Lets party like it's 2009 - Week Eighteen of The Holiday Grand Plan

Well Christmas is over and not quite forgotten even though all the toys have been unwrapped and played with and are currently scattered across most of our living room and bedrooms and the landing and bathroom... Daddy and I are fighting a losing battle against an ever increasing Toy Army!

We had a really great day and saw most of our family on Christmas Day and even with Daddy needing to leave to go to work in the early evening, we spent a lot of quality time together and even managed to keep the Kitchen fairly tidy! We were so on the ball this year that we have stripped the Turkey, used up all the left over Veg (Baby Boy and I had Bubble and Squeak for Breakfast on Boxing Day and I had what was left in an omlette today!), made stock from the Turkey Carcass and I have a a few meals for the left over Turkey planned.

We are thinking about changing a few things next year and we are also going to need to think about what can be done about the number of toys that are gifted to Top Ender and Baby Boy because we don't live in a TARDIS, despite my attemps to woo David Tennant, but for now we are enjoying the gifts we were lucky enough to be given and the leftover Chistmas goodies (such as the Christmas cake and Christmas pudding!) as well as looking forward to New Year!

Daddy is working on New Years Eve and so this will be the first time in ten years that we haven't seen the New Year in together. We will of course be on the phone to each other (we have VOIP phones so should be able to connect despite all the other people trying to talk to each other at the same time!) and will more than likely both be watching Myleene Klass on the BBC with events from London.

This week in the Holiday Grand Plan it is suggested that we write our thank you notes, take down our trees and decorations and of course think about the New Year that is stretching out ahead of us. We will take our decorations down on the 1st and 2nd of January (before Top Enders Birthday but after New Year) and our thank you notes should all be in the post on the 29th December!

And this marks the end of the Holiday Grand Plan and Christmas 2009, but it is just the start for preparing for Christmas in 2010! Yes that's right I am already thinking about next year and planning to ease into Christmas preparation by stocking up on good value finds throughout the year.

If you would like to join me then stop on by on the 25th of each month!

Its time to Celebrate! - Week Seventeen of the Holiday Grand Plan

Its here!!!! Today marks the start of the Holiday Grand Plans Celebrate week and the start of a week long celebration for Top Ender, Baby Boy and I (Daddy is at work for a lot of the week).

We start today with the celebration of Baby Cousins First Birthday, then this afternoon Top Ender and I are going to bake when we get back and then this evening we will light our last advent candle and sit as a family watching our last weekly Christmas film. I think that we are going to watch Barbie's The Christmas Carol, but if Daddy gets his way it will be The Muppets Christmas Carol!

Tomorrow Top Ender, Baby Boy and I will make some cake balls and possibly a yule log... depends if I think Top Ender can handle it! We will then go and visit with my Mum again as she will have some old and very close family friends coming over (weather permitting). Daddy isn't keen on me driving in the current weather conditions (apparently it isn't my driving but everybody else that makes him worried) but we might make an adventure of it and go by train!

On Tuesday I have a whole series of art and craft activities for Top Ender and Baby Boy, including some things that we can put up in our home and some things that we are going to make for last minute gifts, including hand wreaths, reindeer hand prints and a few calenders!

Wednesday afternoon will hopefully see the roads clear enough that we can go and pick up last minute shopping items, the sort of things that have short shelf lives, but are essential at Christmas such as cream and fresh fruit...but if not we might risk walking to the supermarket instead of driving!

Thursday is the day that we are looking forward to as we are hoping to go to John Lewis and drink Hot Chocolate and eat cookies whilst watching the last minute panic stricken shoppers run around the shopping centre! We will also pop to a couple of supermarkets to pick up some reduced bargins so that we can not worry about going shopping again until the New Year! Just make sure that you have room in the freezer if you decide to also go bargin grocery shopping on Christmas Eve!

Friday of course is the big day and there shall be an Alternative to the Queens Speech right here at A Mothers Ramblings!

And this will be the last time that I get to mention these lovely ladies who have also been preparing for Christmas, so please go and say Hello and look at what they have been up to;

Krista at Typical Ramblings
Candace at Diary of a FlyBaby
Diane at DianeDenmark
Kelly at Life at the Quinn Home
Hannah at Home Baked

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas - Week Sixteen of the Holiday Grand Plan

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas in our house and this week in the Holiday Grand Plan it is Maintenance Week, which for me is quite lucky as I have a couple of chores that I need to do but there is nothing major that needs doing!

I still have a few gifts to finish making, I have one of Daddy's gifts to finish, and Top Ender and Baby Boy's pillow cases and hot water bottle covers need to be made too... although the covers I will probably do whilst watching the snooker with 'Daddy' this evening. All of these gifts are ones that will take me an evening at the most and I can do whilst watching the TV!

The Mummy shop was open yesterday for Top Ender and included a new staff member, who Top Ender reliably informs me, was Santa's wife! Apparently she was very helpful and should come again next year as she also helped Top Ender with all her wrapping and labels... wish that she would come and help me next year!

This week sees Baby Boy having a Christmas party on Monday, Top Ender having a festive lunch period on Thursday and Top Enders Christmas performance on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning (we have tickets to go on the Tuesday) and of course Top Ender breaks up from school too!

It has made me realise that Christmas, New Year, Top Enders and Daddy's birthdays are all just round the corner and we had really better get on enjoying the season before it has flown by! Daddy is unfortunately working in the evening on both Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Years Eve and is starting to feel a little guilty about it. As I pointed out to him however once the kids are in bed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day the only things that I will have to do this year are watch TV or read and they are really solo pursuits!

Oh and one last thing I kept wanting to put up some external lights outside our bedroom windows but kept procrastinating! Today I took control however and hung them out whilst Daddy looked after the children in the living room. I was very pleased with the results (as were Top Ender, Baby Boy and Daddy) and I know that next year I will get them up as soon as I do the inside!

So as usual if you want to see how others are preparing for Christmas you really must go and have a visit with;

Krista at Typical Ramblings
Candace at Diary of a FlyBaby
Diane at DianeDenmark
Kelly at Life at the Quinn Home
Hannah at Home Baked

Finishing up the Holiday Prep or Week Fifteen of the Holiday Grand Plan

This week is week Fifteen on the Holiday Grand Plan, which is also known as Finish-Up Week. I love when we reach this week as to me it means that Christmas can officially start! As I mentioned yesterday in my post Christmas Celebrations Kick Off we have a great festive weekend planned but it doesn't stop as this week also sees some treats.

Tomorrow night we are going to see Cinderella at the Milton Keynes Theatre, as part of the Have a lovely Time Great Panto Review 2009 series, none of us can wait and the review will be up here next week, hopefully on Tuesday!

I do have a few little bits that I need to do this week in order to be completely ready and they are;

*Finish off the Home Made Gifts for Daddy
*Finish off with Top Ender the crayons for her friends
*Watch one Christmas film as a family a week and one a day on my own!
*Enjoy the booked/scheduled family events

Now I had better run as I need to get ready for breakfast with Santa this morning and I still have a picnic to make for this evening! So as always if you would like to see how some others are preparing for Christmas take a look at theses fellow Bloggers and share the comment love with them;

Krista at Typical Ramblings
Candace at Diary of a FlyBaby
Diane at DianeDenmark
Kelly at Life at the Quinn Home
Hannah at Home Baked

Let there be lights! Or Week Fourteen is Holiday Decor

This week is my favourite week in the Holiday Grand Plan because it is Holiday Decor Week! Normally I would of been putting up decorations today, but Daddy isn't around and so we will wait until he can be part of the fun before we put them up... hopefully it will be Tuesday! We will put up the trees in Top Ender and Baby Boys rooms and Top Ender will have some fairy lights hung too and we will make our Christmas cake later today.

What I will do this week however is make a few more treats and finish off the last few bits I need to do such as;

*Decorate the cake we are making today
*Work at least 2 hour a day on homemade gifts.
*Look for a Holiday Outfit for Me
*Watch one Christmas film as a family a week and one a day on my own!
*Enjoy the booked/scheduled family events

Talking of scheduled events yesterday saw the lights being turned on in our local High Street. As is now Tradition Top Ender, Baby Boy and I walked into Town to see this. We bumped into a friend of Top Enders who had also come down with her Mum and brother and we ended up standing together to watch the big switch on.

This year they were turned on by the the two leads in the Panto production of Cinderella. Cinderella (Louise Dearman) and Prince Charming (Ben Adams of A1) were there and when Cinderella walked past I couldn't help but say Hello as I use to go to school with Louise. When she recognised me and gave me a kiss hello Top Ender and her friend were most impressed and my street cred was raised.

Of course it may of been this that then caused me to do something very silly indeed. The Master of Ceremonies for the afternoon was requesting entrants into "The Xmas Factor". Top Ender wanted to sing, and so she went up with her friend and they sang Jingle Bells... and then I went up to sing.



I use to sing a lot, I was considering becoming an Opera singer for quite some time and thought maybe even a lounge singer would be the right career choice for me but I knew I wasn't good enough and so sang for fun instead. That being said the last time I properly sung (something that wasn't a Nursery Rhyme or a Kids TV Theme or a snippet of a song) was in January at my Gran's funeral.

Anyway back to the story. I sang the first verse of In the Bleak Midwinter and afterwards everyone (there were quite a few people there) clapped and cheered and I nearly wet myself as I didn't realise there were that many people listening! About ten minutes after I went on they asked everyone who had performed to come onto the stage so they could announce the winners of the various categories.

"And the winner of the Female Adults is..............Pippa!"

Yup that's right me! I was then handed a bottle of wine, which as you all know (Yes you do it was in an Award post back in June.... look it is this one here) I can't drink as I am a Mormon.

There is a video of my performance, but at the moment it is stuck on the phone of the mum of Top Enders friend.... maybe if she can get it off I will post it here for you all to laugh at :)

As always if you would like to see how some others are preparing for Christmas take a look at theses fellow Bloggers and share the comment love with them;

Krista at Typical Ramblings
Candace at Diary of a FlyBaby
Diane at DianeDenmark
Kelly at Life at the Quinn Home
Hannah at Home Baked

Stir it up Sunday - Week Thirteen of the Holiday Grand Plan

Its Week Thirteen in the Holiday Grand Plan and whilst our American friends are stressing about Thanksgiving over here in the UK we aren't.... although saying that I have promised Top Ender a proper American Thanksgiving meal this week, (with marshmallows in Sweet potato mash and everything!) and I am making a few little table decorations including a tissue paper turkey... maybe I will stress a little.

This week in the Grand Plan it is the week for attention to be placed in the Dining room. I don't have a dining room, but I do have a dining area. At the moment the dining table is is covered in things that shouldn't be there so my number one task for this week is to get that moved. I am also going to need to move a toy chest so that we have area to put up our tree...

Tomorrow night we are taking a photo of Top Ender and Baby Boy to go with our Christmas cards. There has been a slight amendment to our plan of taking at the shopping centres display and we are going to take it in our back garden instead. When we went to the shopping centre we discovered that this year all of the display is behind fences and so it didn't make a very nice background...

Today was the last Sunday before advent, colloquially known as Stir it up Sunday. It has traditionally become the day on which the Christmas pudding is made and this year I have made my own for the first time! Finding a Christmas pudding that was suitable for coeliac Daddy and Mormon Mummy (read no alcohol) and didn't cost a small fortune was proving to be difficult. I followed the recipe laid out in English Mum's post making a couple of extra changes to suit our families tastes and traditions (butter instead of suet, extra apple juice instead of tea and I used some peel sorry English Mum but it had to be done!) but we all had a stir and made a wish.

This week I also need to carry on with the holiday prep which this week consists of:

*Make one batch of Holiday Goodies.
*Make one extra meal for freezer again labeled HOLIDAY MEAL.
*Buy two canned food items from menus
*Work at least 2 hour a day on homemade gifts.

And we will continue to;

*Look for a Holiday Outfit for Me and tights for Top Ender (I'm starting to think the ones she described don't exist!)
*Stock the Mummy Christmas Shop with chocolate
*Watch one Christmas film as a family a week
*Continue with Top Ender writing her Christmas cards to the children in her year
*Continue planning weekly Christmas memory events (although I have now booked all the big events)!

As always if you would like to see how some others are preparing for Christmas take a look at theses fellow Bloggers and share the comment love with them;

Krista at Typical Ramblings
Candace at Diary of a FlyBaby
Diane at DianeDenmark
Kelly at Life at the Quinn Home
Hannah at Home Baked

Getting the house ready for Christmas - Week Twelve of the Holiday Grand Plan

This week is Week Twelve in The Holiday Grand Plan, which means it is time to attack the attic. Unfortunately I am not allowed to do this one as Daddy doesn't like the thought of me falling down the loft ladder. So this week I will try to do the Garage again as last week the weather was against me.

I did spend a fair amount of time working on craft projects this week and have managed to do a lot more than I expected, even finding time to sew up some toys with holes and missing ears and the like!

This week I also need to carry on with the holiday prep which this week consists of:

*Make one batch of Holiday Goodies.
*Make one extra meal for freezer again labeled HOLIDAY MEAL.
*Buy two canned food items from menus
*Work at least 2 hour a day on homemade gifts.

And we will continue to;

*Look for Holiday Outfits for Me and tights for Top Ender
*Stock the Mummy Christmas Shop
*Watch one Christmas film as a family a week
*Continue with Top Ender writing her Christmas cards to the children in her year
*Continue planning weekly Christmas memory events (although I have now booked all the big events)!

The only thing I have left now is to start the menu plan for December. This year as we have all the big events organised I just need the perfect holiday food. I am going to make Slow Cooker Chocolate Cake for after we put our decorations up (which will be late this year as Daddy is going to Chile for work when I had scheduled it!) and here is the recipe for you (especially Flybabyf!)

All you need is;

•1 chocolate cake mix
•1 chocolate pudding mix
•3/4 cup oil
•1 cup water
•4 eggs
•1 (6 oz) bag of chocolate chips
•1 pint sour cream

I like to oil the sides of the slow cooker before placing the mixed ingredients into the pot and putting it on low for the next six hours. It is great served with vanilla ice cream or just plain pouring cream!

As always if you would like to see how some others are preparing for Christmas take a look at theses fellow Bloggers and share the comment love with them;

Krista at Typical Ramblings
Candace at Diary of a FlyBaby
Diane at DianeDenmark
Kelly at Life at the Quinn Home

And this week I would also like to recommend Hannah at Home Baked who although isn't following the Holiday Grand Plan is getting ready for Christmas in her own way and has some great Christmas posts and some great ideas that I will be borrowing and adapting for myself!

Making Space for the new Christmas toys (Week Eleven of the Holiday Grand Plan)

This week is the Garage and Storage week in The Holiday Grand Plan. My garage is one of those rooms where it will get cleaned up and tidied and then it will stay great for a few weeks, months even and then one thing will be moved and another and another and before we know it the Garage is in a shambles again.

I will sort out as much as I can without 'Daddy' helping, but with it raining this week it might be a little hard. I also need someone much more handy than me to drill in the Garage wall as I have brought a rack for our bikes, which should save some space for Top Enders and Baby Boys!

This week though I need to spend more time on Christmas Crafts and my general Christmas prep as I realised that I have used up some of my Holiday Meals and my Holiday cookies!

This week I also need to carry on with the holiday prep which this week consists of:

*Make one batch of Holiday Goodies.
*Make one extra meal for freezer again labeled HOLIDAY MEAL.
*Buy two canned food items from menus
*Work at least 2 hour a day on homemade gifts.

And we will continue to;

*Look for Holiday Outfits for Me and tights for Top Ender
*Stock the Mummy Christmas Shop
*Watch one Christmas film as a family a week
*Continue with Top Ender writing her Christmas cards to the children in her year
*Continue planning weekly Christmas memory events (like our late night trip to London)!

And don't forget to go and see the Thrifty Christmas Ideas for a frugal Christmas as part of the Thrifty Christmas Celebration over at Violet Posy.

As always if you would like to see how some others are preparing for Christmas take a look at theses fellow Bloggers and share the comment love with them;

Krista at Typical Ramblings
Candace at Diary of a FlyBaby
Diane at DianeDenmark
Kelly at Life at the Quinn Home

Family Area and Family Fun - Week Ten of the Holiday Grand Plan

Its November, Bonfire night is in just a few days and Christmas is next month. In just four weeks I will be putting up my Christmas decorations, so I guess I should take down the Halloween ones! I think that I had better start getting serious with what I am doing and it it is a good week for me to do this as this week is the Family Room Week in the Holiday Grand Plan.

We don't have a Family Room as such, but we do have family areas and I need to move one of them around so we can put up the tree. I have already done the deep clean in the living room, and I have sorted out all the Children's toys but I haven't gone through the colouring books and pens or crayons. I also have a lot of videos and DVDs that need clearing out and categorising and then there is still a lot of things that need finishing off!

So this week won't be too hard, but I won't be slacking off either!

This week I also need to carry on with the holiday prep which this week consists of:

*Make one batch of Holiday Goodies.
*Make one extra meal for freezer again labeled HOLIDAY MEAL.
*Buy two canned food items from menus
*Work at least 1 hour a day on homemade gifts.

Also this week I will;

*Continue with Top Ender writing her Christmas cards to the children in her year
*Start to write our family Christmas cards (I didn't last week as we were all too ill)

*Start planning weekly Christmas memory events (like our late night trip to London)

And we will continue to;

*Look for Holiday Outfits for Me and tights for Top Ender
*Stock the Mummy Christmas Shop
*Watch one Christmas film as a family a week

This week I am going to go in a little bit of Christmas over drive, and will post my ideas for having a frugal Christmas as part of the Thrifty Christmas Celebration over at Violet Posy.

It seems that I am now in fashion with my thrifty ideas and ways!

As always if you would like to see how some others are preparing for Christmas take a look at theses fellow Bloggers and share the comment love with them;

Krista at Typical Ramblings
Candace at Diary of a FlyBaby
Diane at DianeDenmark
Kelly at Life at the Quinn Home

Time to come out of the closet? or Week Nine of the Holiday Grand Plan!

This week on the Holiday Grand plan it is all about the Pantry and the Closets. I keep on top of my closets because it is something that I can do without causing myself any distress. I am always too pleased to get rid of clothes that I don't like for one reason or another! Of course I also have to keep on top of it because I store Christmas and Birthday gifts in our closet and if I don't know what is in there, I am bound to buy more than one of something...

This week I am also going to help Top Ender to decorate our home for Halloween, we have most of our decorations for outside, but this year I am going to let her decorate the window with window pens and hang garlands inside.

As we don't have Thanksgiving, I will start to arrange our Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Party. We will have fireworks in our garden, and a small meal which needs to be arranged! It is my Mum, Sister and partner and Cousin and Baby Cousin that come, so it doesn't need to be anything fancy!

This week I also need to carry on with the holiday prep which this week consists of:

*Make one batch of Holiday Goodies.

*Make one extra meal for freezer again labeled HOLIDAY MEAL.

*Buy two canned food items from menus

*Work at least 1 hour a day on homemade gifts.

Also this week I will;

*Continue with Top Ender writing her Christmas cards to the children in her year

*Start to write our family Christmas cards

And we will continue to;

*Look for Holiday Outfits for Me (as everyone else is sorted, but Daddy needs a new shirt!)

*Stock the Mummy Christmas Shop

*Watch one Christmas film as a family a week (although we may do two as it is half term!)

If you want to see how some others are preparing take a look at theses fellow Bloggers;

Krista at Typical Ramblings

Candace at Diary of a FlyBaby

Diane at DianeDenmark

Kelly at Life at the Quinn Home

All I want for Christmas is... not to spend all day in the kitchen!

To me Christmas means Kitchen work and normally a lot of it. In the past the Christmas meal in my home was cooked by my Father and his Mother. They would start preperations the night before (for the main meal) by preparing the vegetables ready for the next day and I know that Daddy has commented that his Mum spent all day in the Kitchen on Christmas Day when he was growing up.

I wonder how many hours have been unnecissarily wasted hiding in the Kitchen when we should be celebrating with friends and family and that is what I feel Christmas is about.

But, then good food for me is one of the best things about the whole season. I love to be able to feed my family home made treats, and I love being able to whip a batch of biscuits out of the freezer and into the oven if we have unexpected guests. And not having a feast on Christmas Day? Well I think I would have a mutiny on my hands!

So what to do? Well this is where the Holiday Grand Plan comes into its own for me, each week I have made snacks and Holiday goodies and a few Holiday meals and this week is where it all starts getting serious as this week is the Kitchen week.

I love to sort through my Kitchen and make sure that I have a clean and tidy Kitchen and that I have all the equipment I need on hand for Christmas Day. I work through each cupboard and even get to add things on to my Christmas list for things that I would like that I don't yet have or have broken in the past year.

This week I will have fun, but I have also other work to carry on with;This week I also need to carry on with the holiday prep which this week consists of:
*Make one batch of Holiday Goodies.
*Make one extra meal for freezer again labeled HOLIDAY MEAL.
*Buy two canned food items from menus
*Work at least 1 hour a day on homemade gifts.

Also this week I will;
*Continue with Top Ender writing her Christmas cards to the children in her year

And we will continue to;
*Look for Holiday Outfits for Me (as everyone else is sorted!)
*Stock the Mummy Christmas Shop
*Watch one Christmas film as a family a week

If you want to see how some others are preparing take a look at theses fellow Bloggers;
Krista at Typical Ramblings
Candace at Diary of a FlyBaby
Diane at DianeDenmark
Kelly at Life at the Quinn Home

The Smell of Christmas because I don't have a Guest room (Week Seven of The Holiday Grand Plan)

Christmas always excites me. Not just because of the gifts and that it is a celebration of our Saviours Birth, but the whole season. The smell, the taste, the feeling and every week as I get my home ready I sense just a little bit of it coming into my home.

This week at Organized Christmas, the Holiday Grand Plan focuses on the Guest rooms and guest bathroom. As I don't have a guest room, or a guest bathroom traditionally this week I like to concentrate on finishing up all the areas we have gone over already. My list for this week is huge, and I am doing it in order of scale!

To start with I need to get the front garden sorted out again. I need to prune, fertilise and clear the area outside the front door that seems to attract mud and dust!

Then I need to move on to my entry and Hall. Daddy needs to paint a bit of skirting board, and touch up a wall but I think I might be waiting for sometime so I shall do it myself this week! It will be nice for Daddy not to have to worry about doing it in his very little time off.

After this I need to move on to the living room. This is a massive room for me as it has so many areas, but I don't consider them to be separate. I am working on it everyday and before the end of the week I should have it cleared and tidy again and ready for the Christmas decorations that will go up in seven or eight weeks.

I will then move on to my Bedroom and Top Enders. My room doesn't need a lot doing, it just needs some things moving into the loft, but Top Enders room is still as cluttered as the Living room! I let her know that we really have to let go of some of her toys because she doesn't have the space. Surprisingly she agreed and the time we spent in her room this week allowed two boxes of toys to be put into the loft (I know!) and a further unit to be passed to her brother.

I am taking it slowly as I don't want Top Ender to feel forced into parting with Toys, but it does need sorting so that she can tidy her room without feeling that I am constantly unhappy with the way she has done it.

This week I also need to carry on with the holiday prep which this week consists of:
*Make one batch of Holiday Goodies.
*Make one extra meal for freezer again labeled HOLIDAY MEAL.
*Buy two canned food items from menus
*Work at least 1 hour a day on homemade gifts.

Also this week I will;
*Continue with Top Ender writing her Christmas cards to the children in her year

And we will continue to;
*Look for Holiday Outfits for the family (Although I think Baby Boy is going to wear a little suit!)*Stock the Mummy Christmas Shop
*Watch one Christmas film as a family a week

My plan for Daddy's gift is coming along nicely and the other gifts that are being made are doing just as well, although I may have to start working on them for more than an hour a day if they are all to get completed in plenty of time!

If you want to see how some others are preparing take a look at theses fellow Bloggers;
Krista at Typical Ramblings
Candace at Diary of a FlyBaby
Diane at DianeDenmark
Kelly at Life at the Quinn Home

Christmas is all about the kids... and the Turkey!

I did something this week that I have never done before with Christmas prep. I asked Daddy to take care of a Christmas gift all on his own. Top ender is getting a Nintendo DSi for Christmas, we agreed this a couple of months back and so with this figured out I have tasked Daddy to buy it and to arrange for some suitable games for her to be purchased.

This is a really big thing for me...

So the Bathroom clean up and sort out went well. I have added new bathroom mats to my list of things to buy when I am at my Nan's in October Half-term as she has a really good cheap shop near her. They sell things that they can get cheap and sometimes seconds, and we always spend a fortune there!

Anyway this week in the Holiday Grand Plan we have moved on to the Kids Room and I am quite excited about this! Baby Boys room is quite tidy and sparse of belongings (partly because he is only 16 months old, partly because his room is so small!) so his room won't take too long. I keep a box in his room to put clothes that are too small, so most of this is already done! We keep the majority of Baby Boys toys downstairs, I just need to go through them to move the things that he has stopped playing with and the things that he has grown out of. It shouldn't take me more than a day if I do it when he has a nap!

Top Enders room is a different story. Top Ender is like me, a hoarder. She doesn't like to get rid of anything and her room shows this. I have started to get quite ruthless in my old age, ever since starting following Flylady, but none of this is rubbing off on Top Ender. I know that it isn't just me however, because Daddy tried tidying up her room with Top Ender a few weeks back and managed to get rid of two things... I have managed to persuade her however that clothes that are too small, get placed in a bag in her wardrobe so that cousin can have them. Thankfully she thinks this is a great idea!

The Christmas things to do this week that I will do are as follows;

*Make one batch of Holiday Goodies

*Make one extra meal for freezer labeled HOLIDAY MEAL

*Buy two canned food items from menus

*Work at least 1 hour a day on homemade gifts

*Make list of toys and books that children would enjoy and keep it handy for others

*Order Christmas Turkey, ham and Beef joint

Also this week I will;

*Continue with Top Ender writing her Christmas cards to the children in her year

And we will continue to;

*Look for Holiday Outfits for the family (Although I think Baby Boy is going to wear a little suit!)*Stock the Mummy Christmas Shop

*Watch one Christmas film as a family a week

I have also come up with my idea for Daddy's Christmas gift. We started a new tradition last year, where we will only spend £20 on each other and make a gift. Daddy's ones for me are always really well thought about and I always feel mine are lacking, but I know that this year I have a great gift planned! Now I just need to put it in action and I wish I could tell you about it but Daddy reads this blog!

If you want to see how some others are preparing take a look at theses fellow Bloggers;

Krista at Typical Ramblings

Candace at Diary of a FlyBaby

Diane at DianeDenmark

Kelly at Life at the Quinn Home

It was three months until Christmas two days ago...Week Five of The Holiday Grand Plan!

Today is the start of Week Five and The Master Bathroom and boy am I glad! I ended up not doing anything in my bedroom this week as I just didn't know where to start. Not an excuse I know, but if you could of seen it you would understand...

Anyway today it was fairly warm out and Daddy didn't want to go for another walk in the heat and so he said;

"Why don't we sort out our bedroom together?"

Normally I would get defensive about this (its my junk causing the mess) but instead I was so glad to have the help! We got rid of four bags of rubbish, put five bags of clothes in the loft (for the next baby) and I had a good cry when I found material I had brought to make my Gran a new blanket to replace the one I made two years before that.

As we only have one bathroom and it is tiny (only 6ft square!) cleaning it is a breeze and doing the tasks that are planned this week are simple for me as I have to keep them small as they are stored in other areas of the home!

How cool is this toilet paper?

The tasks associated with this week are;
*Go through the medicine chest.
*Check your first aid supplies. Find a printable first-aid checklist here.
*Look at the towels and replace as needed.
*Clean off handles, knobs, light switches. Does anything need replacing?
*Does the bathroom mat need to be replaced?
*Clean from high to low. Clean the windowsill and wash any knickknacks.
*Clean the entire bowl. Spray with a good disinfectant.
*Scour sinks and bathtubs, and showers.
*Does the shower curtain need replacing? Is it really moldy?
*Wash out the wastebasket and let it sanitize.
*Get the baseboards and wipe them down, spray the tile with a good tile cleaner

The Christmas things to do this week that I will do are as follows;
*Make one batch of Holiday Goodies.
*Make one extra meal for freezer again labeled HOLIDAY MEAL.
*Buy two canned food items from menus
*Work at least 1 hour a day on homemade gifts
*Make list of toys and books that children would enjoy and keep it handy for others

Also this week I will;
*Start Top Ender writing her Christmas cards to the children in her year (there are 80 children) and
*Inventorise the gifts in the cupboard, as I am sure some have been put in without been listed!

And we will continue to;
*Look for Holiday Outfits for the family (Although I think Baby Boy is going to wear a little suit!)
*Stock the Mummy Christmas Shop
*De-cluttering the children's toys and clothes
*Watch one Christmas film as a family a week

Now if you want to, you can go and have a read of how everyone else is preparing for Christmas, so go visit these friends of mine!

Krista at Typical Ramblings
Candace at Diary of a FlyBaby
Diane at DianeDenmark
Kelly at Life at the Quinn Home

Narnia could be in the back of my wardrobe (Week Four is Master Bedroom Week)

This week is the Master Bedroom Week part of the plan. We start in the Master Bedroom making it clean and tidy and have a closet clear out too. I hate this week, as my bedroom is a mess. I will get it cleared and it will be lovely for a week or so and then my bad habits start again and things start to pile up. I have too much stuff and I know that. Maybe this year will be different.

I think I am doing quite well with my holiday prep this year. I have been following the plan as normal, but with a lot of forward planning from earlier this year I realised that 75% of Top Enders Stocking gifts have already been purchased and around 25% of Baby Boys. With major gifts for both of them having been organised too and Daddy and I already having agreed that we only spend £25 on materials to make a gift for the other things seem to be getting on well!

This year I can't buy a Christmas Pudding for the family to share (although getting to find a alcohol free pudding had been getting harder and harder so I can't say I am sad about it!) and a quick look for wheat free, gluten free and alcohol free Christmas puddings show there are plenty on the market. I have even found several recommended recipes so that I could make my own (probably at the same cost) if I chose to!

Also this week I signed up to a Christmas Ornament Swap over at Its a wonderful life and I suggest that you all head over there too and sign up!



The main part of the Holiday prep for me this week is as follows;

*Make one batch of Holiday Goodies.
*Make one extra meal for freezer again labeled HOLIDAY MEAL.
*Buy two canned food items from menus
*Buy 1/8th of TO BUY gifts. Save all receipts, note return policy before buying.
*Wrap and label packages. (This will only be for Stockings for me)
*Make list of any table and bathroom linens that need replacing and pick up a few each week.

Also this week we will start to;

*Make calenders (well Top Ender will)
*Look for Holiday Outfits for the family

And we will continue to;

*Stock the Mummy Christmas Shop
*De-cluttering the children's toys and clothes
*Watch one Christmas film as a family a week

I have to go now as we are watching Home Alone today and I really want to get things done before we do, but as I said last week, you might like to go see these people, if you want to see how some others are preparing!

Krista at Typical Ramblings
Candace at Diary of a FlyBaby
Diane at DianeDenmark
Kelly at Life at the Quinn Home

What Christmas means to me and Week Three

When Daddy and I married we sat down and talked about the traditions we had for Christmas in our families (amongst other things) and what ones we would like to have together in our family. When I first started on the Holiday Grand Plan I looked again at what Christmas meant to me and every year in Week Two (last week) I look again. I thought I would share with you my thoughts based around the questions asked,

Do I see Christmas time primarily as a time for entertaining friends and renewing long lost acquaintances or as a time for family?

Christmas is all about family. Every December I attend one Christmas party and that is my works Christmas Dinner. I keep in touch with distant friends and family throughout the year, so they get a Christmas Card, but I don't need to worry about calling them.

How much emphasis do our Christmas activities place on the spiritual side of Christmas?

We have four books that we use over the lead up to Christmas Day, which we read a little each night from about Christmas and have discussions about why Christmas is important to each of us. We make sure that Christmas isn't just all about gift giving. And we always make the joke at the nativity scene in the shopping centre how religion is getting involved in every holiday these days!

How involved is my family in the Christmas preparation?

Well actually I tend to do it all, because I am organised like that and the little ones are too little. Although they do all have a say in food for the Holiday period!

What activities are particularly important to our family at Christmas? To myself?

We always go to see Santa as a family, we always go and visit all three sets of Top Ender and Baby Boys Grandparents, we always watch for Santa coming down our road (care of the Round Table), we always go on a Christmas Light Drive (where we hunt for great outside displays) and we always like to sit in the living room in the dark with just the Christmas lights on as it is pretty. Those things are Christmas to us.

Why do we observe the traditions we do in our house?

We observe the ones that are important to us, that mean something to us and show us to be the odd family that we are (Christmas Day car wash anyone?)

How important is an elaborately decorated house, homemade gifts or food, to my feelings about Christmas?

We have things that we like to do, we like to put a tree in the living room, Top Enders room, Baby Boys room and the bathroom (yes the bathroom). We use to have one in the kitchen and still might again! They are all fake trees, because we don't think killing a tree for Christmas is the message we want to send! I batch bake and freeze cookie dough and cookies so that we always have great treats on hand and we believe that December is the month for snacks!

Daddy and I have made a pact to stop buying each other gifts and instead to spend £20 on a home made gift. We think that this is bringing us closer together and more into the spirit of Christmas.

What would my ideal Christmas be like?

My ideal Christmas would be pretty much the same as it has been since I started doing this plan. The food is lovely, the family are calm, the gifts are wrapped and we all have fun together. Being organised allows me to have fun not worry that the food needs cooking.


So knowing that in order to have the Christmas that my family and I like, that I need to get organised I had better crack on with this week! This week is Entry / Foyer Week Holiday Grand Plan Week Three


And my jobs for the week are;


*Make one batch of Holiday Goodies.
*Make one extra meal for freezer labeled HOLIDAY MEAL.
*Buy two canned food items from Menus and put them away so they won't be used before time.
*Buy all supplies for homemade gifts.


This week I also do the extra detailed work in the hallway and front entrance. I will also do more "porch" and living room work as I didn't get everything done the last week or the week before last!


On top of this we also like to start this week;


*Stocking the Mummy Christmas Shop
*De-cluttering the children's toys and clothes
*Watch one Christmas film as a family a week

You might like to go see these people, if you want to see how some others are preparing!

Krista at Typical Ramblings
Candace at Diary of a FlyBaby
Diane at DianeDenmark
Kelly at Life at the Quinn Home

Right, got to go now as we are watching Elf today and I need to get the popcorn ready!

"IT'S CHRISTMAS!" (You have to scream it like Noddy Holder, it's the law you know?)

I love that advert! I don't drink coke, but that advert means Christmas to me. Mind you the last Sunday in August means Christmas to me too.

What's that you say? The last Sunday in August doesn't mean Christmas to you and you can't imagine how I make the leap? Well let me explain.

I follow the Christmas Grand Plan and have done for many years now, (there's a rumour going around that it is six years and I can confirm that it is true) and this is where someone else has done the hard work part and thought about what you should think about and then has broken it in to weekly sections.

The first year I did it I was pregnant with Top Ender and needed to be organised as I was due to give birth just before Christmas (and we all know that Babies stick to their due dates...NOT!) and everything worked so well that I just carried on year after year.

This week has been list week and cleaning the front porch area. And so this week I have made my lists (updating some from last year) and cleaning my front porch area (I don't have a porch, but I clean the front area of my house and I want a porch swing so that counts right?) and getting ready for tomorrow (which is Question week and Living room).

My plans for this week were to make lists for the following;

*Gifts to be given, including amount to spend (Done!)
*Christmas card list (updated last years and Done!)
*Visits to make (Done and scheduled!)
*Parties/Entertaining (No parties, but a small gathering being organised so Done!)
*Menus for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years (Done, updated last years)
*Goodies for Sharing/Gifts. (Planned so Done!)
*Favorite Meals of Family members for freezing ahead. (Planned!)
*Long-term shopping list divided into: canned foods, perishables for each holiday, linens and dishes, decorations, etc. (Done!)

And my plans for next week are;

*Develop ideas for gifts and decorations (Nearly all done, as I keep a year long gift idea list).
*Order Christmas cards and address labels.
*To ask these questions:

1. Do I see Christmas time primarily as a time for entertaining friends and renewing long lost acquaintances or as a time for family?
2. How much emphasis do our Christmas activities place on the spiritual side of Christmas?
3. How involved is my family in the Christmas preparation?
4. What activities are particularly important to our family at Christmas? To myself?
5. Why do we observe the traditions we do in our house?
6. How important is an elaborately decorated house, homemade gifts or food, to my feelings about Christmas?
7. What would my ideal Christmas be like?

And to make a start on the living room...

This year a friend (well I think she is) is following the plan and documenting it at her blog Typical Ramblings and is inviting others to join in and I thought maybe I should blog about it, so I am inviting you all to follow us on our journey and maybe to join in too!

After all its never to early to think about Christmas!