas: Construct the gingerbread kit I bought for 2012 and still have on our kitchen shelf, bake cookies for friends (using the dollar spot star cookie cutters he picked out), sit and play with the nativity set, talking through the Christmas story.
• Do one festive family activity each weekend. Ideas include Christmas Tree Shopping (already done!),  Zoo Lights, National Harbor, a Christmas play or concert.
• Prepare my heart for a 2014 challenge that I am embarking on with Lena -- this includes talking to friends and family and asking for accountability.
• Finish the concept phase and photographs for my Spring 2014 Collection for my etsy shop. This lady is a huge piece of my inspiration for the collection, and she doesn't even know it! And because I am trying to prep for my new collection, everything in the shop is currently 25% off with code: BLOGLOVE25
• Pantry cook - be creative in making dinners from what we already have.
• Get the boys passports (the most practical to-do on this list!)

I am linking up these goals with The Tiny Twig.