no room for santa

Has your child asked you the Santa question? My oldest asked it of me this morning in the car. I wasn't sure how to proceed at first, so I just turned the tables on her instead.

"What is Christmas all about?"

"Jesus," she replied.

"So if Christmas is about Jesus, how does Santa fit in?"

"He doesn't. Santa's not real? I've been thinking he wasn't real since I was seven."


Christmas 2009


(She IS seven.)

"No, honey, Santa's not real."

"You and Daddy don't like to get up early, so I thought that's why Santa might be real."

(She means, when on earth would her sleepy parents possibly get up to put gifts under the tree?)

(Long Pause)

"You and Daddy and Nana and PopPop and Grammie and Pappie will still give me presents because you love me. Wait, did you and Daddy give me my pink bike?"

I'd say she's on to a thing or two, wouldn't you? She knows that JESUS is the reason for the season, and she knows that love sometimes equals gifts. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?

christmas with a capital "C" - gofish guys

http://www.gofishguys.com/cms/

giving your best this christmas

No doubt, Christmas is the most stressful time of year (with Tax Day coming in a tight second). We let the stress in. We feed it like a lost kitten and can't seem to push it out the door. Why? I blame it on the world we live in. There's pressure to give your kids the same expensive gifts their peers are likely receiving, the calendar fills quickly with obligatory holiday parties, and your paycheck fails to grow even though your expenditures for the month are larger than any other time of year. What to do, what to do ...

Perhaps recalling the real reason we celebrate December 25th will put things in perspective and push the stress out the door for good.

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. - Isaiah 7:14, NIV

This world was promised a savior, Immanuel - God with us. Thank God for sending us His only begotten son, for providing salvation through him, and for the blood that washes away our sins. The best way to praise and show true appreciation? Serving others. The time has already passed to package and send a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child, but it's not too late to pick up an angel, contribute to Toys for Tots, volunteer at a soup kitchen, donate non-perishables to your local food bank, or donate coats and blankets to those less fortunate. These are among the best gifts that any of us can give.

As for our children and other loved ones, give from the heart instead of the purse. Choose one smart, heartfelt gift that you know will be appreciated. For those blessed with a giving heart such as yours, consider making a donation to their favorite charity as their gift.

You'll be amazed at how good giving to those in need can make you feel. It's the ultimate stress reliever. God bless you this Christmas.
-Casey

crafty christmas, part iii

• You know those recipe cards I mentioned? Expand on those hand-written lovelies by including a nice dish towel and a wooden spoon, all tied up with raffia.
• Make your own soap. Buy clear glycerin soap and soap molds at any craft store. Use photo editing software to size your favorite picture to fit the soap mold, then print it on a transparency and cut to fit the mold. Follow the directions to melt down the glycerin. Layer the mold: half glycerin, transparent image, remainder of glycerin. Let the soap set up and then pop it out of the mold. I made a bar of soap with an image of my daughter for my mom. I thought it was a practical gift, but I don't think she's washed her hands with it even once. :o)
  Another spin on this clear soap is to insert pressed flowers instead of an image. For kids or teens, tightly wrap a $5, $10, or $20 bill in saran wrap and pour the glycerin around it! Make 'em work for that money!

• Share a plant. I have a common houseplant that grows like mad and is very durable (trust me, I can nearly kill a plant just by looking at it). It's called Devil's Ivy (Golden Pothos) and doesn't require much maintenance at all. As if that isn't reason enough to keep this guy around, you can cut and generate a new plant lickety-split. If you have a similar plant, consider cutting a vine, propogating it in water and planting it for a gift.
• Gift baskets don't have to cost an arm and a leg. Browse clearance bins, the $1 section at Target and Michael's, or even the Dollar Tree with a keen eye. For $10 you can create a gift basket. Michael's has stationery goods for $1 each - note pads, pens, magnets candles, and more. The Dollar Tree is a great place to create a hair goodies basket for a little girl. Fill a basket or pail with a pack of combs, a brush, barrettes, name-brand shampoo and pony tail holders. If the packaging is the only thing from holding you back from a cheap purchase, unwrap it. Who says you can't give loose pony tail holders and combs? For one, loose goods make the basket look fuller and two, the stuff isn't screaming "SHE'S CHEAP!" just because there isn't a popular name brand attached to it.
• It's been a number of years since I cross-stitched anything and I have projects left undone. Charts can be costly, so make Google your best friend. This site, Alita Designs, has some of the best free charts I've found (you'll find a lot of cheesie stuff before you find good stuff when searching online). The cost of fabric and floss won't seem so bad if you find a chart for free. Now to just find the time ...
• Smelly sachets always make a woman smile. Find a good-smelling potpourri (come on, y'all know not all potpourri actually smells good), and a piece of scrap fabric. Cut the fabric into two squares (about 3x3 will do) and turn them with their right sides out. Stitch three sides (trust me, these are cuter the more primitive they look) and fill with potpourri. Stitch up the final side and voila!  Make two more, tie a pretty ribbon around them and you're all set.

crafty christmas, part ii

As promised, I brainstormed and remembered some other crafty (or cheap) Christmas gifts from the past.

• Peppermint Cocoa! You know, I had a "made from scratch" recipe but I'm unable to locate it at the moment. Here's the next best thing ... Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa is like .97/box at Wal-Mart. Buy a box, open all the packets and dump them in a bowl. Open a bunch of peppermint candies and toss them in a food processor. Pulse until it's really fine and then dump the peppermint into the bowl with the cocoa. Mix well and then pour into an air-tight container. I have found that Mason jars work well. You can add a scrap of fabric between the lid and the ring, tie some twine or raffia around the lid, and add a nicely decorated tag with the measurements for mixing. By the way, that's about a third of a cup of cocoa to a cup of boiling water. ;)
• Favorite Family Recipes. There are two ways to go about this. Find a nice set of recipe cards, write out the recipes, and tie them up with a ribbon. Or, go to http://www.blurb.com/ to create your own really nice book. They're priced $4.95 to $59.95. I have not gone this hi-tech route because I've always liked the personal touch of writing the cards myself, but when I'm ready to gift recipes again, I think I'll invest the time to actually make a cookbook.
• Beeswax Taper Candles. Buy sheets of beeswax at most any craft store with candle making supplies. Also buy wicks. Cut the wick to the length of the beeswax sheet and begin rolling the beeswax sheet tightly around the wick. It's cute when you gift these in pairs. Tie them with raffia or a pretty ribbon and give them away.

crafty christmas

At first I was bummed at the thought of Christmas this year, as far as gift-giving, anyway. I'm a giver. Always have been. And I'm no stranger to crafty Christmases. I thought I'd share some of the gifts that I have created in the past, in case you're having a strapped-for-cash year, too. Some of these aren't necessarily crafts, but just really cheap gifts.

• The name Vistaprint sometimes induces a snarl. I have yet to figure that out. I love Vistaprint. I created address labels and personalized note cards to combine as a stationery gift one year and hardly spent any money. Sign up for their enewsletter for really great deals - often free stuff.
• Marbled Ornaments: Buy clear glass ornaments (a 4 or 6 pack is just a few dollars at Wal-Mart) and a couple of colors of cheap acrylic paint (again, only about .75-.99 each). Squeeze a bit (no more than about 1/2 teaspoon) of one color at a time into the ornament and swirl it around. Repeat with as many colors as you wish, but beware that too much paint = yucky non-drying blob. Once you've coated the inside of the ornament, place the ornament with the hole faced down inside of a plastic cup so that the extra paint will drip out and allow the ornament to dry overnight. Replace the cap and tie a ribbon or twine around the loop for decoration.
• Clear ornaments go a long way. Fill them with small bits of potpourri, sprigs of evergreen, glittery artificial snow, or use a fine tip paint pen to decorate the outside.
• Make scented bath salts! Mix three cups of epsom salt, two cups of baking soda, and one cup of table salt in a bowl. Add food coloring, keeping in mind that the more you add, the darker the salt will be. Add your choice of essential oil to scent the salts. It would be good to make the scent kind of match the color. Know what I mean? And make it kind of strong so that a little of the salt goes a long way for each bath. To package, find an air-tight jar. I'll bet you can find some for .50 at Goodwill. They always have a lot of glass knick-knacky items.
• Kids to buy for? Make them a coloring book. Google "free coloring pages" and you'll get page after page of results. My faves are Crayola and Coloring Book Fun, which has Christian Christmas pages. Choose your pages, print them, and then create some kind of booklet for them. Wrap up the booklet with crayons and colored pencils for a quick gift.

• Little ballerinas or dress-up divas on your list? You'd be surprised how easy it is to make a tutu. Get your girl's waist measurement and cut a wide piece of elastic about an inch shorter. Purchase your choice of colored tulle and cut it into various lengths (from about 12 to 20 inches). Then settle in to begin knotting the tulle around the elastic. I found it helpful to stretch the elastic over the back of a dining room chair to tie the tulle on. Fill the elastic with as much tulle as possible to create a fun, full, fluffy tutu. Embellish if you want. I have tied ribbon sporadically in between the tulle for a pop of color and shimmer. Small irridescent beads are also a nice addition.

• Are you the shutterbug of your family? I love Shutterfly and their photobooks are superb. Just upload your images and their new Simple Path book creator will do the rest. It's a smart utility, pairing like images together on a page. Of course, you have the control to edit the layout completely, if you choose. The 7x9 soft cover book is on sale right now - 20 pages for $12.99. A 20-page hard cover 12x12 is on sale for $43.99. Makes a great gift for grandparents.

I'll give my past Christmases more thought and follow up with additional ideas in a few day. Thrifty Christmas!
-------------
UPDATE:
Yu-um! Here's a gift I think I'll try this year. Add the dry fixin's in a nice mug so my recipient can make their own "Cake in a Mug"! Looks super easy and wa-a-a-y good.

"that's not right"

Today, on the would-be 80th birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I explained to my daughter in the best way I knew how what Dr. King meant to the world. As it's a national holiday, she and children across the country were absent from school today. Though we observe this holiday each year, it has probably never received as much attention as it did today. This is the Eve of Change. Our 44th president will be sworn into office tomorrow and he is the first African-American president. The quest for equality has come to fruition.

So how do you explain to a six-year-old what Dr. King did for the culture of America? Well, keep it personal and not too broad. My focus, for now, was on how her dark-skinned best friend would not have been allowed to go to her school if not for the efforts of Dr. King and others like him. And how they would not be able to drink from the same water fountains or eat in the same restaurants. It really hit home for her and she said "that's not right, Mama, that wasn't fair." She seemed to find it as irresponsible and hurtful as it really was. I guess that was a successful talk.

thoughts on christmas

Some Sunday sermons break me down. Today was one of those instances. We work hard to instill the true spirit of Christmas in our children, and the gentle reminders of songs like "Silent Night" coupled with "How Great is Our God" are reinforcements that bring me to tears. Our culture has broken so far away from the real Christmas story that it's a wonder any child is able to receive His message.

This is a particularly trying time for us, financially, as it is for many families, and so discussing a Christmas "wish list" with our daughter was a little tough. In the end, it was she who reminded us, "Christmas isn't about presents, it's about Jesus." Bless that child and her teacher who reinforces His message daily.

We wish God's blessings on you and yours this Christmas.
-Casey

plymouth? please. virginia was first.

Where was the first Thanksgiving really held? We were taught in school that the Pilgrims landed and had a happy ol' feast with the Native Americans in Massachusetts. Um, that's not really correct. You see, the first Thanksgiving was not so much a feast, but an actual prayer of thanks to God for a safe voyage from England and landing at Berkeley Plantation in Virginia on December 4, 1619 - one year and then some ahead of the pilgrims at Massachusetts.

I'm personally a little annoyed that the teaching of Thanksgiving in our schools (public, private and Christian schools) maintain the Massachusetts version when relaying it to our children. Rally the troops and let's tell the real story. Perhaps you can then follow it up with the prettier, food-laden one.

Related articles:
~ http://www.berkeleyplantation.com
~ http://www.virginia.org/site/features.asp?featureid=50
~ http://www.nick.com/all_nick/tv_supersites/nick_news/stories_weekly.jhtml?pollId=470422263&wstory=0
~ http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=minisite_generic&content_type_id=872&display_order=1&mini_id=1083

PHOTO: Casey Higgins, Berkeley Plantation, Spring 2008