What's Your New Year's Resolution?

I've been thinking about my resolutions, stop snacking, go on a diet, walk more, save more, spend less. Tell me what your New Year's resolutions are for 2009. You might be surprised how much we have in common.

Happy New Years to All!

Happy New Year!

Hey! 2008 is almost over! Put on your party hats, raise a toast to good times and do a countdown for a happy and happening New Year. Begin 2009 in a very special way with your friends and family. I would like to extend my warmest wishes to you and hope the year 2009 is a memorable one for you and your family!

My husband and I will be celebrating the New Year at home. How about you and your family? How do you plan on celebrating the New Year?

25 Best Christmas Movies Ever

So what if Christmas movies can be a bit sappy? They warm our hearts, restore our faith in humanity and generally bring joy to the world. Check this site out. They've unwrapped the top 25 big-screen Christmas flicks of all time. Enjoy!
http://movies.aol.com/holiday-movies/best-christmas-movies

12 Day of Christmas Song

One repeating Christmas story which is more legendary yet interesting in it's development as 'fact' (through the world-wide web vine) is about the origin of this popular Christmas song. This story is coming from the middle ages that Christmas was extended from a one-day celebration to a 12-day celebration. It begins with Christmas day and ends with the Epiphany twelve days later.The story of the song develops that during this time period (mid-1500's to the early 1800's) people of the Catholic faith were being repressed by laws in England. To hide their Christianity but teach their faith, believers came up with a song that was a catechism for children to learn the Catholic faith, and each of the gifts were a clue to this.

In the song, 'My true love' refers to God, 'gave to me' refers to being baptized, and the 'partridge in the pear tree' is a direct reference to Jesus the Savior in the first verse of the song.

2 Turtle Doves = The Old and New Testaments
3 French Hens = Faith, Hope and Charity, the Theological Virtues
4 Calling Birds = the Four Gospels and/or the Four Evangelists
5 Golden Rings = The first Five Books of the Old Testament, known as the "Pentateuch", which gives the history of man's fall from grace.
6 Geese A-Laying = the six days of creation
7 Swans A-Swimming = the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the seven sacraments
8 Maids A-Milking = the eight beatitudes
9 Ladies Dancing = the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit
10 Lords A-Leaping = the ten commandments
11 Pipers Piping = the eleven faithful apostles
12 Drummers Drumming = the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle's Creed

Others believe the song was simply a delightful rhyme set to music. The song was developed and used as a "memory and forfeits game" that was played by the children of this time period. The game was played by a leader reciting the first verse, and continued around, each child reciting the next verse.

Many Christians do celebrate January 6 as the Epiphany, also known as the 12th Day of Christmas, the Twelfth Night, Three King's Day. The word epiphany means an appearance or manifestation especially of a divine being; an illuminating discovery as when the Magi finally found the baby Jesus. Note that this story does not have "hard evidence" as to the true nature of the song and is more likely anecdotal. It can certainly be used today to teach a part of Christianity. We repeat this story because it is a fun song to learn as well as other Christmas-related songs - no matter what your faith.

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Christmas Games

At allthingschristmas.com, they have devoted a whole section to computer games for children. You can visit the page via Christmas for Kids-section or you play Dress The Snowman here. http://www.allthingschristmas.com/northpole/games/snowman/snowman.html

Did You Know That...

Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth.

In Poland, Santa Claus gives gifts on the 6th of December.

Santa Claus is also known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, and Kris Kringle.

In 1866, the artist, Thomas Nast, made a montage entitled, "Santa Claus and His Works" and for the first time established Santa as a maker of toys.

It was Coca-Cola's magazine advertisements, billboards, and point-of-sale store displays that exposed nearly everyone in America to the modern Santa Claus image.

Mistletoe

Mistletoe was used by Druid priests 200 years before the birth of Christ in their winter celebrations. They revered the plant since it had no roots yet remained green during the cold months of winter.The ancient Celtics believed mistletoe to have magical healing powers and used it as an antidote for poison, infertility, and to ward of evil spirits. The plant was also seen as a symbol of peace, and it is said that among Romans, enemies who met under mistletoe would lay down their weapons and embrace.Scandanavians associated the plant with Frigga, their goddess of love, and it may be from this that we derive the custom of kissing under the mistletoe. Those who kissed under the mistletoe had the promise of happiness and good luck in the following year.

Rudolph the Reindeer

Perhaps the best know of all the reindeer is Rudolph - the red nosed reindeer. Rudolph was the creation of Robert May, an advertising writer for the Montgomery Ward department store in Chicago.

May, who was very imaginative, wanted to create a booklet to give to parents who shopped at Montgomery Ward and with the help of Denver Gillen, a friend who had artistic skills, they created a booklet about Rudolph the red nosed reindeer. The story of how Rudolph lit the way through the fog to help Santa Claus deliver his toys was distributed for several years, with millions of booklets distributed at Montgomery Wards stores over the years.

In 1947 the story of Rudolph the red nosed reindeer was put to music by a friend of Robert Mays by the name of Johnny Marks. It was recorded and sung by Gene Autry a famous TV star and sold millions of copies of the song. Rudolph has had his own TV shows and movies and continues to grow in popularity with every passing year.

History of Christmas Stocking

Christmas Stockings are an integral part of Christmas Holiday traditions. The custom of gifting Christmas Stockings, as Christmas or holiday gifts are not a recent development .It has had a longer lineage than we can ever think of. How Christmas Stockings came to be regarded as a hot favorite is shrouded in mystery. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17858438

Myths and tales explaining the origins of Christmas Stockings are many. But the most accepted legend goes like this.A kind nobleman squandered all his wealth and property when his wife expired due to an illness and left him three daughters. So pathetic was his condition, that he had to move to a peasant’s cottage and lived a life of misery. He did not even have enough booty to get his daughters married. Generous as he was, St Nicholas decided to help them out but anonymously. One night he rode up to their house and having discovered that all had fallen asleep, he quietly dropped three pouches of gold coins down the chimney and they landed on the stockings that the girls had hung up by the hearth. The next morning the daughters were overjoyed with the gold coins they found inside their stockings as it was sufficient enough for them to get married and they lived happily ever after. Even today, children all over the world celebrate this day by hanging their stockings near the fireplace. Most of the countries follow similar traditions with minor variations. In France and Hungary, kids keep their shoes by the hearth or on the windowsill; in Holland they stack their shoes with hay and carrot for the horse of Sintirklass. So kids, don’t forget to hang your Stockings by the hearth, for you never know what your boon in disguise is going to be like. For more information on History of Christmas Stockings log on to our site at Christmas Carnivals.
http://www.christmascarnivals.com/christmas-stocking/history-christmas-stockings.html

Counting the Days Until Christmas

This month is all about getting ready for Christmas. About what gifts to buy your relatives, or how to host a perfect holiday party. Also, the special, meaningful things that families may do together during the Christmas season. I've found some examples and will add a little history of each. What are some of your holiday traditions during the Christmas season? Do you decorate a tree? Do you set up a Nativity scene? And what special things do you do on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? Share your family traditions in the comments section.

Twas The Night Before Christmas

Track Santa and countdown the moments till his arrival. Follow Santa Claus on Christmas Eve as he travels around the world with http://www.noradsanta.org/. For over 50 years, NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command), and previously CONAD (Continental Air Defense Command), have tracked Santa's journey each Christmas.The tradition began in 1955 after a store advertisement for children included a misprinted telephone number to call Santa. Instead of Santa, children ended up calling the CONAD Commander-in-Chief's operations. Colonel Harry Shoup received the first Santa call. Wanting to help the children Colonel Shoup had his staff check radar data to see if they could spot Santa making his way from the North Pole. As it turned out there were signs of Santa and children who called were given an update on Santa's position. Thus, the tradition was born. NORAD carried out its first Santa tracking in 1958 after inheriting the tradition.