mum's to-do advent list - updated

1. print out, cut and put in advent calendar all the activities for the kids advent - it starts tomorrow! DONE
   
2. finish and post Christmas cards - emboss greeting, stick paper, fold in half, stuff in envelope, repeat 83 times. gave up embossing, all paper stuck, all cards folded
   
3. supervise children's craft time, because someone thought it was a clever idea to have the children do craft-type activities as part of their advent countdown (the chocolates in the calendar was a dismal failure last year...) some done, the real test is the week before Christmas
   
4. finish off the journal gifts for mums group - buy ribbon, drill hole in journal, thread ribbon, attach charm, punch label, attach label, tie pen to journal, repeat 23 times still haven't made it to the shop to buy the ribbon, but my punch has arrived!
   
5. how are those Christmas cards going? They really need to be finished and put in the post soon... only 62 to go need to write messages and stuff into envelopes
   
6. attend daycare Christmas party for niece and nephew, with fruit platter for each class done
   
7. bake brownies and caramel slice for weekend gatherings caramel slice done and eaten
   
8. buy swimsuit for Chloe, as she's outgrown her suit from last summer (that probably only got worn once, after all, she's a tween who doesn't like doing anything slightly embarrassing with her family, and getting undressed and wet is classed as uncool if parents are involved!) got a week's reprieve, shopping this weekend for the swimsuit
   
9. attend mums group Christmas party - supervise children swimming while dad dresses up as santa and hands out presents to wet children date change to 19/12
   
10. attend first birthday/naming day with the same group of people (and maybe a couple more) for one of the bubbas from mums group done
    
11. make fruit mince pies, share on blog as "not a cookie recipe" temporarily on hold
    
12. buy presents for all children, bring home and wrap before hiding in the cupboard still haven't done any shopping
    
13. finish making diaries for people who sometimes pretend to read this blog almost finished this afternoon
    
14. Christmas cards... stamp greeting, emboss greeting, stick paper, fold in half, stuff in envelope, only 49 to go as above
    
15. find a box to decorate and fill with notelets for Chloe, make writing practice cards for Douglas, make "body parts" type photo album for Natalie. rethinking these gifts...
    
16. attend bookclub morning tea, don't forget the secret santa present! this Saturday!
    
17. make a sticky date pudding for Christmas day to be done a couple of days before Christmas
    
18. create the Kaisercraft Christmas wreath (which I forgot I had until just this second)... I really want to create one of those funky bauble wreathes that everyone is making, but I'll put that on the to-do list for next year fagedaboudit
    
19. last burst of Christmas cards - if they don't get finished today, what's the point of sending them, and wasn't that the point of making them in the first place - to actually send them?! going postal no later than Friday, hoping by Wednesday
    
20. more present shopping, cause you can guarantee that while I said I was going to stick to a budget, something will "catch my eye" and I'll just "have to buy it" and then feel guilty and spend roughly the same amount of money on all the other children, blowing the budget out of the water. I hope not!
    
21. attend carols by candlelight around the corner at school - this involves packing a picnic for afternoon tea/tea, loading everyone up with bags/blankets/chairs and the pram with the esky while carrying the baby, and trundle off to have some fun *note to self - remember the aeroguard and haveagoodweekend! this Sunday night!
    
22. last minute grocery shopping - for all those last minute items I'm going to forget about until the last minute and then just have to make to be done at the last minute
    
23. Journal Your Christmas starts tomorrow... my current plan is to have a go at doing it digitally, but when I finally sat down and read this month's Creating Keepsakes magazine, they had a "gift album in a night" plan, and the sketch has really got me thinking... so now I'm trying to decide if I'm going to do a paper album, or stick with my original digital plan - and I still have another day to wait before I see the digital kit that Shimelle is going to include in the class... sometimes I hate the time difference! and there was an album in the first prompt that caught my eye, so I'm still thinking about the actual paper pages, meanwhile I'm blogging every day

My list hasn't got any longer... yet!