Christmas has always been one of my most favorite
holidays. Maybe it is because it
seems to last for so long and so many fun events to attend. I am reminded once again this year of
just how much I love this holiday.
December is always a full month for our family. It starts the first weekend with Eric’s
company Christmas party, followed the next weekend by breakfast with
Santa. These are some of my most
cherished traditions.
This weekend was breakfast with Santa. It started with Quinny knocking on the
bedroom door at 5:30 in the morning.
When I opened the door, still blurry eyed, the first thing out of his
mouth was “Mommy, is it Saturday?”
After my assurance that it was, he said in his highest, most excited
voice, “It’s Santa day!” I love
being able to watch our two youngest really get into the Christmas magic. It never gets old.
We eventually made our way to Wixon, (Eric’s place of work)
around 8:30. We ate our breakfast,
which was the other highlight.
Gotta love pancakes and sausage.
Then it was time for the main event. It was tough to wait in line, especially when we caught
sight of the man in red. Then, it
was our turn. The two little guys
could hardly contain themselves as they ran up to Santa. Each of the four youngest kids got a
gift and we made our way out, all smiles and feeling cheerful.
Today was our annual shopping trip. Each year, Eric and I try to finish up
our Christmas shopping in one day.
We take stock of everything that we have already purchased throughout
the year and make a list of the things we still need. I love this day.
Even though it is exhausting and not always successful, it is a chance
for Eric and I to spend an entire day with each other. We have coffee and eat lunch together
and reconnect in the midst of a very busy and hectic season.
So, how did we do?
Not as well as we would have liked, but we made a dent in our ever
expanding list of names. While the
job, at times, seems daunting, we stick to two rules. The first is that we set a budget for every person and stick
to it. With six children it would
be very easy to overspend. But
with so many people to buy for, and the amount not being the true meaning of
Christmas, we stick to our budget.
The other rule we have is that we use cash. This helps us to stay on budget. We see the amount of cash in our wallets dwindling and are
very aware of what we are spending.
The one thing that we were so much better with this year is
taking into account the amount we had spent throughout the year. This way we are truly staying on
budget, rather than just saying we are.
For instance, we had already spent a total of $40 on one of our children
on various things we had picked up over the year, so we made sure to subtract
that from our budget. This way, we
are not overspending. Little by
little we are getting better at this whole Christmas budget thing!
I had every intention of doing a “Saving at Christmas”
entry, but it is getting late and I just don’t have it in me tonight. So, I will set some time aside tomorrow
to post again.
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