I used to be big into scrap booking and paper crafts. Before I was an old married woman I made my own Christmas cards every year and many of my friends received hand crafted birthday cards. I admit it - I love paper and glue.

I stopped making Christmas cards my first Christmas as a newlywed. Three months into our marriage we were suddenly faced with a miscarriage and my husband's job loss, so hauling out the paper and glue didn't even hit my radar screen. The following years found us deep into job stress, juggling two families for holidays, moving into a new home, and eventually, Santa shopping for our first baby. I never got back to making holiday cards.

Eventually I gave up traditional scrap booking as well. Lugging my huge scrap booking suitcase on wheels out to the kitchen table while fending off the advances of the toddler just wasn't worth it. I moved to digital scrap booking and have never looked back. Occasionally I'll set up shop to make a gift tag for a birthday present or a thank you card for a thoughtful friend, but for the most part I only drag out the supplies once a year. And that time has finally arrived!

I found our first holiday season as parents very hectic. More presents to buy, more events to attend. We had to find time to squeeze in a visit to Santa and to attend our town's annual holiday parade. We wanted to take our new little man to see the lights at the zoo, and to the Families With Children From China Christmas party. We cried through his day care class singing "Jingle Bells" up on the church stage at the day care center's Christmas play. There were pictures of our new family to add to the Christmas cards and snowmen to make in the front yard. There was so much to do, and I didn't want to miss a moment of it. I had waited a very long time to share the magic of Christmas with my child and nothing was going to stop me from doing it all. Add in work holiday parties and get togethers with friends and I was one frazzled mommy before the season was finished.

The next year I started the season with a plan. And a planner. I sent my husband and son away for a few hours one Saturday morning and created a Holiday Planner. A simple wire bound journal, some holiday themed scrapbook paper, a few Christmas embellishments and some ribbon and I had a nifty little planner to see me through the holiday season. With tabs for "to do", "cards", "gift lists", "menus", "coupons", and "calendar" I have everything I need at my fingertips. Once a year my need to plan and organize meets my need to glue paper together. And it is awesome.



my big four and a half year old helped with the embellishments



gift pages to record gift ideas and pricing. I also use the gift pages to plan for and record donations, such as to the food pantry. I want my kids to share in the donation process so I have to plan for it!



the coupon tab has an envelope tied in to hold the coupons

So a few of my friends take some time out of their busy holiday schedules to get in some good natured mocking. Like maybe I have too much time on my hands. Working as a stay at home mom to two kids under five while job hunting and planning for the holidays keeps me plenty busy, thank you very much. But this once a year tradition, this creation of glue and paper and glittery additions makes me so happy. I am organized and we stay on budget. We don't miss toy sales. We make it to every holiday event  and our cards are mailed out, with cute photo of the kids, on time. Oh, and my little holiday planner makes me happy. Sitting down at the kitchen table with my holiday planner and a cup of coffee in my favorite holiday mug is a simple pleasure that I can enjoy no matter what else is going on in my life.

let go of expectations but hang on to that Christmas candle!

Earlier today I stopped in to visit my mom. The assisted living where she lives is beautifully decorated for the holiday- twinkly lights on the trees lining the walkway to the door, large pine wreaths on the double glass doors leading in to the community. There is a beautiful tree in the living room, nestled next to the fireplace, which is festooned with pine garlands and large red and gold ornaments. My mom has been a little under the weather this week, which is something to watch due to her history with asthma. At one point earlier in the week her physician wanted her to go to the hospital but thanks to me not getting that message in a timely manner she never made it there, choosing instead to stay in her apartment and wait out whatever illness was lurking inside her. Today she is much better, so I can let go of the guilt of not hearing the phone ring at 4am on Tuesday.
When I arrived at her home today it was 15 minutes before the dining room opened for lunch. The usual crowd had gathered in the living room, right outside the closed dining room doors. I swear they put crack in the coffee there- everyone is always in such a hurry to get in that they pile up outside the doors! I scanned the room quickly and didn't see Mom so I headed to her apartment. Where she was not. Hmmmm.
When I headed back to the living room I saw her sitting in a wing backed chair by the fireplace, listening to a gentleman wearing a Santa hat play Christmas carols on the piano. I had completely missed her the first time I scanned the room. When I think of my mother I picture a short spry black haired woman. That is who I look for when I visit her community. I never find that woman though. Who I found today is who I always find these days; a gray haired, slightly hunched over older woman. She just blends in with all the other nicely dressed gray haired ladies sitting in the living room listening to a gentleman in a Santa hat play carols on the piano.
I realized today during my short visit with Mom that she is having a better holiday season at her assisted living home than she ever would have had home alone. Even though my family will be heading to Cleveland on Christmas day and she will be alone, she has had a steady parade church visitors, carolers, music programs, day care visitors, and cookie baking activities. She has been surrounded by beautifully decorated rooms and the constant notes of Christmas music. She will see the community associates she has come to know and like, and sometimes, rely on. She will not be alone on Christmas day, save for the few hours we manage to spend with her as we split our time between two sets of in-laws. Another guilt I need to let go of. My mother will be fine on Christmas.
I receive a daily email from Whole Living magazine sharing a daily action plan. Short, simple ways to live more simply, more greenly, (OK, I am pretty sure that is not a word, but just go with it.) Today's plan: shifting holiday expectations and learning to appreciate the little things. This is a great action item for me because I have spent the past year working on this. Adding balance and peace to my family's life has been a goal of mine since last year, and I feel as though my efforts have been successful. But this little bit of advice couldn't have come at a better time. In my usual fashion I had planned out this entire holiday season. Our "family fun" list was completed, our weekly calendars with schedules and meal planning were done. I knew what day I was addressing the Christmas cards and what day we would be visiting Santa. I wedged a family trip to New York City into our plans, thankfully planned and successfully carried out by my husband. And now, three days before Christmas here I am with all the gifts purchased, cards in the mail, great memories of our trip and the sweetest photo of my little guy and Santa. The only thing left on my "to do" list is wrapping those presents and making a salad for Christmas dinner at my mother-in-law's home. So I am feeling pretty good. Our church is holding an "Eve Before You Leave" service tonight for all those people who find themselves traveling and unable to attend a service on Christmas Eve. We will be home on Friday but that will be our Christmas celebration so I am looking forward to attending the candle light service tonight. I am feeling very peaceful. (I know,can't you just picture the angels singing above my head?) But the reason I am feeling so serene is because I have been totally doing all month what that action plan asked me to do today. I stopped sweating the small stuff. I let go of the guilt of not being with my mother on Christmas. I bought smaller gifts for family and friends.I changed up the way we normally do our holiday open house to accommodate our new friends and everyone's growing families.  I brought home bakery Christmas cookies instead of dealing with the mess and hard work of making them myself. I let go of expectations, and so far, it has been an amazing holiday season!

as green as I could go, or "Where did baby Alex's nose get to?"

I love Christmas cards. When I was a little girl we would tape each card we received to the stairs, so that they were hanging over the piano and were easy to see from the entire living room. My grandmother used to hang her cards from the polished wood door frame between the living room and the dining room- a beautiful large entryway covered with colorful holiday greetings. My husband's family never displayed their cards in this way, which explains the weird looks and protests I received our first year together when I hung our cards from the wide wood entryway between our dining room and living room in our old house in Cleveland, a la Grandma Evelyn. (Or Grandma Iguana, but that is a story for another day.)

Here in our current home I tape each card to the door to our garage, which is somewhat of a focal point in our downstairs. When the garage door fills up with holiday cheer I start in on the basement door, off the kitchen. I love to look at the pictures of smiling babies and family vacations, dogs in Santa hats, and home made cards. I am careful to tape the card to the door in just the right way; so it stays closed and stays on the door but yet so I can still open it enough to read the signature. I rearrange the cards on the door as new ones arrive, creating an intricate puzzle of jingle bells and snowmen. I really, really love my Christmas cards.

Brad and I used to go round and round about which cards to send each year. We would fight about this because he has bad taste and I am sane. Here's my thought process: unless you are going to help address the envelopes and write a cheery note inside the card then you get no vote in the selection of the card. A picture of Santa that looks like I travelled back to 1972 to buy is not what I am looking for in a Christmas card. (note to all 1970's Santa card senders: I LOVE LOVE LOVE your cards! They are so retro! Keep up the good work!)

We fought about those darned cards every year until I accidentally realized the joys of benadryl and the drugs amazing effect on my husband. He will hold my hand, sing to me, pet my hair as though I am the family dog, and agree to everything I say. Seriously, I realized this by accident. One happy accident...

So the big benadryl induced hazy holiday shopping trip resulted in me, and me alone, picking out that year's Christmas cards. Brad was there, at the store, he might have even been in the card aisle with me, but he certainly was not "present". Oh, those cards were so pretty that year...

The next year I considered raiding the medicine cabinet for the benadryl. Don't judge me. These cards are that important. I did not, however, drug my husband. I did, though, remind him that I had selected the cards the previous year and the world had not stopped spinning. He caved. Victory! And ever since then, I shop for our holiday cards, I address them, and I get them in the mail without my husband even looking at them. He has no clue what card we have sent out unless he happens to see one at a friend's or relatives home.

This year I spent a lot of time thinking about our cards. While I love getting the photo cards in the mail and I certainly would benefit from the ease of creating and ordering them, I prefer to send out a more traditional card. Simply a family preference. I love this world we live in where I can contact friends via facebook, email, and text. I enjoy the ease of these types of contacts as well as the trees these correspondences save. But can I let go of my Christmas cards in lieu of a greener greeting? I love the whole Christmas card process. Checking out the cards in the stores for a few weeks before finally making my purchase. Snuggling on the sofa with my hot coffee in my favorite Christmas mug, Matthew's sleepy breathing noises shouting at us from the baby monitor, addressing envelopes and signing each card, thinking about the family or friend who will receive it. And yes, I did say the baby monitor would be shouting at us. I have it turned up really high so that I can hear every noise my little guy makes. That's right, I am one of those moms. I finally decided he was old enough to turn it down and was loving our new, quieter, evenings when his asthma kicked back into high gear, prompting me to crank the monitor back up. Along with the higher noise level comes a myriad of questions to my husband as I attempt to dissect each breathy sound. Really makes for a special night with my husband...

I couldn't do it. I wanted to go green but I just couldn't let go of this tradition I enjoy so much. So I did the next best thing; I went as green as I could go without losing the paper card completely. If you have not yet purchased your holiday cards here are some eco-friendly options for you:


SnapFish – Choose Snapfish’s premium holiday cards by Paper Culture. They have a cool Cards to Trees promotion--with every order, Snapfish will plant a tree in your honor. Their 100% post-consumer recycled and FSC-certified cards and envelopes are produced with wind power, which I think is uber cool.

Tiny Prints – I love Tiny Prints! We have used their service before, and I love the cards. All of their products and packaging feature either FSC-certified or post-consumer recycled paper.


Night Owl Paper Goods. – These super cool, folksy cards are printed on eco-friendly, sustainably-harvested birch wood. They also do photo cards.


My Good Greetings – All holiday photo cards are printed on 100% recycled, FSC-certified matte card stock. They have a wide selection of cards.

And when the holidays are over? Instead of throwing away all those paper cards glue them to cardboard (from cereal or shoe boxes), and create puzzles. "Where did baby Alex's nose get to?" and "Who has Max the Dog's tail?" make great puzzle time conversations.

Side note: we received our first Christmas card earlier this week. My sister is way ahead of the Christmas game, apparently. I mean, I just bought my cards today and she had already created, ordered, addressed and mailed hers. Some of the joy of opening her card was gone, however, seeing as I saw the card in person last Saturday when she left them on the seat of her car and I hitched a ride to our second annual Kirk family holiday bowling extravaganza. Still, though. It was our first card, and I love Christmas cards!