Is it November Already?

Halloween is over, and now the freight train of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's starts rolling. Most of my girlfriends are appalled to see Christmas in the stores before Thanksgiving is even here. I love it though -- it gets me in the mood to get a head start on all my Holiday chores. With three kids in the house, I've found that planning ahead and staying organized are essential to having a calm and fun Holiday season. I've also found that I spend less money on the little things when I plan ahead. There are a few things I like to do the weekend after Halloween to make the rest of the season much easier. They are:

Put away my Halloween Mugs and get out my Reindeer Mugs. Drinking my coffee out of a Reindeer Mug every morning puts me in a Christmas-y mood.

Get my centerpiece on my dining table all pretty so I don't have to think about it through the rest of the season. This year my leaves, pumpkin candles, and vintage glass jars should hold me over at least through the end of November. (See post "T-6 Weeks to Halloween" on 9/16)

Make about 10 dozen sugar cookies that can go into the freezer so we can pull them out and decorate them whenever the kids need a fun activity. I like to stock some spare reindeer plates in my cupboard, then when the kids are invited to a Christmas party, they can take a reindeer plate full of cookies with them for the hostess.











Stock up on my favorite hostess gift of the season so when we are invited to a party we're ready to rip. My Mom taught me never to show up at someone's house empty handed. However, when left to the last minute, the joy of gift giving can become the nightmare of rifling through your cupboards an hour before the party. This year I think it will be a bottle of wine, and these pretty bottle stoppers:




Plan ahead for the Advent Calendar, which comes out right after Thanksgiving. I've found that it's much easier (and cheaper) to buy all 25 gifts that go into the Advent calendar way ahead and stash them away for later. I can't show you what I'm thinking this year -- as you know, the Furber children are extremely involved with Suburban Zen.

Have the kids draft the first round of their Christmas list. That way they have a little time to add, subtract and narrow it down to their top three contenders before JP and I start our shopping in December.

Orchestrating a holiday season with three kids in the house is not for the faint of heart, but JP and I are pros. Bring it on Santa -- we can handle whatever you've got!

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