The month of November has been really busy for us. We’ve had company, or been out-of-town every single weekend so far. And, of course, we’re heading out-of-town for Thanksgiving as well. I’m making Thanksgiving plans, but my mind is already on Christmas too!  (And we have a couple birthday’s in December and January too!)

Mr. Fix-It and I have been talking in “parent code” a lot lately. You know, the way you replace every couple words with “you know, hmm” and wiggle your eyebrows a lot because little pitchers have big ears. We’ve been making a list of stocking-stuffers and holiday surprises and I’ve been scouring Pinterest for fun winter ideas. (We are definitely doing the minivan express!)  We’ll also get to babysit my niece and nephew on Friday afternoon (I don’t really consider it “babysitting” when it’s family, but since my sister will be at work, I guess it is.) and the Ladybug and I are planning some holiday crafts and special snacks (bite size banana splits and candy cane hot cocoa, anyone?)

Will you be going Black Friday shopping? My sister and I have gone a few times and actually enjoyed ourselves–but part of that was because we had a good attitude about it and nothing on our list was critical to our holiday. It was as much fun to be out in the cold, laughing and hunting the bargains as it was to actually get our shopping done.

Besides, I tend to shop all year. When I find something perfect, I buy it and stash it away.

For the kiddos, we try to keep the Christmas gift routine simple, and focused on Christ. We tell the kids “we celebrate you on your birthday. We celebrate Christ on Christmas” and we give gifts to each other as a way to share Christ’s love in us with others. We don’t use Santa Claus as part of our holiday traditions any more (and we don’t miss it!) and we try to think of gifts that are both wanted and needed and save the more self-indulgent gifts for birthdays. (Plus, they get plenty of stuff from family!)

Starting tomorrow, I’m looking forward to posting some Christmas gift fun on Tuesdays for a few weeks. I hope you’ll stop by and share some of your gift ideas too–I’m a little stumped on the Ladybug this year! Our kids don’t play with a lot of trendy toys, we don’t have time or inclination for a lot of tech-gadgets, and we don’t encourage them to follow a lot of cartoon or media fads, so sometimes we have to get really creative to find meaningful gifts.

Do you have a tough-to-give-to friend or loved one?

Oh, and while you’re here, be sure to stop by and enter our current Easy Lunchboxes GIVEAWAY!

I have no doubt I’ll be packing up our Easy Lunchboxes with snacks for our Thanksgiving travel on Wednesday! I bet they’re just the ticket for simplifying some of the holiday bustle for you too!

And have you seen some of the super-fun lunches those super-moms’ out there are coming up with these days?! {grin}