Christmas Gifts: Done

We went shopping yesterday. And I can say, that except for one small thing, we are done shopping for Christmas gifts. I really think this is the first time I was done shopping this early! I'm still waiting for some items to arrive in the mail. Could they just hurry up?!

Since many of our gifts get stuffed into stockings, so I still don't have any wrapping to do. What I do have to do is return some gifts. Odd I know. I bought some items earlier this fall on deep, deep clearance at Kohl's. It turns out that most of them just aren't right for the people we are buying for. Some of the items I intended to give to  family members on my husband's side. It turns out we aren't exchanging gifts with them!

Part of our shopping was a very big shopping trip to Target. I had a 20% off an entire purchase that I made sure to take advantage of. My final bill was just over $350 after all the discounts. I stocked up on things like toilet paper, paper towels, soap, deodorant and other toiletries. I bought groceries for the week and added quite a few things for our holiday meals. It will definitely worth the time spent making the list and getting that huge savings!

One of the things I bought at Target was another artificial Christmas tree. I hope to put it in our basement and come up with a theme. This doesn't exactly add to my relaxing holiday season, but because I have planned ahead so much, I do have some time to do this!! My oldest daughter has been interested in a themed tree (rather than eclectic) for awhile, and I have too. I don't know what the theme is yet. Any ideas?  I could easily pull star or angel ornaments from our main tree, since I've been collecting those for awhile. So I guess I'm back to decorating!

I'm making a few soups this week. I plan to double at least one, maybe two for later this month. It sure is nice to have some items in the freezer for days when we don't want to cook or just have an easy night of making dinner. In addition to making double of soup this week, I hope to get some peanut butter fudge made. I'd prefer to get this done with my daughter since this recipe was her request. She may be busy with make up homework after her illness last week.

My family is coming to our house right after Christmas. We have started planning meals and food together. We all try to contribute something, so it isn't all on the person hosting. That will make it easier to plan my next grocery list!! Part of planning for visitors will mean getting to the cleaning. I think I will start those tasks beginning a week from Monday. In the meantime, I will attempt to keep things tidy and if I see a task that could be completed farther in advance I will take care of it. I did notice one of my ceiling fans needs to be dusted. That is one thing that wouldn't need to wait for the last minute, right?

Are you done shopping for gifts? Are you planning for meals and grocery lists in advance? Are you freezing any meals or doubling recipes? Will you need to clean your home before your holiday celebrations?