December Eve

Well, I tried.  My goal was to be completely ready for Christmas by December 1 so that I could coast through the month.  A lofty goal.  Too lofty, as it turns out.  But although I'm not finished, my start is nothing to sneeze at.  The month of December should be pretty easy.

This afternoon, I finished getting the Advent bags ready for the countdown to Christmas, which starts tomorrow.  I really enjoyed doing this last year, and so did Daphne.  Kev mostly enjoyed it, I think, but for him, there can be too much Christmas, and a 24 day countdown is probably pushing it a little.  What I like, though, is that this countdown forces us to stop down at least once every day as a family and do something together to celebrate the season.  Otherwise, we'd probably just go through the usual tired after-dinner routine, which often involves some or all of us being cranky, behaving poorly, collapsing into a crying heap, and/or falling asleep on the couch.  These bags generally seem to promote good will and good behavior.  So, I highly recommend doing this if you have kids in your house.  Or even if you don't!  And if 24 seems like too much, you could always count down the 12 days of Christmas. 

If you want to see what kinds of things were in the bags last year, you can go to the December 2010 archive on the sidebar.  This year will be much of the same.  I'll try to check in each day, though, with a "Bag Report."  So stay tuned for that.

Here is a helpful Thanksgiving tip for you:  If you are in charge of the cheddar biscuits and have to buy a giant thing of buttermilk because the recipe calls for 1/2 cup, don't throw out the rest of the buttermilk.  That's what I usually do.  But this year, I decided to make buttermilk pancakes from scratch, and I am so glad I did.  They were awesome and they made my family happy.  Making pancakes from scratch is only very slightly more difficult than using a mix, so I don't know why people don't do it more often.  I used this recipe and just ignored the part about the molds. Williams-Sonoma never lets me down.

On Sunday, my Daisies went Christmas caroling with the Brownies and Juniors from our school to collect food for a local shelter.  What a great day.  The weather was awesome - in the high 60s - and the kids were so cute.  Everyone had a great time and we collected quite a bit of food.

Then last night at our meeting, the girls received their Girl Scout pins in a short ceremony.  Here they are, singing a little song for the parents.  I wish I had video.  Cute.

Meanwhile, I am still fighting some kind of weird head-cold thing.  I haven't gotten full-blown sick, but I've been feeling pretty crummy for a week now.  Maybe it's the crazy weather.  It has been so warm that the cherry tree out back got confused and started blooming.  But today, a cold front is blowing through and it will probably feel like winter again tomorrow. 

The rest of this week is about making small steps toward finishing Christmas.  Daphne just asked to help decorate.  This should be interesting.

Another quick tip:  If you happen to get superglue on your fingers while decorating your home for Christmas, pure acetone nail polish remover will get it off.

See you tomorrow for Bag Number One!