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Movie Night With Santa and Hallmark TOMORROW!
As you know, because of the horrific events at at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut last week we just didn’t feel it was appropriate to run a contest during a time of national shock and mourning. We have rescheduled the Movie Night for tomorrow night, December 18 and hope that you will join us. Please pray for the victims and keep them in your hearts and minds during this Christmas season.
Operation Santa Claus in partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment invites you to “Movie Night” tonight, December 14th.
We will be watching Love’s Christmas Journey and will be tweeting all night about the movie. Grab some comfy pillows and blankets, a mug of hot chocolate,some cookies and your family and friends to watch this great Christmas movie with us. We will be asking questions about them movie throughout the evening and would love to visit with you online.
Buy the movie here or search the Hallmark Channel and schedule it to record so you can watch it with us.
How to Win
Join us on Twitter during movie night as we will be tweeting about the movie all evening and will be asking a lot of questions about events in the movie. Since people from all over the country will be watching, we are not setting hours, but will be tweeting during the evening hours up until Midnight EST.
Use @OperationSanta and the hashtag #HallmarkSanta to be eligible to win one of our our three GREAT prizes. We also invite you to join us on on Facebook page here, and we absolutely want you to join us on Twitter!
We look forward to “seeing” you!
Click here to learn how you can make a child’s Christmas wish come true.
Christmas Decorations for Your WordPress Holiday Site
Christmas is just around the corner and I say it is time to do some serious decorating, and I don’t just mean home and hearth. I mean your online real estate as well.
I found some great and FREE WordPress plugins that you can install very quickly and easily to share your Christmas spirit with your visitors. In fact, I installed my favorite one here on this site just a few minutes ago. It is called Holiday Message. This plugin allows for several different options so you can place it where you like on the page and even has a very cool “snowfall” effect.
WP Christmas
You can see this one in action on Santa’s blog here. The snowmen are very cute, and they dance to music while the message dances above their heads. There is also a light snowfall effect which is very light and not at all intrusive. Very festive!
One of the nice things about this particular plugin is that you can configure it to use a cookie so that it only shows once to each visitor, or you can have it show every time they visit.
You can also choose what pages or posts you want it to show on, based upon tags, categories, all pages or just some pages. Click here to download.
Christmas Countdown Clock
This plugin can be used to display a Christmas Countdown clock anywhere that you can put a widget and the widget can be tailored to display the clock with a background color and text color of your choosing. You can also turn the title on or off by ticking a check-box. There are several different clock configurations and several different backgrounds that you can select so have fun and play with it until you have the countdown clock that you want. Click here to download.
Countdown Clock
This one is very similar to the Christmas Countdown Clock and allows you to customize not only the clock appearance, but the message as well, meaning that it would be perfect for New Years. Click here to download.
Christmas Lights
I fell in love with this one but decided after trial and error that it won’t work on any of my sites but would love to see it in action on yours! This plugin puts a string of animated Christmas lights across the top of your site and there are no settings to worry about. Simply upload and activate. And be sure to come back and share the link to your site so I can visit! Click here to download.
Christmas Countdown Widget
This is a cute old fashioned Santa who basically tells you how many days until Christmas, but nothing more. The beauty of this plugin is that there are no configuration options — it is a simple install and then drag the widget to where you want it in your sidebar. Since the countdown automatically updates each year and starts the countdown over again on the day after Christmas, you can leave it in your sidebar all year round if you like. Click here to download.
We did find that trying to install more than one of these plugins caused them all to stop working, so I suggest you download all of these plugins, install them, play with them a little and then decide which one best suits your site. Then be sure to deactivate or uninstall those that you will not be using.
Click here to learn how you can make a child’s Christmas wish come true.
The Dear Old Tree (Poem)
The Dear Old Tree
There’s a dear old tree, an evergreen tree,
And it blossoms once a year:
‘Tis loaded with fruit from top to root,
And it brings to all good cheer.
For its blossoms bright are small candles white
And its fruit is dolls and toys
And they all are free for both you and me
If we’re good little girls & boys.
Luella Wilson Smith
Click here to learn how you can make a child’s Christmas wish come true.
The Last Christmas Tree (Poem)
Copyright 1992 Howard D. Fencl
This story is collected in the book The Solstice Evergreen
The Last Christmas Tree
I saw a truck of Christmas trees, each one of fine detail.
The driver stood them in a row and put them up for sale.
He strung some twinkly lights and hung a sign up with a nail;
“Fresh Christmas Trees” it said in red, “Fresh Christmas Trees For Sale.”
He poured himself hot cocoa in a steaming thermos cup,
and snowflakes started falling as a family car pulled up.
A mom, a dad, and one small boy, who looked no more than three,
jumped out and started searching for the perfect Christmas tree.
The boy marched up and down the rows, his nose high in the air;
“It smells like Christmas, Mom! It smells like Christmas everywhere!
Let’s get the biggest tree we can! A tree that’s ten miles high!
A tree to go right through our roof! A tree to touch the sky!
A tree SO big that Santa Claus will stop and stare and say,
‘Now, THAT’S the finest Christmas tree I’ve seen this Christmas Day!’”
It seemed they looked at every tree at least three million times;
Dad shook them, pinched them, turned them ‘round to find the perfect pine.
“I’ve found it, Mom! The Christmas tree I like the best of all!
It’s got a little bare spot, but we’ll turn that to the wall!
We’ll put Great-Grandma’s angel on top the highest bough!
Oh, can we buy it? Please, Mom, PLEASE?! Oh, can we buy it NOW?”
“How ‘bout some nice hot cocoa?” asked the man who owned the lot.
He twisted off the thermos top, “Now, THIS will hit the spot!”
He poured the steaming chocolate in three tiny paper cups.
They toasted, “Here’s to Christmas!” and they drank the cocoa up.
“Is this your choice?” the tree man asked. “This pine’s the best one here!”
The boy seemed sad —”My daddy says the price is just too dear.”
“Then, Merry Christmas!” said the man, and wrapped the tree in twine;
“It’s yours for just one promise you must keep at Christmas time . . .”
” . . . On Christmas Eve at bedtime as you fold your hands to pray,
Promise in your heart to keep the joy of Christmas Day!
Now hurry home! This freezing wind is turning your cheeks pink!
And ask your dad to trim the trunk and give that tree a drink!”
And so it went on all that blustery eve,
as the tree man gave tree upon tree upon tree
to every last person who came to the lot —
Who toasted with cocoa in small paper cups,
Who promised the promise of joy in their hearts,
And singing out carols drove off in the dark.
And when it was over one tree stood alone,
but no one was left there to give it a home.
The tree man put on his red parka and hood
and dragged the last Christmas tree out to the woods.
He stood that last pine by a stream in the cold,
and the woods’ homeless creatures were grateful, it’s told.
The birds and the squirrels, the deer and the rest
welcomed the tree as a warm winter nest!
“There are miles more to travel, and much more to do!
Let’s go home now, my reindeer, and get started anew!”
Then jingle bells rang as he looked to the sky —
And that tree man was gone in the wink of an eye!
Click here to learn how you can make a child’s Christmas wish come true.
How to Alleviate Holiday Stress and Anger
Much that is good about the Christmas holiday can be irretrievably lost due to stress, irritability and actual anger. It is much too easy to get caught up in the negative energy of other shoppers, long lines at cash registers, crying or unruly children, snarled traffic and the daily news that bombards us with ugliness rather than uplifting messages.
Rather than feeling overcome and pinned down by emotions of irritability and dread, stop what you are doing and take a deep breath. Stop looking at your watch. Turn off the news and turn on joyous Christmas music. Look around you and instead of noticing the crying child, find one who is young enough that seeing Christmas decorations for the first is quite magical to him or her. Look for the sheer joy in that little face. Look around you for something that reminds you of a special memory from Christmases past.
Gifts
And gift giving doesn’t have to be something purchased and wrapped up in a bow. While you are out shopping this Christmas, give yourself the gift of patience. Notice the things that are seriously ticking you off and then stop… just stop, and re-frame the angry thought taking root in your mind. Instead of wanting to yell at the person who just unloaded way too many items in the express lane, say something nice about one of the items and start a brief conversation. Thank a store clerk for helping you to find the item you needed, even though it was difficult to get his or her attention in the first place. Smile at strangers and wish them Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays as is your wont.
Christmas is a time of wonder and joy. By just slowing down and making that simple change in attitude — by stepping back and recognizing that you cannot control every situation and understanding that you might just as well enjoy the experience, allows you and the people around you to enjoy the season.
Click here to learn how you can make a child’s Christmas wish come true.
Movie Night Postponed – Instead… a Moment of Silence
As you know, tonight was to be Movie Night with Santa and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.
In light of the unimaginable news today from Sandy Hook Elementary School and Chenpeng Village Primary School in Newtown, CT today we feel that our time this evening would be better served in contemplation and prayer for the children who were harmed or killed and their families as well as the school, the town, and quite frankly, our country.
We will reschedule this event for next week and will let you know what evening we will be doing it. In the meantime, please reach out to your family, friends and loved ones and tell them how much you love and appreciate them. You just don’t know if there won’t be a tomorrow.
When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” To this day, especially in times of “disaster,” I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world.” ~ Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers Neighborhood)
Fun Christmas Kids Recipe – Santa Hot Dog Crescent Rolls
Guest post from Tracy at Having Fun Saving.
Are you guys excited for tonight’s Christmas contest with Operation Santa and twentieth Century Fox? I know we are! I thought everyone would like a nice and fun recipe to get the kids even more excited about Santa’s upcoming visit.
Look how adorable these Santa Hot Dog Crescent Rolls are… they are fun to make and your kids will LOVE them.
Ingredients:
Instructions:
If you are looking for ways to save money this holiday season – either on your holiday shopping or your groceries, be sure to visit Tracy at Having Fun Saving. She has fun, frugal ways to enjoy the holiday season and save while doing it.
Click here to learn how you can make a child’s Christmas wish come true.