Organizing The Rest of 2012

The first week of October is when I plan the remainder of the year. After the middle of the month, I don't have much time to sit and do a lot of planning, so I take care of it now. I go ahead and get the basics planned so that I can focus on the details later.

 Here is a general list of the planning I do now.

General/ Family

• Plan family photos. We love fall, so we intend to start a tradition of fall family photos. This is also the time to decide on a location, plan outfits, and book a photographer (Like TBetty!)
• Make sure all Birthdays for the rest of the year are in the calendar, as well as any parties that I have already been informed of. 
• Do my general to do list for the holidays. Some items include: inventory of dinnerware and bake ware; inventory decorations; revisit resolutions from this year; start my list of things to do in January. 
• Plan the Hubby's birthday! 
• Start baking and making pumpkin butter!

Halloween:

• Decide Halloween plans for Adults, The Prince, and any organization I am a part of (The Actual day of Halloween) This year, we are taking The Prince to a community trick-or-treat activity, handing out flyers at the event for CSPRI, and watching the Halloween Special for TAPS. Of course, there will be lots of yummies and drinks for the adults! 
• Decide on costumes and plan the diy so that I can start gathering materials. Luckily I have a bunch of supplies and costumes that I can build on. I just wish I had bribed mom to bring me her costume chest!
• Plan any local activities we want to take part in
• Decide on a timeline for Halloween activities like carving pumpkins, crafts, scary movie nights, and our bonfire. 

Thanksgiving:

• Decide which dinners to attend. I cannot possibly attend 4 dinners in one day! 
• Decide what the menu will be. This includes scouring through my recipe book, asking mom for recipes, deciding what I want to experiment with, and looking for new ideas. Doing this now allows me to not stress later, look for sales, and make sure I have all the supplies I need for new dishes. 
• Start thinking of decor, crafts, and gifts for Thanksgiving Dinner. I love Thanksgiving and adore being able to go all out. 
• Decide which "thankful" activity is in line for this year. 
• Plan activities to teach The Prince about being thankful. 

Christmas is a little different- at this point I just do what I need to do now and start thinking about my list for Christmas, which I start on as soon as Halloween is over. 

• Make my Christmas card list, decide on cards, and find all the addresses I need. This gives me time to order cards, gather addresses I don't have, and take my time writing them out. I ALWAYS hand address and sign Christmas cards. This is also the perfect time to make sure my address book is up to date. 
• Make my gift giving list, decide who I can hand make gift for, and start filling in the gift ideas. Making gifts takes a while, so I have to start now. 
• Start conversations on Holiday plans
• Make my Christmas To Do list. 

The first week of October is consumed by lists. The second week I put items on my Calendar and start hashing out details. I'm sure I haven't included everything, but this is the gist of it. 

Next Monday, I will share my blogging to do list to finish out the year.