The Christmas Clock by Kat Martin

I won this delightful book from Margot @Joyfully Retired. It was a great holiday Christmas read. The book introduces us to the little town of Dreyerville and its various residents. They all have their secrets, their disappoints, and their hopes and dreams and it centers around little 8-year-old Teddy and his desire to give his grandmother something special, the Christmas clock in the window.

It's a very touching story and a very quick read so you can enjoy it in one sitting. I highly recommend it!

*part of the 2009 Holiday Reading Challenge.

Three Wise Cats: A Christmas Story by Harold Konstantelos & Terri Jenkins-Brady

This was a great little book to keep the Christmas reading season going! We follow three cats on their journey to find the Messiah; they are following the new star and soon join up with the three wise men along the way. They also meet many other people on their journey and they learn what paths they must take after they find the Son of God. I knew I would really enjoy this book since it has cats as the main characters! The ending was especially touching as they meet the Savior and feel of His love for them. It was a great way to keep Christ in Christmas and remember the reason for the season.

Happy December 13th!!!!!!!!!

Well, now I'm really behind in my twenty-five days of Christmas facts. I don't even remember when I did it last. It's been a crazy week...My hubby and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary yesterday and my mother was kind enough to come to my house and babysit my boy for a day and a night while we were out hob knobbin the town! he he. So I've been on kind of mini hiatus. So here are some more fun Christmas facts!

Grandfather Frost

Is what the Communist regime of Russia gave Russians during this time of year. He had no religious affiliation and came on a non-religious holiday, New Year's, to bring gifts. For Christmas they had Father Christmas or Kolyada who came on Christmas Eve and Babouschka came on Epiphany. He is an old man dressed in winter furs and clothes like Santa Claus, or sometimes a bishop's robe like St. Nicholas.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Dickens actually wrote a poem or carol for Christmas and it was published in his famous Christmas chapter of The Pickwick Papers and later set to the tune of "Old King Carol."

I care not for Spring: on his fickle wing
Let the blossoms and buds be borne;
He woos them amain with this treacherous rain,
And he scatters them ere the morn.
An inconstant elf, he knows not himself,
Nor his own changing mind and hour,
He'll smile in your face, and , with wry grimace,
He'll wither your youngest flower.

Let the Summer sun to his bright home run,
He shall never be sought by me;
when he's dimmed by a cloud I can laugh aloud,
And I care not how sulky he be!
For his darling child is the madness wild
That sports in fierce fever's train;
And when love is too strong, it don't last long,
As many have found to their pain.

A mild harvest night, by the tranquil light
Of the modest and gentle moon,
Has afar sweeter sheen, for me, I ween,
Than the broad and unblushing noon.
But every leaf awakes my grief,
As it lieth beneath the tree;
So let Autumn air be never so fair,
It by no means agrees with me.

But my song I troll out, for CHRISTMAS stout,
The hearty, the true, and the bold;
A bumper I drain, and with might and main
Give three cheers for this Christmas old!
We'll usher him in with a merry din
That shall gladden his joyous heart,
And we'll keep him up while, there's bite or sup,
And in fellowship good, we'll part.

In his fine honest pride, he scorns to hide
One jot of his hard-weather scars;
They're no disgrace, for there's much the same trace
On the cheeks of our harvest tars.
Then again I sing till the roof doth ring,
And it echoes from wall to wall-
To the stout old wight, fair welcome to-night,
As the King of the Seasons of all!

*Part of the 2009 Holiday Reading Challenge
*All information from The Christmas Almanack by Gerard and Patricia Del Re

Happy December 9th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Christmas Wish

It is my heart-warm and world-embracing Christmas hope and aspiration that all of us, the high, the low, the rich, the poor, the admired, the despised, the loved, the hated, the civilized, the savage (every man had brother of us all though-out the whole earth), may eventually be gathered together in a heaven of everlasting rest and peace and bliss, except the inventor of the telephone.

by Mark Twain

*Taken from the Christmas Almanack by Gerard and Patricia Del Re
*Part of the 2009 Holiday Reading Challenge

Happy December 6, 7, and 8th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't seem to get them up everyday, my fun little Christmas facts from The Christmas Almanack...oh well....

My favorite Christmas hymns:

Angels We Have Heard on High: Musicologists have determined that this anonymous French tune was created around the eighteenth century. It is often sung in England with the carol words "Angels From the Realms of Glory" by James Montgomery. The English translation of the original French is anonymous.

The First Noel: The author and composer are anonymous. It is believed to have been written some time before the eighteenth century. The words were first published in Davies Gilbert's Some Ancient Christmas Carols in 1823. The tune was first published by William Sandys in his Christmas Carols, Ancient and Modern in 1833.

How to say Merry Christmas around the world:

Argentina: Felices Pascuas
Belgium/Flemish: Vrolijke Kerstmis
China: Kung Hsi Hsin Nien or Bing Chu Shen Tan
Croatia: Sretan Bozic
Czech Republic: Vesele Vanoce
Denmark: Glaedelig julEsperanto/Gajan Krsinaskon
Estonia: Roomsaid Joulu Puhi
Finland: Hauskaa Joulua
France: Joyeux Noel
Germany: Fohliche Weinachten
Greece: Kala Christouogena
Hawaii: Mele Kalikimaka
India: Shuvo Naba Barsha
Iraq: Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah
Ireland/Gaelic: Nodlaig Nait Cugat
Italy: Bono Natale
Japan: Meri Kurisumasu
Norway: Gledelig Jul
Philippines: Maligayan Pasko
Romania: Sarbatori Vesele
South Africa/Afrikaans: Een Plesierige Kerfees
Turkey: Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun

Holiday Scents

To infuse your home with a spicy holiday aroma, all you need to do is simmer the following ingredients in a pot of water:

3 Cinnamon sticks
1 Orange peel
6 tbsp. star anise
4 tbsp. whole cloves
2 tbsp. crushed nutmeg
6 tbsp. juniper berries
2 tbsp. allspice
20 drops of the following essential oils: orange, clove and/or cinnamon

Allow the mixture to simmer throughout the day; add more water as needed!

All taken from The Christmas Almanack by Gerard and Patricia Del Re

Part of the 2009 Holiday Reading Challenge.

Happy December 3rd and Fourth and Fifth!!!!!

Got a bit busy so I didn't get my posts in the last couple of days so here are three facts in one post to make up for it!!!!

Why do we sometimes abbreviate Christmas as Xmas? Some people feel that it's because we want to take Christ out of Christmas. But the X is actually the Greek letter Chi. And Chi is the first letter of Christ's name written in Greek and has always stood as a symbol for Christ. This usage has been in use since at least the twelfth century.

Yule Log

The ancient Mesopotamians made wooden images of the monsters that fought with the god Marduk to destroy the world. This took place during the winter solstice. The wooden images were burned to help Marduk overcome evil forces. This is only a possible theory to the origins of the yule log...but the light and warmth would be great comforts in the deadness of winter. So bonfires have always been an important part of the northern European winter Jul or Yule festivals.

Celebrating in China

Here Christmas is called Cheng Dan Jieh, the Holy Birth Festival. China has only been exposed to western culture for about four hundred years and less than one percent of the population is Christian. They have adopted the practices of Christmas celebration from the missionaries that brought them the Good News with their Tree of Light, and their gifts are brought by Lam Khoong-Khoong (Nice Old Father) or Dun Che Lao Run (Christmas Old Man). They hang festive paper lanterns and have plenty of fireworks since this is where they were invented!

*Taken from The Christmas Almanack by Gerard and Patricia Del Re
*Part of the 2009 Holiday Reading Challenge

Happy December 2nd!

More fun Christmas countdown facts from The Christmas Almanack by Gerard and Patricia Del Re!

Poinsetta

Where did this one come from? Why does it symbolize so much about the Christmas season?

According to Mexican legend, a small boy knelt at the altar of this village church on Christmas Eve. H had nothing to offer the Christ Child on his birthday because he had no money, but his prayers were sincere. A miracle gave him the present that could not be bought: the first Flower of th Holy Night sprang up at his feet in brilliant red and green homage to the holy birth.

The flower is also named after Dr. Joel Roberts who was the American ambassador to Mexico from 1825-1829. He loved the flower so much he brought it home with him to his native South Carolina and soon became a popular Christmas flower, and was thus named after him.

Encinitas, California is known as the Poinsettia Capital of the World due to the superabundance of the flower there and the city offers tours during this time of the year in the most picturesque locales.

But be careful if you have pets...they are poisonous to cats...so thus we never get one:( But I'll do anything to keep my beautiful kitties safe and sound!

*This is also part of the 2009 Holiday Reading Challenge

Happy December 1st!

The countdown on the advent calendar begins...only twenty four more days! In honor of that and along with my 2009 Holiday Reading Challenge I thought I would share some fun facts about this jolly holly season with ya'll from the book The Christmas Almanack by Gerard & Patricia Del Re.

Why do we celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December? Because of Mithra, a figure spoken about in the Zend-Avesta, from sacred Zoroastrian scriptures. He was born out of a rock on this date. And since the Romans ruled at the time they also enjoyed celebrating the festival of Dies Invicti Solis or the Day of the Invincible Sun on this same day the 25th of December. So possibly emperor Constantine combined the two Mithraism and Christianity into the new celebration of Christ Mass. The Invincible Sun god became the new Sun of Righteousness.

Secrets of a Christmas Box by Steven Hornby

I won this book from Trina at Bloody Bad and so I was very excited to get it and finally read it! I wasn't disappointed! This was a fun and cute Christmas story. Ornaments on a Christmas trees come to life each year...Larry the snowman can't find his brother Terrence this year and decides to find him beyond the tree's border with the help of his two friends Debbie and Splint. It did take on a bit of a dark turn towards the end, but I think you can use this as a good learning opportunity for kids. I heard this was originally a screenplay so sometimes the dialogue is a bit off, but I thought it was a sweet story overall and brought out the magic of Christmas! I'm going to enjoy reading this one to my son as he gets older each year for Christmas! The book also has many drawings throughout the book that are really fun!

Part of the 2009 Holiday Reading Challenge

The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans

A man learns how to appreciate and love his family through the help of Mary, the lady they stay with. It's a short, fun read, but the edition I read had a lot of editing errors. Also the narration is in first person, but later it would change to first-person omniscient? Not very readable...really annoying. It feels like this was a first draft and was printed without any editing...maybe the later editions are a little more cohesive.

But overall, the idea is within the Christmas and Holiday spirit and for that it's worth a read.

*Part of the Holiday Reading Challenge

2009 Holiday Reading Challenge!

Yesh, it's that time of year again! I can't believe the holiday season is upon me again. Last year at this time I was seven months pregnant with a soon to be eleven pound baby born to me! Not so great memories. But this year, not huge and preggo and have the cutest baby boy to dote on for Christmas! So I'm in the mood and now I just found All About {n} is hosting the 2009 Holiday Reading Challenge, which will run from November 20 to December 31 st!

Here are the details:

1- Challenge will start Friday, November 20 and will end Thursday, December 31.

2- You can read anywhere from 1 to 5 books for the challenge and, of course, if you're like me, you are more than welcome to surpass that number.

3- And now, here's the clincher... they must be holiday related books. That's right, the holiday doesn't really matter, but it would be more "jolly" if your choices were Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, etc.

4- The size of the book does not matter, nor does the genre. It is also okay for the book to overlap with other challenges. The only thing I ask is that they are not children's books. YA is okay. And so are re-reads. I for one tend to read the same books every Christmas - they are tradition.

5- To sign up - leave a link back to your challenge post here. There will also be a post for review links as well as one for challenge wrap-ups.

6- And.... there will be goodies. That's right, we'll call them presents. At the end of every week that the challenge is running she will choose one winner from the review links and will allow them to pick a book of their choosing (of course, she will provide a list). Meaning the more books you read, review and link up, the more chances you have at winning a "present".

Well, my list so far that I've chosen are these:

1. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (reread for me)
2. Secrets of a Christmas Box by Steven Hornby (I won this online from Katrina)
3. The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans
4. The Christmas Almanack by Gerard & Patricia Del Re (Always a reread!)

I may add more....but this is good for now!
I hope you join in and take in the spirit of the season!