The mischievous elf strikes again. Will he be as grouchy, silly as ever? Or did he learned his lesson last time around?
Although it seems like too much work – getting the elves dressed and hiding them in places for kids to find and seeing them wake up filled with undeniable excitement is worth the effort. No matter how silly the elf tradition is, as long as it makes everyone happy, then that’s all that matters. Read the rest of this entry
“If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch,” Carl Sagan famously observed in Cosmos, “you must first invent the universe.” The questions children ask are often so simple, so basic, that they turn unwittingly yet profoundly philosophical so as to require “apple-pie-from-scratch” type of answers.
My daughter, aged 2.5 posed one such question to me. How do you make Grape Juice? Though it may sound innocent enough, my attempt to satisfy her with Concentrated juice resulted in a fit for the ages. She was on the floor, screaming with uncontrollable outrage as only a 2 year old can. So we went to the store to buy grapes to make grape juice. When I chose the green grapes (seedless of course) she again went into an outrage. However, since we were in a public place, I quickly redirected her attention and put the fear of spoiling her behind me. “POORPOOL GRAPES” she said over and over and was ecstatically gleeful when we found big juicy purple grapes. In fact, the entire grocery store was aware of our find and just how wonderful these PoorPul Grapes were.
Are you looking for a fun way to send holiday cards and share your memories with friends and family without the hassle of postage and addressing? Well look no further. A video holiday card is the answer. This nifty little tool from Animoto allows you to create a card and share in a variety of ways — Facebook, Twitter, Email, Youtube and so on. You can use your pictures from Facebook, instagram, Flickr, and more.
It is not only a great way to connect with friends but also to archieve your year’s activity. Try it! It is fun and good to share.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you!
The Best Christmas Season Memories and Activities are personal and significant. I am taking a moment to reflect on my holiday joys, memories and activities to share some of the things that make Christmas season so special. While planning my holiday hassles, it is important to remember why we look forward to this season every year. I invite you all to share your memories, pleasant or not, and perhaps over time we can create a collection of our best memories and activities.
As a child, I could not wait to get out the decorations and was always most touched with the nativity scene and each 
year said a silent prayer when placing the baby Jesus in the manger. Our nativity was a painted ceramic and not at all what one would consider “fine”.
When I married, my in laws had a beautiful white porcelain nativity which I secretly hoped to call my own one day. But apparently, I was not the only one with that in mind and it has been given to someone else.
About 20 years ago, my husband bought me the most beautiful Boehm Nativity Scene with an exquisite Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus. It is the centerpiece of my decorations.
Last year, when my granddaughter helped me with decorating the house, we took great care, more than required time and loving reflection when placing the Nativity. I explained to her how we had to keep the Nativity scene and the Santa scenes separate and apart and how the Nativity was what really mattered. She understood completely.
Of course, my favorite has always been the living nativity scenes where people play the role of Mary, Joseph, Shepherds, Angels and Wise Men. As a child, the Church had a wonderful scene that went for 10 nights and my teacher often played the role of Mary.
Do children still enjoy these things or are they so bombarded with stimulus that it has no meaning? I think we should make every effort to impart the wonder of this story and how special it is that we are allowed to celebrate the birth of Christ every year.