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,

Since the Hallmark Ornament Premiere in July (and really before that) I could “feel” Christmas approaching, and by the time we went to the Hallmark Open House in October… I [knew] it was Christmastime.   As I sit here looking at yet another Hallmark invite (this time it’s to promote Santa’s visit for picture-taking) I realize that this is the last promotional for the store and Christmas is here!   I love the Hallmark Store.

I love the fall, I love the holiday season from Halloween through New Year’s; when Halloween is over,  I stay up late to pack all the décor and have Christmas going up on November 1^st.  Since the kids went back to school (and I was part of that this year since my youngest granddaughter lives with me and was just starting first grade), I was “investigating” the local stores to see who would put out Christmas décor early.  The first store, of course was Hallmark but one night I walked in Home Depot to see if they had anything large for Halloween, and to my surprise ALL of their Christmas decorations were lit up and stocked up in their “Christmas Corner”.  As I approached the corner I noticed the barricade tape. What?  They were blocking me out?  We asked the manager if we could walk down the aisles and see the new products and he said “no”… we had to wait a few days because it takes a ‘crew’ to unveil the décor and put up the trees and formally present the displays – WOW!  I even offered to stay and help 🙂

For me, no truer words were ever said “it’s the most wonderful time of the year”; that is how I feel about Christmas. It isn’t just Christmas Eve, or Christmas day… it’s the spirit of Christmas, the very soul of the entire year.

My best memories of Christmas as a little girl were when I went to Radio City Music Hall for the Christmas Spectacular… and sitting on Santa’s lap; of course, growing up in New York City I had the pleasure of seeing Santa at Macy’s and at the Daily News Building. In fact, when my first daughter could walk I took her to those same locations even though we were living outside the New York City area. But growing up in an apartment did not allow us to have a large tree or leave room for elaborate decorating; we had a fresh-cut 4ft pine tree in the center of the kitchen/dining table… but for me, it was huge. We could walk to church for midnight mass, and I was mesmerized every minute as I adored the lights that streamed down 3rd Avenue and across 42nd Street. I remember my “Chatty-Cathy” doll sitting under that tree next to my brother’s “Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em ROBOTS”… they seemed enormous compared to the mini-tree. Throughout the years, I have taken all that I love and multiplied it over and over for each of my children and then my grandchildren… I want them to love Christmas just as much and hold on to these memories and valuable traditions.