November, come and gone.

This month is going by so fast, just like last month and the one before.

November brought a first birthday to our youngest and the first, albeit light, snowfall. Winter is upon us, friends.. are you ready? I'm so not. If it could stay september all year round I would be a happy, happy girl.
I must say though, we are coming up to christmas much more prepared than ever before, and I hope it;s a sign of things to come.. the time of year is so much less stressful when you take it one day at a time and don't attempt to cram it all into a few short weeks.
This will be the first year in a long time that we will be staying home for Christmas.. with my new job among other things, we decided that a quiet Christmas is what we want this year.. us at home, the kids actually getting to play with their new toys on Christmas day, and a nice dinner, followed by a long sleep... it will definitely feel strange though, we haven't had such a holiday in a long time now and something will feel off about not rushing around and being surrounded by the family that we adore. I'm not sure that this will be a routine, but for this year, it works.

We have a few things on our calander over the next few weeks, my work christmas party is on Sunday.. Rob's birthday party is on the 6th, and his work Christmas party is on the 10th. His employer really goes above and beyond for their annual event. It is an overnight stay, and up until now has always been held at a lovely place called Eganridge in Bobcaygeon. (http://www.eganridge.com/) Last year, we brought a 4 week old Trenton along with us, and he slept almost the whole time. This year, it's at a lovely place called Viamede in Stoney Lake (http://www.viamede.com/) and there will be no children joining us. We're both looking forward to the event, but mostly to curling up at the end of the night in bed beside a crackling fire, with a beautiful view of the lake.

How are you spending your holidays? Do you have special traditions within your family? Are your December days mostly quiet or very busy?