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Hello, Reader.

December is upon us, and the countdown to Christmas is on! But there are a few lesser-known holidays this month that deserve some attention between now and then. I'm sharing six of them in this week's link list.

Free resources for you this week:

• Dec. 5 - Communicate with Your Kids Day – use our discussion prompts to get them talking
• Dec. 11 - National Have a Bagel Day – a good time to try our avocado bagel sandwich​
• Dec. 15 - International Tea Day – enjoy a cup of hot tea while taking our tea time trivia test​
• Dec. 19 - Look for an Evergreen Day – and afterwards take our Christmas Tree Trivia Test​
• Dec. 21 - First Day of Winter - extend the fun into the new year with our Winter Bucket List​
• Dec. 26 - National Candy Cane Day – you can even use candy canes to share the gospel​

What I'm reading this week:

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​The Clean Mama's Guide to a Peaceful Home ​ This is the season for "peace on earth," but our homes can sometimes feel chaotic with so many houseguests, Christmas baking, tree decorating, gift wrapping, etc. If you feel like you could use a reset (I do!), Becky Rapinchuk's book, The Clean Mama's Guide to a Peaceful Home, may be just the ticket. Her simple systems and routines will help you tame the chaos and create the clean, comfortable, well-organized home we all dream of.

What we're eating this week:

Left-over turkey! You, too? Then substitute it for the chicken in our quick & easy Chicken Pot Pie.

This week's reader request:

A subscriber recently asked for another word scramble. She used my Christmas Word Scramble at a party last year, and it was such a big hit that she wanted something similar to play with this year's party guests. And that's how my new Nativity Word Scramble came into being!

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On the podcast this week:

My podcast didn't happen again this week -- waaaay too much else going on! -- so here's another episode from the archives:

Loving Life at Home: Episode 20 ​HOME SHOWS AND SHOW HOMES​ One of my favorite Christmas traditions is attending holiday home shows, but having a show home oneself is not a pre-requisite to extending hospitality, as we discuss on the podcast this week. Listen Now

Progress on last week's goals:

I was making great headway on last week's to-do list, until three of my kids got sick and stalled our progress (since I don't want them to miss out on the tree decorating, envelope stuffing, etc.)

Fortunately, before fevers began to rise, I ✅ jogged/walked in Turkey Trot, ✅ sat for family portraits (my kids did all the legwork and our third-born snapped the photos), ✅ hosted Thanksgiving dinner, ✅ hosted our daughter's wedding (beautiful!), ✅ ordered Christmas photo cards, ✅ personalized three new felt stockings, ✅ sent two new memory passages to kids and grandkids, ✅ planned (and executed) party activities for ✅ pajama day at co-op, and ✅ finished buying/wrapping/sending most (but ❌ not all) of my Christmas gifts.

The last two items on my to-do list ( ❌ sending Christmas letters​ and ❌ decking the halls) are getting carried over to this week. Hopefully, my sickies will feel up to helping with those tasks soon, and nobody else will succumb to whatever it is that ails them.

Personal goals for this week:

• stage Christmas card assembly line 💌
• finish decorating house for Christmas 🎄
• record another podcast 🎙️
• plan itinerary for family's upcoming trip to San Antonio 📋
• design and send invitations for a friend's upcoming wedding shower 💍
• starch crocheted snowflakes ❄️
• walk 7 miles (harder in the cold 🥶)
• add in weight training (3X) 🏋️‍♀️
• pare down email inbox to double digits (it topped 500 over the weekend) 📥
• send semester grades to my algebra classes 💯
• complete 4 new pages in my Joy to the World advent devotional 🖍️

If you enjoy this newsletter and would like to support my work, there are five ways for you to do that:

1. Say a quick prayer for me & my family 🙏
2. Invite a friend to ​​subscribe to this newsletter​​ 📭
3. Follow me on ​​Instagram​​ 📸
4. Buy one of ​my books​​ 📚
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Thanks so much for all your help! I'll be back next week with more links, reviews, and resources. If you have any special requests, please let me know. 😊