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Sharing Christmas53352704082415-558805507355right7070090-558803125470right23177505058410765175The holidays are a time to revel in the gratitude and love we feel for one another. Here are some meaningful ways to celebrate your togetherness this season. 1. Go for a family nature walk near your home to collect seasonal items that you can use in your holiday decor. If you live near a forest, the obvious choices are pine boughs and pinecones, but long dried grasses can look just as festive tied with a holiday bow. 2. Make a few handmade holiday cards this year as a family. 3. Make appreciation cards. Replace the annual Christmas letter in your holiday cards with a brief letter of appreciation for the recipient. 4. Create or purchase new ornaments each year for the tree. Create or shop for an ornament that reflects a defining event or sentiment for the year. 5. Enjoy a Family Night with special holiday crafts, games, or movies. Pop a an extra big batch of popcorn for the family to eat while watching the movie. After we’ve all eaten our fill, we string the rest of it for the birds. Watch the birds flutter around the trees busily eating on Christmas day.6. Start a Christmas themed puzzle somewhere in your home. A puzzle table, placed in a quiet room is great for holiday visitors. Whenever your guests want to get away from the action, they can retreat to work on the puzzle. This can be a great stress reliever, and it is wonderful for those guests who always have to be busy doing something. 7. Play special music. Ask everyone for their favorite holiday CD. Allow each family member to choose and keep them in the CD changer. 8. Take a photo of your children standing in a particular spot each year (in front of the tree, by the front door) anyplace that will be consistent from year to year. Make a special holiday ornament or scrapbook album that depicts the growth and change of your family each year. 9. Create an evening tradition of taking a family walk or drive in your neighborhood to view the holiday lights. 10. Adopt a special cause each year and spend some time as a family helping those in need, or raising or donating money for a charity of your choice. 11. What is your favorite homemade holiday treat? Write down the recipe, and share it with your friends. 12. Challenge each member of your family to fill a box or bag full of items to give away. Decide as a family where to make a donation. 13. What was the best book you read this year? With whom would you most like to share its message? Purchase a copy for them and drop it off, anonymously.-55880116903514. Take your family to a performance of The Nutcracker or visit the ice sculpture at Opryland Hotelleft389128015. The holidays can take their toll. Make a holiday tradition of recharging your own batteries. Gather your daughter and your best friend and head to the day spa for a much deserved pedicure or massage. 16. Keep a "Joy Journal" this holiday season, in which you record the funny things your kids say, joyful times you share, your favorite things to do with your family (and by yourself), and all the things for which you are grateful. Use your Joy Journal as a reminder of the facets of your life (and this holiday season) that are really important.17. Give small and simple gifts (homemade cookies or a small book) to a few of the people who make your everyday life easier, such as the trash collector and postal carrier. 18. Build a gingerbread house together5281930527367519. Place a Nativity stable with the animals inside somewhere in your home. Next place hay in the manger and shepherds close by. Then have Joseph and Mary journey through your home to the stable. The Wise Men are placed can begin their journey through your home after Christmas, as they were not present at the birth of Christ. Everything is ready for the birth of Jesus. Place the baby in the manger on Christmas Day, while reading the story of Jesus’ birth from the Bible and talk about the true meaning of Christmas before diving into presents. 20. Bake a birthday cake for Jesus, and sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. 22. Give a special gift called "the Gift of Yourself". The Gift of Yourself tradition is a way for each person can give to another family member a gift that doesn't involve going out and spending money. Draw names and think of something that you can give the other person that they will appreciate like washing the car for mom, taking over morning dog walks for Dad in the middle of winter, or anything else that might be appreciated.23. RACKS-- During the month of December, I make an extra effort to instill these types of positive actions. To do so, implement a reward system for "Random Acts of Christmas Kindness" (or RACKS for short). For each act of "giving" performed during the month, tie a small bow on the Christmas tree. Each person should have their own color ribbon so all can lefttopeasily see who's doing the most "giving'. Also have small slips of paper and an empty box wrapped up under the tree with a slit in the top to deposit "random act of kindness." Examples might include: cleaning up trash in our neighborhood, volunteer to be a Salvation Army bell ringer, bake cookies for our local homeless shelter, use allowance to buy dog food for our animal shelter. After the month is over, pull out all the little slips and put them into a simple scrapbook so you can remember our "RACKs" for years to come. 24. You’ve Been Elfed—This is a neighborhood activity and may not be safe for all areas. However, you can be creative and this can be done at school, work, or home. Someone starts by dropping off the rhyme (see below) and treats at two houses without being caught. Then those two neighbors continue the fun by doing the same to two more neighbors. Everyone that gets "Elfed" is supposed to post the elf on their door or in their window so they don’t get "Elfed" twice. The idea is to pass the holiday cheer along to as many people as possible by Christmas. It’s a fun and easy way to celebrate the holidays with your neighbors. 21. Elf on the Shelf. The Christmas Elf appears in the house on December 1st and leaves on Christmas Eve. He works as a scout for Santa, watching the kids and reporting back to the North Pole at night to let the Big Guy know if the children were naughty or nice. The Christmas Elf appears in a new spot each day. The first thing the kids do when they wake up in the morning is hunt for the elf. He's been found sitting on the top of the TV, on a shelf in the bathroom, hanging from the light fixture above our dining room table and just about anywhere you can imagine. right1264920Here are some MORE ideas from web-land to get your elf active at your home…have a party with the Barbies watch a movie put away all the clean dishes in the dishwasher read books snuggled up in a doll bed set up a scavenger hunt for small presents or ornaments hidden around house make a fort out of cans in pantry snowball marshmallow fightmake snow angels on the kitchen counter with flour/salt/sugarsnowball fight with other stuffed animals (cotton balls)right3072765Make cookies and leaves a big mess!Ride on the ceiling fanWatch movies Hide pet food dishes toilet papered the Christmas tree put underwear and socks on treeplay solitairehide in the freezercolor the toilet water green write his name in toothpaste on the bathroom mirror 30702254720590spell his name out in cerealunroll toilet paper in the houseline up shoes as if they’re walkingdrive around in a Barbie carhave a pool party with dollshang upside down from the kitchen lightplay game of cardshave a popcorn partyrightbottomturn the milk green or redspelled out his name with letter tilesread some booksfish with a straw in a bowl of goldfish crackers take the camera and took lots of pictures of himself separate the red and green m & m’s into different bowls make a Lego house bring small presentsspell his name out in toothpicksroast marshmallows near a small candle with mini marshmallows on toothpicks.Spray note on windows with snow in a can4665345626745Spell out “HO HO HO” in toilet paper on the floorTurn kids clothes inside outFill the bathroom with balloons.hide in the Christmas treeeat the inside of an Oreo and sleep on top of the packagemake a zip line from upstairs to the downstairsCover up the names on the stockings with a piece of tape with his name on it.playing board gamedecorate the tree with toilet paperTake out all the books from the bookshelfwrap gifts by the tree, making a huge mess make a scavenger hunt by taking yarn and threading it through the house to find the present at the end. Take a bath in the doll house bath tub draw funny things framed photos with dry erase marker hang out on top of tvbungee jump from the light pull on the ceiling fan with a cut rubber band pile up pillows to make mountain34213803465830eat a bowl of cerealmake a village out of blockssit on steering wheel in carget stuck in a vasesit under a glassplay dress up in doll clothesride on a train setdecorate windows or mirrorshave a Christmas party with dollsTHE LEGEND OF THE CHRISTMAS SPIDER(A folk legend from Germany and the Ukraine) left0nce upon a time, long ago, a gentle mother was busily cleaning the house for the most wonderful day of the year.... The day on which the Christ child came to bless the house. Not a speck of dust was left. Even the spiders had been banished from their cozy corner in the ceiling to avoid the housewife's busy cleaning. They finally fled to the farthest corner of the attic. T'was the Christmas eve at last! The tree was decorated and waiting for the children to see it. But the poor spiders were frantic, for they could not see the tree, nor be present for the Christ child's visit. But the oldest and wisest spider suggested that perhaps they could peep through the crack in the door to see him. Silently they crept out of their attic, down the stairs, and across the floor to wait in the crack in the threshold. Suddenly, the door opened a wee bit and quickly the spiders scurried into the room. They must see the tree closely, since their eyes weren't accustomed to the brightness of the room... so the crept all over the tree, up and down, over every branch and twig and saw every one of the pretty things. At last they satisfied themselves completely of the Christmas tree beauty. But alas!! Everywhere they went they had left their webs, and when the little Christ child came to bless the house he was dismayed. He loved the little spiders, for they were God's creatures too, but he knew the mother, who had trimmed the tree for the little children, wouldn't feel the same, so He touched the webs and they all turned to sparkling, shimmering, silver and gold! Ever since that time, we have hung tinsel on our Christmas trees, and according to the legend, it has been a custom to include a spider among the decorations on the tree. Christmas Spider Ornaments4933315622300000Greg's CRISTMAS PagesIf you'd like to make your own?Christmas spider ornaments, it's a very fun and simple process.... You will need:- Cystals of several different sizes (you can choose the color)-?A glue gun- Metallic thread- 26-gauge wire. First, glue the two largest beads together hole to hole with the glue gun. This is basically the body and head of the spider. Cut four wires and string the smaller beads along them to make the legs. Bend the end of the wire so the beads do not fall off.Once you've added the beads to all four of the wires, twist them together to create the legs.Then, hot glue them to the bottom of the larger beads so that it takes the shape and form of a spider. Next, using about ten inches of the metallic thread, place it through the two holes in the biggest beads (the body), and you're ready to go! You now have a beautiful crystal bead spider ornament, just like the legend of the Christmas spider. lefttopThe Legend of the Christmas Pickle (Two legends exist) John Lower was born in Bavaria in 1842.? He left Germany with his family and immigrated to the United States.? While fighting in the American Civil War, John Lower was captured and sent to a prison in Andersonville, Georgia.? He soon fell to poor health given the poor conditions of the prison.? Starving, he begged of a guard for just one pickle before resigning to his death.? The guard, taking pity on him, found and gave John Lower a pickle.? Lower family lore yields John's testimony that the pickle, by the grace of God, gave him the mental and physical strength to live on.? After being reunited with his family he began the tradition of hiding a pickle on the Christmas tree.? Hence, the first person who found the pickle on Christmas morning would be blessed with a year of good fortune... and a special gift, just as John Lower had experienced!(II) The Medieval tale of the pickle tells of two Spanish boys traveling home from boarding school for the holidays.? Weary from travel, they stop at an inn for the night.? The inn keeper, a mean and evil man, steals the boys' possessions, and stuffs the boys into a pickle barrel.. That evening, St. Nicholas stops in for a rest at the inn, and becomes aware of the boys' plight.? He taps the pickle barrel with his staff, and the boys are magically restored.? The boys thank St. Nicholas, and continue happily home for Christmas.. The tradition of trying to find the little ornament shaped like a pickle began many years ago in Germany.? Pickle ornaments were considered a special decoration by many families in Germany where the fir tree was decorated on Christmas Eve.? It was always the last ornament to be hung on the Christmas tree, with the parents hiding it deep among the green boughs.. ?When the children were allowed to view the tree, they would begin searching for the Pickle ornament. The children knew that whoever first found that special ornament would receive an extra little gift left by St. Nicholas for the most observant child.? If the family could not afford such extras, the pickle finder was rewarded by being the first to open presents.The Legend of The Candy Cane A humble candy maker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would be a special gift for the King of Kings, so he made the Christmas Candy Cane. He incorporated several symbols for the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ. He began with a stick of pure white hard candy to symbolize the Virgin Birth and sinless nature of Christ, and hard because the church is built on solid rock, and firmness, for God’s promises are a firm foundation. He formed it in the shape of the letter -J- to represent the precious name of Jesus, who came to earth as our Savior. It could also represent the staff of the Good Shepherd with which He reaches down in to the ditches of the world to lift out the fallen lambs who, like all sheep, have gone astray. Then he added three small red stripes to represent the scourging Jesus suffered on His way to the cross. One large red stripe would remind those with eyes to see and ears to hear of the promise of eternal life. It would be a gift of love that would tell His story -the greatest story ever told.The flavor of the cane is peppermint, which is similar to hyssop. Hyssop is in the mint family and was used in the Old Testament for purification and sacrifice. Jesus is the pure Lamb of God, come to be a sacrifice for the sins of the world. ................
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