On the first day of Christmas...wait, you mean that isn't December 14th?
There are many stories and rumors about the truth behind the "12 Days of Christmas," but I'm here to put your facts straight. While December 14th might be twelve days before Christmas, it is not the first day of Christmas.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Happy Holidays! Silver Bells! If you listen to any of the "all" Christmas radio stations, you can’t help but become familiar with these songs. However, there is another song which is played at this time of year, at least in Kansas City. It’s a little tune titled It’s Christmas in Kansas City, which includes in its lyrics various events and attractions associated with the Christmas season in our metropolitan area.
I LOVE Christmas music. Over the years, I’ve become pretty familiar with most Christmas songs, both secular and religious. While I make myself wait until after Thanksgiving to start listening to it, I’m always sad when December 26th rolls around and I know I won’t be hearing holiday music on the radio again until the next year.
What is your favorite Christmas tradition? In my family, it just isn't Christmas without our favorite cookies. My kids love our candy cane cookies made with sugar cookie dough.
We roll out a small ball of red dough and a small ball of plain dough into thin pencil shapes. Then, we twist the two together and form a candy cane shape and bake. If we are feeling lazy, we make the candy cane with plain dough, and after baking, we frost the cookie with white frosting and use red sugar sprinkles to decorate.
"Bah humbug!" Almost everyone is familiar with this famous quote from Ebenezer Scrooge of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I grew up on such book classics as this and Twas the Night Before Christmas. I anxiously awaited the TV cartoons like Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. There were no cartoon versions of A Christmas Carol until 1983, when Disney released Mickey’s Christmas Carol.
A Very Merry Thanksgiving from My Family to Yours!
As we all know, every family is unique in terms of relationships, beliefs, traditions, and celebrations. My family began combining Thanksgiving and Christmas together into one huge celebration about twenty years ago. We started this tradition because one of our siblings moved out of state, and we couldn’t bear to celebrate the holidays without them.
What image comes to mind when you think of Santa Claus? Chances are good that it is very similar to the ones brought to life by Thomas Nast, best known as a nineteenth century political cartoonist. He has also been credited with creating the image of Santa we know today.
The Platte City Branch is starting to celebrate the holidays with some excellent Christmas craft programs. They are a great opportunity to make someone a unique gift or create a new decoration for your own home.
On Monday, November 26th our Monday craft program is making Christmas crackers. These fun creations are "great white elephant gifts" or stocking stuffers. Just bring along a few small gift items, candy, or toys to stuff inside your Christmas cracker. This program starts at 6:00 p.m.
As November winds down, we start preparing for my favorite holiday of the year: Christmas. With a flurry of shopping to find the right gift for each person, it’s a challenge each year. It is an endless round of decisions as to where to meet, what to serve, and what time everyone can get together. With all of the hustle and bustle, one would wonder why we so look forward to it. To sum it all up for me, it is a time of being together and sharing in the joy and the Reason for the season.
Here are a couple of resources to help you plan your Christmas:
