Christmas shopping... already???

Can you believe it's only 55 days until Christmas?? It's sooooo close! I can't stop thinking about it.... it's my favorite holiday of all. It's the birthday of my precious Savior, Jesus Christ. And it's very much a sensory holiday - I'm very much a sensory person. Every year the smells and sounds bring back sweet memories of my childhood. (That's me hugging my daddy's knee) Sounds - I only listen to ONE Christmas cd - the Time Life Christmas Treasury I grew up listening to - anything else just doesn't seem "Christmasy" to me. Smells - The popourri my mom always made with apples, oranges, cloves, allspice and cinnamon on the stove... pumpkin pie baking.....boxwood - we used to have a Christmas candle I'd unpack every year. I'd always close my eyes tight and breathe the boxwood in and that to me meant Christmas was really here. I have a lot of wonderful memories like that.

Sometimes I get so caught up in trying to recreate my childhood, I have to stop and kick myself - or rather Tom kicks me - he's good at reminding me that we need to create our own family memories and traditions. This is our third Christmas together and I'm looking forward to the new traditions we'll come up with - memories for our kids that will last a lifetime.

But my title was Christmas shopping - Yep, I've already gotten some people crossed off my list... for the most part. This year I'm doing gift baskety gift for each family (aunts' families, grandma, bro-in-law's family, etc) it makes it easier on me, plus I'm doing up gifts that the whole family can do together. We're the freaks of both our families in that we actually LIKE to do things together... lol... not really, but sometimes feels that way. :) Anyway, I've gotten most of the stuff for baskets for several families on my side. One I'm doing that is so cute - I got this ceramic popcorn bowl at Target for $15 (it's huge), I'm going to fill it with homemade caramel popcorn and stick some a blockbuster gift card in there - and there you have a family movie night for a family of 4 and it's only $30! For Tom's sister and brother's families, I think we're going to get year-round family zoo pass. It's about $45 and it's a gift that keeps on giving all year long!

Now, please don't think I'm one of those people who totally skip over Thanksgiving in preparation for Christmas.... actually this is the first year I've bought anything until two weeks before Christmas! (Bad, I know) I LOVE LOVE LOVE the fall and Thanksgiving, as I think I adequately conveyed earlier. :) Thanksgiving has many of the same family centered memories that Christmas does for me, and is a very close second when it comes to favorite holidays! Right now, I'm in the process of making a Thanksgiving menu. And I keep finding cute fally stuff on clearance! I got some fall leaves potholders, a horn of plenty guest towel and a pumpkin soap dispenser at Target for just a few dollars... I can't resist good deals!

I need to get going, I've started a massive decluttering mission today. Pray for me - and I'll update later!