The hurricane that devastated our area (Sandy) drenched many of my friends with sadness this season.  I have many friends and social media connections who love Halloween and they weren’t even able to celebrate; in fact, many their decorations were damaged.  Our County rescheduled it for November 13^th… but none of the adults dressed up, and no one’s house was decorated. There was a party (the parade was also cancelled) and they had a half-day so they could Trick or Treat that afternoon.  We gave all the kids extra candy.  Sadly, many are still displaced and therefore didn’t have Thanksgiving in their homes… and for most; Christmas will be just as different.   Christmas will always be a happy time of year and I am glad to see so many volunteers, friends and neighbors bringing cheer to those in need.

Christmas is the season to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ; and I pray that everyone will have a joyous, safe Christmas, Hanukah and Kwanzaa.  I will decorate and celebrate and spread as much cheer as I can.  I will donate funds, bring in others to donate, sponsor children, donate to the pantries and do whatever I can to make the holidays happy.   It’s easy to do when you love Christmas like I do.

October is the most amazing month… Ahhcotober!

Normally at the end of October I reflect on an awesome entry to the Christmas season… I am excited about the leaves changing, the colorful pumpkins, the ritual of decorating … the month of October is so exciting!  As I mentioned before, I don’t “Countdown” because I am there already – the season is where I want to be.  I have several birthday’s to celebrate in October… my granddaughter, two of my daughters, my mother’s and even my own; I put huge focus on the Hallmark Ornament Premiere and then I put things in order for Halloween.  Of course once Halloween is over… at 12:01am on November 1^st I am preparing for Christmas.   Last year, Halloween was dampened – literally!  We had a snowstorm that nearly ruined the “children’s candy feast”… luckily, we were able to salvage some of the decorations, but it was still cold and wet and the kids had to maneuver through snow to get to each door.

This year we didn’t have Halloween.  The week before we got warning that a hurricane was headed up the east coast… the biggest hurricane ever – Sandy!   We got word from our Governor that Halloween would be postponed and celebrated on Monday, November 5^th … after all, who in their right mind could celebrate the holiday when so many people lost their homes, their businesses, their lives?  All of the kids were out of school all week… most of us lost power at the onset of the storm on Monday…. so the Halloween parade and party was cancelled – there were many sad children.   Instead of getting dressed up and taking my son and granddaughter trick or treating, I was driving around the state looking for a hot meal and praying I would find a hotel for the night; my house was without power and it was freezing!   I drove for hours… finally, I decided that IF I couldn’t find a hotel, I would just crash at the hospital lobby or a 24 hr diner; as I went to give my son his medicine… I couldn’t find it.  I “knew” I had put it in a plastic bag and placed it in the back along side the emergency bags…  but it wasn’t there!  So, I drove back home with the intention of getting the medicine and then heading over to the diner.  As we drove home, we noticed more and more lights were appearing… then the traffic lights …. and finally the lights on MY street were on!!!  Power was back!!!  It looked like Christmas. If you believe…then you will receive; so for me, tonight was the beginning of the Christmas season for sure… full of miracles. God guided me home for the medicine so that I would see the lights… so that my family could bathe and sleep in a warm bed.  Unfortunately, there are many still displaced; many suffering as I write this, and I pray for them all.  I am thankful for the lives spared, for the healing…. God is good.   Thank God.

#StayMerry

With 119 days til Christmas, 66 days til Halloween and the first day of fall is in just a few weeks, there is no doubt that this time of year is when I am making my lists; I am also laying out my budget and I make sure that I have funds for giving… sometimes the amount is very small, but nevertheless I manage to donate toys and give to the Salvation Army or other organization and the church.  In keeping with the spirit of Christmas it has been many years since I was a young girl expecting gifts… the gift to me now nourishes my soul, and it’s when my family is healthy and happy; when my grandchildren are excited and when I have made someone’s life a little brighter.

As I manage my Facebook page I am rarely looking for sources to donate to but I came across Angels for Christmas, and they were matching children with sponsors for backpacks… I immediately enlisted to adopt two girls; sisters.  Trust me, with five grandchildren I definitely had my shopping cart full with school supplies; one of them just started High School and one of them lives with me, so there are many pencils to get!  Still, it gave me a good feeling to get two more backpacks, supplies, and a “first-day” outfit and uniform.    They posted a photo with their goodie bag and thanked me… and THAT is the gift.   So, I went back the page to see if the organizer was listing children for Christmas … then out of the blue, I saw another page status from Letters to Santa and they were listing children in need.  I instantly sponsored a little girl and I will do my best to make her Christmas special… especially since she wants a dollhouse!  If you can afford to sponsor a child, I recommend that you review these groups, and if you can’t please share the information with others because there are so many children in our country who are hungry, homeless, in foster care or shelters and they need a special Christmas.  There are many groups you can do this with, but I am supporting “Letters to Santa” because it is being organized by a young lady who is just out of school and I am impressed with her warm heart.  You can go to her site or email her, LettersToSanta2012@gmail.com.

I love hearing about Christmas miracles and goodness… there is another Facebook group that posted a heartwarming story about their friend who suffered a loss and a family illness, so they arranged to have Santa for a “Christmas in August” at her house for her sister and family.  They did it big with decorations, music, food the works!

I am also really excited about all the things you can make for the holidays using lanterns, vases… even wine glasses!  You can paint them, embellish them with ornaments, snow or even candy and they make great decorations for the table, mantel or coffee table… they make great gifts too!  Check out these cool ones for Halloween, click here.    I usually don’t make things during the holidays, but this year I have to make the time for it because some of these crafts are nicer than the ones you buy at the store.   The price of wreaths are going up and I have double entrance doors so I need two every time I buy them… so I have decided to “try” to make some wreaths for the fall and if they come out well, I will do them for Halloween and Christmas.  I found this tutorial to get me started on You Tube called “How to make a Christmas wreath”.  There are so many different ones on You Tube and great ideas on Pinterest too (you know I am hooked on that site!)

Well, the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes are ready for the holidays and so am I… please share your excitement with me as well as any recipes, crafts or ideas.

Stay Merry,

I can’t believe there are only eight more Saturdays until fall… less than 100 days until Halloween, 147 days until Christmas… and the stores are starting to put holiday decorations on the shelves. I don’t countdown to Christmas, I countdown to the “season”… so for me, the season is nearly here – I can feel fall in the air!

Michael’s started bringing in the Lemax villages for Halloween and some Christmas crafts already.  And Hobby Lobby displays started going up in June and then really went up July 7-8.  There were some awesome Christmas Classic’s on the Hallmark Channel July 14-15.  Many stores were having Christmas in July celebrations… one mall near me even had Santa on a beach chair!  Here in New Jersey there was a Christmas Boat parade sponsored by Coors Light, prizes were awarded for the two best decorated boats. http://njbeachbuzz.com/christmas-in-july-boat-parade-in-the-wildwood-nj/.  I even found a Christmas in July song,  “Sufjan Stevens – Christmas in July ” – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L7XcjR4JW4   QVC had a Christmas in July sale and they had tons of adorable decorations at great prices during the weekend of July 21-22.

I was so excited when I saw the Facebook post by ABC Family’s 25 Days of Christmas letting me know that ELF was playing on June 7^th on ABC Family.  I’ve been watching Christmas movies all month!

I also started some “decorating”… yes -I went in Michael’s last weekend and bought some fall flowers 🙂 But someone told me today that Hobby Lobby has Halloween AND CHRISTMAS stuff out already!!! I don’t have a Hobby Lobby near me but I wanted to share the news.

I love the summer for one main reason; how all the holiday stuff magically appears in some stores when they start the back to school displays.  I remember last year, my daughter and I went into Kohl’s and we were shocked that the Christmas trees were on display before Halloween – honestly, we started doing the Snoopy happy dance IN the store 🙂  Some of the local stores that I used to count on for certain items and last minute wrapping goods for Christmas have closed down in my area, Cost Cutters, K-Mart… so sad.

Well… I do have some good news… I received my invite from Hallmark for the Keepsake Ornament Premiere for July 14 -15 – that’s LESS nearly 2 weeks away!!!   Do I need to say anything else?
OMG I AM SO HAPPY!!!

As of today, we are 64 days away from our Christmas in July celebration, 186 days until Halloween and ONLY 241 days until Christmas.  Now I am starting to feel like we’re getting closer to the most wonderful time of the year.

With Easter behind us, we are done with “gift holidays” until the fall.  I have been asking and observing how lovers of the Christmas season have been “feeling Christmas” in the springtime…

Recently, I delivered some gourmet cookies to a friend and she (also a lover of Christmas) had her life-size Santa in her dining room but it was very festive since Santa was wearing “bunny ears”.   Another friend was sharing the Christmas spirit by placing ONLY the green and red jelly beans in candy bowls for visitors; she also left out a carrot & carrot juice for the Easter Bunny!  Traditionally, my family goes out to eat for Easter, but I still make a festive dinner after the holiday; I made a spiral honey ham, macaroni & cheese, fresh string beans and candied sweet potatoes…  it smelled of Christmas all day!  Cooking foods with cinnamon, nutmeg and other holiday seasonings will definitely have you thinking about the most wonderful time of the year.  In fact, a neighbor of mine made these decorative Easter baskets that were loaded with Starlight Mints, Candy Canes, Hot Cocoa, and Christmas DVD’s.  I would even add a CD, like my favorite, The Michael Buble Christmas album.

365 days is way too long between Christmases’ … we just have to celebrate all year long.   Today is the first day of spring, which means we just have to hop over summer… and fall will be here before we know it…in just 279 days and counting.

I am finally tucking away the last of the decorations; the winter tree and the village display that has been in my wall unit since the day after Halloween.   I love the Department 56 and Lemax Village pieces, and I put up a full display for Halloween and Christmas… thank goodness my youngest daughter is now an adult and has taken over the “display management” – it’s a lot of work!   I knew she would be a natural since she loved her dollhouse when she was younger, and was always so creative by making her own pieces.  I spent several years planning how I would acquire enough houses, buildings, accessories and figures to fill up eight shelves of the wall unit; however, now I search for new scenery and retire the old.  We put up the Halloween display just after Labor Day and then we replace it on November 1^st with Christmas.  The grand-kids love it…. My three youngest granddaughters just stare in awe… for them it’s a huge multi-level dollhouse.

As I mentioned in my post ” Christmas in January“, I have finally put up my winter tree.   As I was putting away ornaments from the family tree, the foyer tree, the tree in my son’s room (yes we have ten trees), I collected some of the blue, silver, white pieces along with a few embellishments, including blue snowflakes to make the winter tree.  This tree is only 3 ft; if I had decorated a larger tree (which I may do next year) I would add some snowmen and perhaps decorate the base with artificial snow, or even flock the tree with snow.  Does anyone else have a winter tree up?  Are you putting one up?

In keeping the Christmas spirit we also mark the 25th of each month on the calendar and celebrate by watching a movie, do some holiday planning and listen to Christmas music.  I listen to Christmas music all year.  How do you keep the Christmas spirit throughout the year?  Please share your thoughts, ideas and photos of your tree(s).

Stay merry!

HAPPY NEW YEAR FRIENDS!

It’s Monday, just after a bittersweet weekend.   It was the last weekend of blasting my exterior house lights and we just completed celebration of “Little Christmas”, the Epiphany.  This is the final day of Christmas if you’re counting the Twelve Days of Christmas, the festive days beginning Christmas Day (December 25th).   This period is also known as Christmastide and Twelvetide.  The Twelfth Night of Christmas is always on the evening of 5 January, but the Twelfth Day can either precede or follow the Twelfth Night according to which Christian tradition is followed.  Twelfth Night is followed by the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6th.  For most people this ends the Christmas season and they will begin packing away their decorations.  Last weekend, a Twitter friend said “There is nothing more depressing than the dying Christmas trees lining the streets of Soho” – THAT is the truth.  I am so saddened that the most wonderful time of the year is on “pause”, but instead of falling into depression I intend to keep the spirit alive all year!

I love my Father in Heaven, the Lord, Jesus Christ.  I love church.   I love gold, silver, green and red (are my favorite colors) and I love everything shiny.  I love the fall weather; maybe because I was born in October.  I love shopping and wrapping gifts; and I am drawn to my local Hallmark store because I adore the Christmas scent that lingers throughout the year.  I love making big dinners and I LOVE cookies.  I love the smell of Christmas; the pine, cinnamon and spice.  I am prone to listening to Christmas music all year long and if you ask me what color sweater or bathing suit I want, I say “red”!  I have to admit that I will definitely be playing that new Michael Buble Christmas CD all year long for sure.  I love the trees and Oh my goodness — I LOVE decorating and sparkling lights.   But is all that I love the spirit of Christmas?  One friend recently said the SPIRIT is Jesus.  Christmas is a blessed holiday and the season is full of love and miracles… that MUST be what it is.