Prepping for Christmas

I'm not at all ready to decorate for Christmas in November.  A. Because we're planning to move in the next few weeks and B. I very rarely decorate before Thanksgiving.  I think I've done it once.  I just don't enjoy my house being all decked out for much more than the month of Christmas.

I am totally ready to prepare for Christmas.

All the stores are decked out with Christmas candy, decorations and gifts right now.  If you don't shop early, you're going to have trouble finding what you want.  I did some Christmas prep last week and already the lines were long, the stores were short staffed and it wasn't super fun.  All of this on a week day morning.  That was a good reminder for me to get busy and shop online, shop during the week and get started now so that I don't have to be fighting the crowds and the craziness in stores in December.

Here is a little sneak peek of the things I've gathered so far for my family.  Now is the time to grab Christmas ornaments, update any decor you're wanting for the season and keep an eye out for wish lsit items.  Hopefully you'll get some ideas for your crew.  I am gathering things for our North Pole Breakfast on Dec 1st, St Nick's Day on Dec 6th and Christmas stockings/gifts:

Jo Ann Fabrics had these adorable TY gingerbread squishies last week.  They were on sale and were about $6 each.  They're really cute, my kids love stuffed animals and Olive loves gingerbread.  I got one for each kid.  Christmas Pez dispensers were from Walmart.

Christmas books and activity book.  I got both of these on sale on Amazon at some point.

Christmas candy from Walmart.  Their Christmas aisle was about half full and fully stocked.  I'm not sure if it will totally fill up or if half way is the best it's going to get.  I grabbed our favorites so I won't have to think about doing it last minute.  Plus these items are often not available with grocery pick up.

I've been saving this Christmas matching game for the kids for a while.

Now is the time to buy the Christmas shirts (these are from Walmart), dressy Christmas outfits (Old Navy was the winner for me this year) and matching Christmas pjs for the kids (I got ours from Carters).  It's also a great time to grab your Hallmark or special Christmas ornaments.  The cutest ones never last very long.

It's also the perfect time of year to work on wish lists with your kids.  Anytime mine see something they want online or in stores, I snap their picture with it and save it for their Christmas wish list.  Sams is STOCKED with awesome Christmas gifts right now.  Both big kids found stuff for their wish lists and I did, too.  Then the next time I was at Sams without the big kids, I bought some of the items from their wish lists.  Win-win!

So all that to say...

Do not stress about Christmas.  

Start prepping now so you can ENJOY the holidays with your family.  December will be way more fun if you're just getting to do festive things and not have to run a million errands in crowded stores.

What steps are you taking now to get ready for Christmas?