SEMI-Handmade Christmas

Our goal for this coming year is to pay off the adoption and save enough to start again. We both want to give Sophia a Mei Mei(little Sister) so we are going to work hard at this goal. Saving where we can and reducing coast wherever possible. I am working on a project that will help reduce our grocery budget. There are other things rattling around in my head but i have to work on one project at a time or I will become overwhelmed and thus unsuccessful.

I have decided that this year I want to spend enjoying Sophia and taking her to sit on Santa's lap and to the Christmas tree farm to pick out a tree. Maybe to the petting farm to see the animals. I want to let her draw (scribble really) Christmas Cards for her grandparents and play in the fake snow that falls on Main Street in Celebration.I want to start a tradition that every year we make a Christmas Ornament to give to friends and family.I want to bake Christmas cookies with her and share with our neighbors. I want to start teaching her that it is as much fun to give as it is to get. I want to sit on our couch cuddled under a blanket with her and watch all the Christmas specials and movies. Don't get me wrong I enjoy shopping especially Christmas shopping and I am sure we will do a bit of that too. I love to be in the mall and feel the excitement, hear the Christmas music and see the kids all lined up to sit on the jolly mans knee.This year I have decided that the majority of the gifts we give will be homemade..Not necessarily by me mind you although some of them will be. .My new favorite Shopping site is ESTY.... if you have not heard of them you must check them out. I do a lot of shopping there (that is going to have to stop until we meet our goal). Why homemade?, you ask.. Well, for a lot of reasons. One I love the look of things that someone took the time to make with their own hands. I love to support people who are trying to run a small business. I love to give unique or unexpected gifts. I love the adventure to search out the perfect handmade gift for that special person. Of course there are other reasons buying home made is a step in the right direction to being "Green". The quality is many times better then mass produced products we would buy in a big box store. I get to avoid the Big Box store :). I can stay home and be curative with my family rather then fight for that last parking spot. Our first Christmas as a family of 3 will be a Semi-Handmade Christmas, maybe this will be a Christmas tradition as well.....