Tis the Season for…

HAPPINESS!

Is the Christmas season already ‘stressing’ you out?  Take a break to refresh yourself~  The folks at one of my favorite travel blogs, TripBase, have comprised a list of

101 Ways to Be Happy!

Maybe you’ll find something to make you smile!

Less than 50 days…

This is probably not something you want to hear, but facts are facts.  Like it or not, you have less than 50 days to get ready for the craziness~  that is, if you celebrate Christmas the way the world tells you you must.  In our family, we’ve experienced all extremes of celebration- from doing basically ‘nothing’ because it “didn’t edify the ‘real’ reason of the season”, to over-indulgence, and quite frankly, hellacious days of child-spoiling.  I’ll never forget the year the little ones had 4 straight days of WAY too many presents, sugar, tantrums, and TEARS.  But that’s another blog post... 

Now that we’ve gone from every end of the spectrum, we’re at a time of our lives when we just want to SIMPLIFY.  Do the children REALLY need 100 gifts?  Or, would they rather spend the entire season WITH you embracing each sight and sound in a peaceful, child-like-wonder setting?  As a homeschooling family (with their DEFINITE share of worries, struggles, and getting REAL about things), one of the biggest advantages is the ability to fit education within OUR family’s timetables.  Because we do a little school throughout the year, including summer, we  can relax the schedule a bit throughout the Holiday’s to take time for the things that matter.   (Disclaimer:  YES, education matters.  For those who aren’t following my heart, I’m talking about the education of LIFE here.)   This year, we intend to ENJOY, SHARE, and EMBRACE life~  to find the wonder in our children’s eyes as we share in new traditions~  simply, warmly- together. 

(I hope, anyway - we’ll keep ya posted)

I came across this site a while ago from a local homeschooling group.  Any tool and resource you may need for the season can be found here, in  ~Organized Christmas~ .  However you choose to celebrate in your family, maybe this site can help to make your Christmas season a little less ‘stressful’. 

Now someday… this may be a way to totally simplify~ is there a more simple way than spending Christmas in the sun?  Yes, we’re tempted, but somehow it just wouldn’t seem the same.  (Really, Mark!)  Now as for January….     February…….      Mar………….     that would be a WHOLE different story.  Or blog post...

Whatever way you choose to celebrate, may you find joy and peace!  Merry Christmas!