Oh, no! Here we go again!

This time of year always sneaks up on me. I have been making a conserted effort the past 5 years to keep the holidays in proportion. I've never been one to put Christmas on a visa or anything. But all the holiday expectations seem to overwhelm me and frustrate me. There is so much to enjoy and celebrate that all the expectations and traditions seem to get in the way sometimes:
Family photo; Christmas letter; Decorations; Presents (we just buy for our immediate family and don't ask for gifts for ourselves); Thank you notes to send; Family gatherings; and on and on.

On top of all this we try to celebrate Holden's birthday and my birthday which is in December! Whew! So we get tons of cards and gifts and thank you notes to write. We just have a simple family gathering for our birthdays, but still. When it rains it pours. It's still fun as long as we can keep things from running away and being blown out of proportion.

We used to have a 7' artificial Christmas tree we bought when Holden was an infant. It was the kind that had to be assembled limb by limb with the color codes. Cliff had the great misforutune of having to figure out which branch went where. It was a nightmare. I made the executive decision to trade it for a 4' tree. The 4' tree is already up, but with no decorations. It is puny but cute. And all I had to do was snap the three feet into place for the stand. Holden doesn't like it and he's worried about where the presents will go. I'm just worried about Camden knocking it over.

So far I haven't got a family photo. I'll be taking a photo of the boys at some point and that will have to do. Every year I send out at least 30 to 40 cards with photos. That is a lot of work for me. But it is fun to hear from other friends and family and see their photos. With blogs and email I may decide to just send out photos and letters to only folks with no computers...what can I say? I want to simplify my life. It is disheartening to send out photos and letters when half the time I know the photo is stuffed into a drawer or just left in the card. I have proof.

I'm really excited about the holidays and all the joy of the season. I am vowing not to get overly worked up over anything and try to focus on the real meaning of the holidays for us. We used to be involved in a lot of other Christmas traditions and activities. For now this is all we need and can handle.

So to all my blog friends and family reading this: I wish you all a joyous holiday season no matter what your traditions or beliefs are. Hopefully, it will be another simple holiday season for us. The photos are from previous Christmases.