Friday, October 30, 2009

Santa Letter From Marty the Mouse Spreads Christmas Magic Like Cheese

After getting in trouble for disobeying his parents, Marty the Mouse was terrified that he would be placed on Santa’s Naughty List. You see, Marty’s parents have told him many times that he mustn’t venture out into the big house by himself. But Marty loves exploring the large rooms – and he finds lots of treasures to bring back home to his family. Marty is a little mouse that is full of ideas and adventures – he dreams of the day when he can freely leave his family home in the walls of the big house and travel far and wide. But right now he must tend to the business of getting on Santa’s Nice List.

Marty’s distant cousins, Jingles, Sparkle, Twinkle, and Jolly happen to be four of Santa’s Christmas Mice. In case you didn’t know, the Christmas Mice are Santa’s official mail helpers. This gave Marty some ideas… If his cousins work helping with all the Santa Letters, why couldn’t they give him some advice? Marty was sure that his cousins would help – especially Jingles. You see, Jingles is a very sweet little gray and white mouse that has worked hard to make sure that all mice everywhere are remembered at Christmas time.

Marty would send a letter to Jingles right away; he was sure his Aunt Wilma had the secret address for mice at the North Pole. Marty excitedly got his best pencils and notepad out to begin his letter.

Marty’s letter started off with the usual kind of stuff that anyone would include in a letter to someone you don’t see too often; it included updates on each of his family members and the weather, and of course, questions about Jingles’ life and the weather at the North Pole. But then Marty got down to the business of explaining his situation and asking for advice.

Marty needed to know exactly what to say in his santa letter to keep him off the Naughty List. When the letter was completed Marty stashed it in a pile of outgoing mail and hoped that his mom would be sending that mail out soon.

About a week later Marty got a letter from Jingles at the North Pole! He was so excited, and his family was too – everyone was interested in how Jingles and his family were doing and they wanted to know what the weather was like at the North Pole. Marty said he would like to read the letter in private and then he would share it with everyone.

When Marty opened the letter up he was so proud of Jingles – those Christmas Mice really are smart! Jingles had written two separate letters, one was all about life at the North Pole and his friends and family – he even included a picture of him with Santa Claus. But the other letter was meant only for Marty. That letter held the secret to staying on Santa’s Nice List.

As Marty read the letter he learned that the Christmas Mice are responsible for sorting all Personalized Santa Letters that come and go at the North Pole. This means that the mice get to read lots of letters to Santa Claus. It also means they get to see what letters from Santa say.

According to Jingles, Santa Claus is just as wonderful as we have all imagined. Jingles says that if we try to be good and work hard at doing the right thing Santa will understand when we have little mess ups. Jingles also added that Santa Claus will only add us to the Naughty List if we keep doing bad things over and over, and we don’t try to do the best we can.

Jingles explained that because we all know in our hearts what is right and wrong, Santa Claus believes that it’s not necessary for him to be real specific about what we should or shouldn’t do. But Jingles said we could get a Nice List Guide if we need one.

Marty was ecstatic! All he has to do is be good and he will stay on Santa’s Nice List. But even in Marty’s excitement he wondered if Santa would mind if he just made a few more secret trips into the big house.

About The Author:
Hailei Corin lives in the big house – the same one Marty lives in! Hailei discovered Marty the Mouse in her desk drawer the very night she was writing her santa letter. Hailei had a long talk with Marty about the importance of Personalized santa letters and why a letter from Santa is so special. Look for more adventures of Marty the Mouse from Hailei – they have become great friends!

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Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Helping Soldiers Overseas This Holiday Season

This Christmas while you are celebrating with your family there will be thousands of military families separated for the holiday season. Some of those families may have lost a family member to war. Shouldn't we do what we can to help these families in need?

They have given up their life as they knew it to fight for our country. Some of them overseas may not come back. Christmas without your mom or dad there would be hard; I could not imagine having a Christmas without them. We should all do what we can to show our support for everyone over there fighting so that you and I can live our life like normal.

While they can't spend time with their family you and I will be enjoying Christmas with ours. But there are lots of ways to help the soldiers and their families have a better Christmas even though both their parents may not be there.

Some things that you can send to the soldiers while they are serving for our country are phone cards and Christmas cards to send back to their families, puzzle books, cigarettes, books, magazines, fleece blankets, hats (black only), footballs, basketballs and DVDs, just about anything that you can think of you can send to them.

Some of the things that you can not send to the soldiers are alcoholic beverages, anything that depicts nudity, unauthorized political material and pork and pork by- products. If any contraband is found in the package what so ever your package may not be delivered so make sure you read what they can have and not have.

I myself am by no means rich but I can always manage to send them something, even if it is just candy canes. As you can see, you can get items from this list at almost any store. It just lets the soldiers know that we are thinking of them and appreciate what they are doing for us.

Christmas has always been a special time for my family and I am sure yours too. These families are separated for the holidays and we should do what we can to help them this holiday season. This year I plan to use Thanksgiving as a beginning day of collecting things on the list from family and friends and making a gift basket to send to the soldiers. So this year, as our kids write their Christmas letters to Santa, we plan on helping them make Christmas cards for soldiers and preparing care packages.

No matter how you celebrate Christmas just don't forget about our soldiers and all they do for us. Remember that while they are working for us we should all do our part to help them as much as possible.

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Monday, October 26, 2009

Helping Others During The Holidays

I can remember the Christmas holiday that my mom helped our neighbors across the street from us. They were new to the neighborhood and had openly discussed their financial problems with my mom. The family had young children to care for and was worried how they were going to get through Christmas. Their bills were piling up and things were looking pretty dismal.

My mom suggested that they call some of the local churches that would help with gifts for all the children, they also provide food for the ones who qualify. She also told them to try and put the kids on the Angel tree and wait to see if they get picked from the tree. She told them that Christmas is about making memories that will last with your family. It is not what you get your kids it is the memory that you make with them.

They called around to all of the churches – some gave them food, others helped them with their bills and others helped with gifts and in other ways. The family was able to use a little of the money to actually shop for a gift or two for each of their children.

They were so happy and appreciative that my mom had told them about all of those places that would help them. They even pulled together enough money to get something for her. They came over a couple days before Christmas to give my mom her gift. It was wrapped with a bow and my mom placed it under the tree with all the other presents. It made my mom proud that she helped this family and she invited them to eat Christmas dinner with us, she was thrilled that they accepted.

On Christmas Day the family arrived to eat with us. The house was packed with people everywhere; the mood was festive with Christmas music playing in the background.

This is a Christmas that I will never forget. My mom helped this family get through Christmas just by giving advice to them. Because they listened and took action, they had a good Christmas. It shows you that you do not have to do much to help less fortunate people.

This year I plan on getting the family together and making a big gift basket to send to the churches in the area. It will be helping the less fortunate in an indirect way and making memories with my children in a very direct way – memories that will last a lifetime.

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Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Spreading Kindness During The Holidays

I can remember the year that I helped my mom get everything ready to take to the nursing home. She went there every year to visit the residents and this year she wanted me to go with her to help.

To be honest, I didn’t really want to go but my mom talked me into it. She said that the people there did not have anybody to visit them and it would make their day if I came along – I finally decided I would.

I helped my mom make Christmas cards from construction paper to pass out; I also helped her make the Christmas cookies with the little Santa Clauses on them. We bought special Christmas tins to place the cookies in. The preparation for the visit to the nursing home was actually kind of fun.

When it was time to take all of our goodies inside I started to get nervous; I had never done anything like this before and did not know what to expect. When we got inside the entry way a lady led us to the ‘gathering room’. That is where we handed out our cookies and cards. I remember feeling sad that some of the people couldn’t have the cookies (because of diabetes or other complications).

All of the people there were very friendly and wanted to talk to us. They seemed so happy to have us there – it made me feel glad that I came. We were there for hours. Even after the cookies were gone some of the people stayed just to talk to us.

We visited some of the people in their rooms. My mom brushed some of the ladies’ hair, but a lot of the people were asleep so we just left our homemade Christmas card on their nightstand. I liked being in the rooms with the people better than being in the gathering room.

We could talk to them one on one and did not have a bunch of people trying to talk to us at once. They were very appreciative about their cookies and cards. Many of them asked us to come back not only for the Christmas holiday, but just to visit and play games with them.


This is a Christmas that I will never forget. I have gone back to that nursing home to visit and pass out cards and cookies many times over the years. The people living there are so appreciative when someone takes the time to visit with them.

My children are even involved now – they help me make the Christmas cards and cookies, and they go with me for the vists. My kids love it and look forward to it every year.

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Saturday, October 17, 2009

Top Site For Santa Letters

Santa Letters are a traditional part of Christmas for most families with children. Kids everywhere enjoy writing letters to Santa Claus so they can remind him of their favorite things. But writing the letters is only half of the tradition – the other part revolves around Santa answering the letters.

The children anxiously wait for their letters from santa claus, as they fret that they may have made it to Santa’s Naughty List. While there are several companies that offer Santa Claus letters, many of them just don’t quite measure up to the ones of quality. I have been on the lookout for such companies for years and I believe I have found the best place to get a Personalized letter from santa Claus.

PackageFromSanta.com not only provides the letters, but also a Christmas countdown calendar and a Nice List Guide. These products are such high quality that they can make even the most skeptical among us believers again. If you’re looking for a wonderful holiday tradition that will keep the magic of Christmas alive – I highly recommend checking this out.

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Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Parenthood Changes Christmas

Are you a parent with young children and just realized that Christmas is coming soon? Have you ever thought about how much Christmas changes every year now that you have kids? When you were younger you thought about the things that you wanted for yourself but now that you have kids you worry about them and their wants and needs. Your only concern is making Christmas special for them. Christmas becomes more stressful for you because they depend on you for their Christmas joy. You want their Christmas to be as wonderful as yours was as a child, or even better.

Every year your child is a year older, wiser and smarter so you are trying hard to keep up with them. Being a parent with young children affects the way you decorate your home, shop and celebrate for the Christmas season. Now that you have children you could start your own family traditions with them. Or carry them on from when you were a child. Something that you do every year with your family, something they will soon look forward to every year.

One of our family traditions is sitting around the table and helping the children write their letters to Santa and then helping them mail those letters off to the North Pole. We also spend time doing Christmas craft projects and making decorations.

Decorating your home can actually be more fun now that you have kids. Don't be afraid to let your kids make a mess and get dirty. You will never get a better gift than a handmade gift from your child. You can have them make ornaments to put on the tree and Christmas cards to give to the family. You will probably be able to use the decorations every year and it will be a memory that you and your child have together. You could even make this a tradition that the kids will love.

Shopping is a lot more difficult now and since you are shopping for the kids you will have to find a babysitter for them. Online shopping is more convenient and you can do it when the kids go to bed. You can also have your gifts delivered to your door so you do not even have to leave the house.

When your kids are young it's a good time to teach them the meaning of Christmas - that it is not about the material things that they may get but that Christmas is about giving rather than receiving, and being there for your family and friends.

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Monday, October 12, 2009

Christmas Season Begins With Santa Letters

According to Santa Himself, the tradition of writing letters to him marks the official beginning of the Christmas season for many families throughout the world. In the early days letters to Santa Claus were mostly written for the sole purpose of asking for things children wanted for Christmas. But over the generations, as more and more children became aware of Santa’s Naughty and Nice Lists, many children started using Santa Letters as an opportunity to explain away bad behavior.

That’s one of the reasons that Letters from Santa are so meaningful to children. A Christmas letter from Santa can relieve any worry about being on the dreaded ‘Naughty List’ and at the same time, it can assure the child that Santa has not forgotten him/her.

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Friday, October 9, 2009

A Christmas Dream To Remember

Have you ever had a Christmas dream, something that you wanted so bad that you dreamed about it every night until Christmas? Of course, you are more likely to have this happen to you as a child than as an adult – and that is what this story is about.

I can remember my little brother waking me up one night to tell me about his dream. He was so excited he could not sit still. He really thought that he had actually seen Santa and his reindeer. He started trying to tell me about what he saw but he was so excited and was talking so fast that I could not even understand him.

I just told him to go lay back down and we would talk about it in the morning. I don't think that my little brother went back to sleep that night but he did leave me alone until morning. That next morning my little brother was there to wake me up bright and early, he couldn’t wait to tell me about what he had seen the night before.

He said he heard a noise that woke him up and then he went down stairs to see what it was and to his amazement he saw that it was Santa. From the steps you could see him; he just sat there and watched Santa quietly put the presents under the tree, one by one, pulling them from his big red bag.

Santa was about done with the presents and then it happened, the stair creaked and Santa quickly turned around and saw my brother. Santa called him by name and asked him to come over to the tree. He then asked him if he thought he was a good boy this year. My brother just stood there shocked and did not know what to say to him. He said that he did not even hear Santa as he stood there starring at his big red suit his long white beard and his big black shiny boots - he just could not believe it.

He was actually in our house! “SANTA…,” my brother finally asked him, “did you ever get my letter.” My brother continued with his story telling us what Santa said to him. “Santa said that I won't be disappointed when I open my presents. Santa said that I was good this year, that he had been watching me closely. He then told me to go back to bed and that it is not too late, he can take these presents back.”

My brother then ran up to his room just in time to see Santa and the reindeer. Santa was yelling “Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas”, then they flew away into the night. He woke up after Santa had left and then he realized that it was all a dream.

He still wanted to tell me because he was scared he was not going to get anything because he did not go back to bed when Santa told him to. Isn't it funny when you want something so bad that it is all you think about and you dream about it? My little brother was only 6 years old when this happened and we still remember that night to this day.

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Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Simple Santa Letter Results In Merrier Christmas For Children

The results are in; an ongoing study conducted by “Package From Santa”, which has covered several years and countless types of feedback, confirms that a Santa Letter will make Christmas merrier. While the focus of the study was the effect that Christmas letters from Santa have on children, the research revealed that even adults appreciate a note from Santa Claus.

For children, the importance of Personalized Santa Letters seems to stem from the fact that they want to be remembered by Santa Claus and insured that they are on his ‘Nice List’. Adults’ feedback often referenced childhood memories that a Santa Claus letter would bring back. Many said they had cherished letters from Santa that are their favorite Christmas keepsakes from memorable holidays of the past.

Parents have always known about the magic of letters from Santa, and now there’s a study to validate the fact that a simple Santa Claus letter can make Christmas merrier for children and adults alike!

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Saturday, October 3, 2009

Christmas Around The World

Christmas is celebrated on different days and in different ways all around the world. Although many countries celebrate Christmas we may not quite recognize it as such because it is done in a very different way.

In China, Christian children decorate ornaments made from paper. For example flowers, chains and lanterns to hang from the trees. The Chinese Christmas tree is called ‘tree of light’.

The non-Christian Chinese call this season the spring festival; which they celebrate and pay their respect to their ancestors. The children are the main focus of these celebrations and they receive candy and clothes. The Chinese call Santa Claus Dun Che Lau Ren, which means Christmas old man.

In Egypt the Coptic is an Orthodox church where Christmas is celebrated on the 7th day of January. Advent is observed for forty days and during this period people can not eat meat, poultry or dairy products. Everyone goes to church on Christmas Eve night. After church they go home to eat a special dinner know as fata, which is bread, rice, garlic and boiled meat. On Christmas morning people visit family and friends and take with them kaik to give to them, it is to be eaten with a drink called shorbat. Christmas is a public holiday for Christians.

In Ireland Christmas lasts from Christmas Eve to the Feast of Epiphany on January 6, which is also known as Little Christmas. Little red candles are usually placed in the windows as a guide for Joseph and Mary as they might be looking for a shelter. Irish women make a seed cake for each person in the family.

After the Christmas meal bread and milk are left the door and the door is left opened to show hospitality. It is an Irish tradition to leave minced pies and a bottle of Guinness as a snack for Santa.

In Belgium they have two Santas. St Nicholas visits the kids who speak the Walloon language and Pere Noel visits the kids who speak French. St Nicholas actually visits the kids twice. He comes first on December 4th to ask the kids if they have been good throughout the year and then again on December 6 to give the good kids their present. The bad kids will usually get sticks or twigs left in their shoe or in a small basket inside their room. Christmas is on December 6th; it is a religious occasion and celebrated in a church with a nice service.

The world is a huge place with lots of different countries and ways of doing things. It’s interesting to compare and contrast our beliefs and traditions. No matter where you are or how you celebrate I would like to wish you a Merry Christmas.

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