I love new crayons. Their points lined up perfectly, not a blemish on them. The possibilities of what they can create endless.

That is what the New Year feels like. A blank canvas with endless possibilitites stretched out before you. You may think you know what the year has in store for you, but until you start creating and living you have no idea how it is going to shape up.

Wishing you all a 2009 that is a fabulous masterpiece.

A couple of weeks ago we had a huge ice storm that brought down trees and branches, scattering them all over the yard.  Then the weather decided to dump snow on top of the ice and the frozen branches stuck in the ice.  And I promptly forgot all about the mess that lurked beneath the nice crisp white layer of snow.  I love that about winter where I live.  Just when things turn ugly and dead looking a nice thick white blanket of snow comes along and covers everything over making it look clean and new.

This weekend the weather warmed up.  The snowbegan to melt.  And then rain began to fall, which effectively cleared all of the snow.  And revealed to us once more the horror of the branches.

We knew that the warm weather would not last and so we had to go out and drag all the branches away.  Chop up the larger limbs with a chainsaw and drag them off.  We made a big bonfire in the backyard in our firepit. 

The kids had to pitch in and help, or rather they were expected to help.  There wasn’t a long debate or discussion with them.  We presented it very matter of fact at the breakfast table.  And they were more than willing to get outside and help.  I have to think it was more than just the lure of roasted marshmallows and hot chococolate when they were done.

This is the pay off of doing chores.  I have seen children of my friends fall into the trap of thinking that they do not have to help out ever.  That they have every right to refuse.  That chores are somehow optional, not to mentioned completely antiquated. 

Sure, there have been times when my kids have bickered over a job, or failed to do it properly and I had to go over it with them again and again.  Really, is cleaning a toilet THAT difficult?  Times when I have thought that it would just be easier, and more peaceful, to do it myself.

But then I would have missed the most important part lesson that having chores teaches.  And that is the attitude of service.

So stick it out.  I swear there is a pay off coming.  Probably when you least expect it.

Every year on Christmas we track Santa and follow his path around the world.

Santa Tracker

It is really helpful for using to get the children to bed earlier.  Because we all know that if you are not in bed, Santa is not going to be stopping at your house.

Make sure you set out those cookies and milk.  Or beer if your “Santa” needs a cold one after dragging all the wrapped presents down from their hiding places.

At our house, Santa’s helper needs a coke to get through the christmas eve wrap-a-thon.

This year it was hard for me to get into the spirit of Christmas.  Probably because we were so busy for the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  And we traveled to Florida for a week.  I am sorry all you people who live in warm climates, but it just does not seem like Christmas when it is hot, sunny, and I am wearing flip-flops.

The snowman decorations seemed incongruous with the heat.

We ended up using a fake tree this year.  The first time ever.  And not even a really nice fake tree either.  I bought it on 90% off clearance at the end of last season with the intention of putting it up as a second tree in our family room.  I have always wanted a second tree to be in the room we spend most of our time.  I feel like we don’t get to fully ENJOY the tree since we always put it in the front formal area of our house.

But I really didn’t want to spend a lot of money on a fake tree.

Anyway, this is all a  long-winded way of explaining why we ended up with just a sad skinny fake tree when two ice/snow storms hit and buried all the tree farms  in more snow and ice than I wanted to dig out.  And I will admit that I was disappointed.  I love my big fat real tree that is always too big.  Always too fat.  And always dies because I forget to water it.

We set it up and I felt disappointed in myself and all the little ways I feel that I fail.

But as my children went through the ornaments and danced and sang the Christmas songs that I have been working so hard at avoiding this year in my grinch-like state, I realized that none of it mattered to them. They were filled with the holiday spirit and I discovered that it was contagious. They had enough to share with me.

My daughter pulling a bell ornament out of the box and saying, “I STILL BELIEVE!”

Yup, I found my joy. And here’s hoping that you found yours also.

How long would it take for you to notice that one of your children is missing?

For one family in Australia, it was reminiscent of the movie Home Alone.  Except that the family in the movie actually noticed that their child was missing relatively quickly and the entire movie was about them trying to get home to him during the busy holiday season.  Oh, and the child fighting off crimminals who wanted to rob his house.  The usual.

The family in Australia did not notice that their 5 yr old son was missing for 14 hours.  FOURTEEN. 

They had brought their eight children along with a bunch of neighborhood children to see a holiday light display.  They had driven two cars, so each parent though the other one had the child.  So far I can understand.  When they arrived home they sent all the kids immediately to bed. I could maybe understand this one… like each parent thinks the other is helping the child into bed. 

But here is where the family loses me.  They did not notice  he was missing until lunchtime the next day.  Do they not check on their kids in bed?  Or fix them breakfast? Or notice that they didn’t say good morning to one  of their kids?

After reading an article in the New York Times about the art of regifting, I learned of this website: Regiftable.

The website has readers leave their regifting stories, the good, the bad, the ugly and then you can vote on the best regifting story.  The winner gets a $500 gift certificate to amazon.  Wonder if anyone will regift that!

I especially liked this page on their website where you can download and print a gift certificate to fill out.  Give someone the gift of your time, a plate of cookies, a movie date, a massage… whatever strikes  your fancy.

I haven’t begun my Christmas shopping yet this year.  No, I don’t know what I am waiting for either.  Divine intervention?  A humungous sale?  Several extra days, preferably weeks, to spring up between now and then?

I am beginning to see a positive though with waiting this long.  Whatever I buy will be it.  There will not be any running back to the store for one more thing.  Or trying to even out the piles. It will just be what it is.  It has also made me start thinking about the one thing that the kids really want.

And you know what I have discovered?  That I have a bunch of spoiled children who really want for nothing.  They honestly do not have any ideas about things they want.  Other than cell phones, which they are not getting.

Before anyone feels too sorry for my children, we did just return from a family trip to Florida and Disney World, which we told them was going to be their big present.  They will still get their stockings and a couple of inexpensive presents, but nothing spectacularly grand. 

What sort of presents are you buying this year?  I hear that people across the country are cutting back and buying less this year, but then when I am in stores and see the buying frenzy I wonder if this is really true.  Have you cut back on your purchases this year?

Have you ever seen the website Baby Name Wizard?  It is by far the best baby name website that I have seen.  I love the Baby Name Voyager It is so cool to play around with and see the graphs of popularity for the names.  It is fascinating to see names go in and out of style.

They recently ran a poll asking for the Name of 2008.  The overwhelming majority of people picked the name…. wait for it… Joe.  Yes, Joe.

Christmas is getting closer and by now you have probably received most of the Christmas cards you are going to get, unless you are on my Christmas list.  What do you do with all the cards?  Do you toss them when the season is over?

I have a large wicker basket that is made for hanging on a wall or something.  I hang it on our back door and every photo card or card that is “special” goes into the basket.  The kids love looking through the basket every year, seeing how their friends have grown, rereading some of the Christmas letters that are tucked inside. 

Some other ideas for displaying  cards:

Martha Stewart has a gorgeous “tree” with the cards tied on as ornaments.  Of course it helps that all the cards she hgas are color co-ordinated.  Perhaps I can get my friends and family to co-ordinate next year?

Apartment Therapy posed this question to its readers and here are some of the simple, and inexpensive ideas that they came up with.

Unclutterer uses decorative ribbon and a hole punch and ties the cards to their bannister.

Design Mom lists a bunch of possibilities and she wins me over by revealing that she has shutter doors in her garage awaiting a project.  That is something I do.  And by gum one day I will use all of those windows, shutters, interesting bits of moulding that I have acquired.  

I am thinking that I will need to be on the look out for some errant shutter doors this year.  I’d love to make a tri-fold screen out of them.  It would be the perfect backdrop for hanging the Christmas cards.   I will have to make a note to myself to read this post in about August 2009 so I have ample time to prepare.

Over the years Christmas letters have gotten a bad rap.  I don’t mind getting them, in fact I usually enjoy reading about the lives of far flung friends and family.

Sometimes I cringe at the braggy things people choose to write about.  Other times I wish the writer of the Christmas letter had heard of spell-check.  But generally speaking I enjoy the effort thatt the person put forth to send us a  letter and card.  The only letters I will openly mock are those that are written from the point of view of their pets.  I’m sorry, but hearing about your year from Fluffy’s  point of view is not interesting.

This website has tips for making your Christmas letter this  year one that will be enjoyed, not mocked.

This year I never even got around to sending Christmas cards.  So really, who am I to make fun of anyone who has it more together than I do.  I think I might send out New Year cards this year.  I am shooting for sometime in the New Year.  Don’t want to put too much pressure on myself now.

So, what do you think about the holiday cards?  Love ‘em?  Hate ‘em?  Don’t really care either way?