December 1: The Great Tree Hunt of 2012

I really wanted to be caught up on my blogging before December, but here it is so soon! I think it's a combination of our busy schedule and the unseasonably warm weather, but this month really snuck up on me.

The boys have griped that I don't have a lot of Christmas Spirit (mainly because I refuse to listen to Christmas music before Thanksgiving), so I decided to try to up my holly jolly-ness by doing a "December Daily".  This is a scrapbooking term that some marketing genius dreamed up to help scrapbookers take more pictures and buy more scrapbooking supplies in the month of December. Yikes, did I just say that? See, I am a grinch! Really, though, I do think December Daily is a great idea. I did something similar in the summer of '11, when the boys and I did "something fun" every day and I documented most of it with pictures. Admittedly, I was worn out by the end of the summer, but I've recovered in 18 months and I think reincorporating the daily picture/daily activity idea into our December is a good thing to do. After all, I want our boys (and myself) to remember this December, despite our crazy busy-ness, as a happy month of family togetherness.

Today is December 1st and we kicked off our December with a trip to Island Park to get our tree. I love going into the forest for a Christmas tree. Not only is the outing itself lots of fun, I just love the trees we bring home. There is something so fun about a fresh-from-the-forest tree-- it has personality.

Our weather has been warm, so the boys and I trudged through slushy snow and were intermittently sprinkled and pelted with rain. We didn't have to go far, though, and my dad brought along a very handy chainsaw, so even the thunder and lightening didn't ruin the day. The sloppy snow was great for snowballs (Gordon tried to carry a couple in his pockets), and the boys had a great time running around. We found a lovely tree, now proudly standing in our living room waiting for lights and ornaments.

Earlier this evening, we brainstormed 24 different activities (most free!) and I printed out slips to put in the pockets of our fabric advent calendar. On the docket: movies, gingerbread, lights, and more! Happy December!