Search Results for: blog putting christ back in christmas

Christmas Break Boredom Busters

Today is the last day of school for many kids in our area.  Their Christmas break begins this afternoon and I’m sure they couldn’t be happier.  Their parents, on the other hand, may not share the same feeling. A week from now those same kids may be climbing the walls looking for ways to keep busy.  If you fear boredom will get the best of your brood before Santa flies into town, consider putting your kids to work making these simple and inexpensive holiday decorations that you can use to brighten up your home or give as gifts: Pretty Presents:  … Continue reading →

Looking Back at 2011

In just about 48 hours we will close the book on 2011. However, before you make like Wal-Mart and start working on Valentine’s Day preps, now is a good time to look back on the year that was. Creating year in review layouts is a tradition for me. I love selecting memorable moments from the last 365 days and putting them together in a classic page design. Since the passage of time is a vital part of any New Year’s celebration, consider using time-related embellishments in your layout. For example, I recently printed out an image of a large clock … Continue reading →

Putting Christmas Away

Am I the only one who loves to see Christmas come but really love to see it go? I woke up yesterday and just wanted my house back. Everything is out of place and I want it to be normal again. I feel like such a Scrooge but I want the tree down, the nutcrackers put away and the lights off the house. Until next November, then I’ll be happy to see it all again. Usually I wait until New Years Day and take everything down in one fell swoop. This was pretty much organized chaos. Next Christmas would roll … Continue reading →

Christmas Carols and the Home

In our house, when we are decorating the tree and putting Christmas decorations up, it is usually to the accompaniment of Christmas Carols. Similarly when I am in the writing Christmas card stage or the wrapping present mode I like to have accompanying carols to listen to and to sing along with. This year one of the special CDs that will be played in our house over Christmas is The Gift by Susan Boyle, a present given me by a dear friend. Why play carols when I am doing these tasks? For one thing it helps put me in the … Continue reading →

Family History Reflected In Personalized Christmas Ornaments

There is just something special about handmade Christmas ornaments. Putting them on the Christmas tree instantly evokes memories of not only previous Christmas holidays, but also the ancestor whose hands made the ornament. This is especially true if the ornament is designed in memory of a relative who has passed on. For the past 21 years, Crystal Wood has been making her family home made Christmas ornaments, out of items once used by their grandmother. My family has some hand made Christmas ornaments that I would consider to be important heirlooms. They were all created by my grandmother. Every time … Continue reading →

Christmas Tree Shopping

It’s December. The last month of 2010 started this morning. Christmas is just around the corner. Next Tuesday is Glee’s Christmas episode, although the Christmas album was released weeks ago. ABC Family has been airing holiday movies for months and three children’s Christmas specials aired last night. Christmas lights have been glowing on houses all around and I know a number of people who have finished putting up all the Christmas decorations. The last year I fully decorated for Christmas was 2007 when we had Pumpkin and Gemini. I don’t remember why I didn’t deck our halls in 2008. In … Continue reading →

Christmas Shopping for Your Child’s Teacher

Now that Thanksgiving is over, the countdown to Christmas is on, and that means parents are under even more pressure to cram as much as humanly possible into a 24-hour period. For many moms and dads that means more Bah! Humbug! than fa-la-la-la-la, but such is the society-driven hoopla surrounding the birth of Christ. In addition to cooking, cleaning and coordinating school holiday concert schedules, parents must rack their brains to come up with meaningful gifts for grandparents, aunts, uncles, pizza delivery men and other major influences in their child’s life. What’s more, most of us also feel obligated to … Continue reading →

Christmas Lights?

Last week at church the minister talked of why Christmas and Christmas lights always go together. I’d heard other reasons as to how they were connected but they often seemed rather tenuous. But I liked the way he linked them. It made the most sense to me. Right from the beginning Christmas has always been linked with light. He used as his reference the prophecy of Isaiah 60:1-3 and the light coming into the darkness. John 1:1-5 and John 1:9-18 also pick up on this theme, identifying Jesus as the fulfillment of that Isaiah prophecy and the light come into … Continue reading →

Marriage Christmas Traditions

Mick had his turn of looking after me, now it’s my turn to look after him. On Sunday night we went to carols at the beach. Despite the heat of the day and the fact it’s summer here in Australia, that evening turned quite cold and windy. Next thing, Mick’s come down with all the snuffles, aches and pains of flu symptoms. He’s an easy patient to look after though. He’s spent the last few days on medicine and sleeping, sleeping, sleeping. I wish I could sleep like that when I’m sick, but I never can. Thankfully I’m now armed … Continue reading →

Christmas Joy

On Sunday we want to our sister church- the other church that belongs to our parish. We were greeted the door by children dressed as Mary, Joseph and shepherds and what was, with a bit of imagination,a donkey. In reality he was a huge grey shaggy Irish wolfhound, the size of pony and sporting a pair of gray donkey ears. But what a charming and well behaved donkey he made, as he walked in with the children to be part of the nativity scene up the front near the Christmas tree that with its central branch and two large branches … Continue reading →