December Newsletter

December is the twelfth and last month of the year according to the Gregorian calendar, which is used in almost all the world today. It was the tenth month in the early Roman calendar and takes its name from the Latin word decem, which means ten. It became the twelfth month in a later Roman calendar. In 46 B.C., the Roman statesman Julius Caesar added two days to December, which before then had only 29 days.

What Can I Give Him?
Christina Rossetti

What can I give Him?
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd,
I would bring a lamb.
If I were a Wise Man,
I would do my part.
Yet what can I give Him,
Give Him my heart.

Merry Christmas everyone! December has finally arrived with all the joy that surrounds the holiday season. The sights and sounds of Christmas are everywhere you turn in the month of December. Beautiful lights and decorations fill our hearts with anticipation of the festivities ahead of us. Christmas carolers brighten our spirits and put smiles on our faces.

December is the month that Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and what a birthday party it has become! Just remember that in the middle of the garland and tinsel lies the meaning of the season. Keep your focus on Jesus this Christmas and your holidays will be very blessed!

When does winter officially arrive?

The precise moment of the 2012 solstice will be December 21, 2012 at 6:11AM EST (11:11 Universal time)

The solstice is either of the two times a year when the sun is at its greatest distance from the celestial equator, the great circle on the celestial sphere that is on the same plane as the earth's equator.

In the northern hemisphere, the winter solstice occurs either December 21 or 22, when the sun shines directly over the tropic of Capricorn. In the southern hemisphere, the winter solstice occurs either June 21st or June 22nd.

Why are the seasons at oppositie times of the year in the two hemispheres? While the earth rotates about the sun, it also spins on its axis, which is tilted some 23.5 degrees towards the plane of its rotation. Because of this tilt, the northern hemisphere receives less direct sunlight (creating winter) while the southern hemisphere receives more direct sunlight (creating summer). As the earth continues its orbit the hemisphere that is angled closest to the sun changes and the seasons are reversed.

The winter solstice marks the shortest day and the longest night of the entire year. The sun appears at its lowest point in the sky, and its noontime elevation appears to be the same for several days before and after the solstice. Hence the origin of the word solstice, which comes from Latin solstitium, from sol, "sun" and stitium, "a stoppage." Following the winter solstice, the days begin to grow longer and the nights shorter.

Recipe - Snow Pudding

Cool Photo of the Solstice

Winter Games And Online Fun

The Winter Soltice by Family Education

MUCH MUCH More About the Winter Solstice

Make a Very Cool Edible Snowflake!

What do you need?

waxed paper
thin white frosting
cake decorating bags
silver cake decorations

What do you do?

Drizzle frosting onto waxed paper in a snowflake pattern. Sprinkle silver decorations and allow time to dry. YUMMY!

Gingerbread Fun

Run, run as fast as you can. It just wouldn't be the holidays without the Gingerbread Man! For everything you could possibly want to know about gingerbread, you need to visit our "Gingerbread Fun" page. Here you will discover the history of gingerbread, gingerbread recipes, gingerbread mix in a jar gift ideas, information about gingerbread house contests, gingerbread parties, gingerbread poems, gingerbread crafts, and so much more!

Make a Mini Gingerbread House!

What do you need?

7 Graham Crackers
Frosting - Vanilla, Chocolate, Red & Green
Colored Candies for decorating
Christmas ribbon

Put frosting in pastry bag or ziploc bag with a tiny hole in the corner.

Place one graham cracker on the table -flat - apply frosting all around the edges of the cracker. Place a cracker on each side - will appear to be a box without a top.

Apply frosting on all outside corners - from the top to the bottom and all over the bottom of the box.

Allow time for the frosting to harden. Apply more frosting on top of the top edges of the "box" and put the last two crackers in a "V-shape" on the roof. Apply frosting along the top of the roof where the crackers join. Allow time to harden.

Apply frosting along the roof to look like snow. Apply frosting to backs of candy to apply to house for decorations. Colored frosting can be used for doors and windows. BE CREATIVE!

Create and Mail a Gingerbread Man

Gingerbread Resources

Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett

Gingerbread Houses:
Baking and Building Memories

Christmas Cookie Cutters- Set of 8

NordicWare German Gingerbread House Mold

Gingerbread House Bake Set

Gingerbread House Playset

Adorable Gingerbread Apron - For Kids!!!

Cinnamon Ornaments

What do you need?

1 1/8 cup flour
3/4 cup ground cinnamon
1 cup salt
1 cup water
1 Tbsp ground nutmeg (optional)
1 Tbsp ground cloves (optional)

What do you do?

Directions: Mix dry ingredients with water to form smooth, stiff dough. Divide dough into three or four portions. Place each section between two sheets of waxed paper, and roll to 1/4-3/8 inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut Christmas shapes out of dough. While dough is still soft, use a straw to make a hole near the top of each shape where ribbon can later be inserted for hanging. Bake cut shapes at 350 degrees 15-20 minutes to dry. Insert ribbon in hole, tie, and hang as Christmas ornaments.

The 12 Days of Christmas

The 12 days of Christmas are not the 12 days before Christmas but are actually the 12 days that separate Christmas day on December 25th from Epiphany, which is celebrated January 6th. The Catholic tradition is that the 6th of January marks the baptism of Jesus or it may also mark the day that the wise men visited baby Jesus with their gifts.

Long ago, gift giving during the 12 days was a common tradition. This practice rarely occurs today.

The Twelth Night occurs on January 5th, which is the last day of the Christmas season before Epiphany on January 6th. Feasting occurs on this day along with the taking down of Christmas decorations. Sometimes a King's Cake is included in the feasting to remember the visit of the Three Magi.

12 Days of Christmas Pan Chocolate Mold

Features:

Mold chocolate for the 12 days of Christmas!
Good for chocolate or shortbread.
A great hostess gift!
Fun family activity!
Each square represents one verse of the song.

Family Fun!!!

Start a family tradition with the 12 Days of Christmas Pan. Make Christmas chocolate candy or shortbread. A beautifully designed image representing a verse for the song is deeply cut each of 12 mold squares.

A Puppy's 12 Days of Christmas :)

Words to the 12 Days Christmas Carol

Star of David Christmas Craft Idea

What do you need?

popsicle sticks
paint
glitter
glue
gold string

What do you do?

Directions: Arrange the 6 sticks into 2 triangles and glue. Then glue the two triangles into a Star of David shape. Paint and decorate with glitter. Tie with golden string to create a Christmas ornament.

We wish you and your family the happiest of holidays and a Christ-filled Christmas! Jesus loves you and so do we!

We leave you with this touching Christmas story...........

The Christmas Guest
Helen Steiner Rice

It happened one day at the year's white end,
Two neighbors called on an old-time friend.
And they found his shop so meager and mean,
Made gay with a thousand boughs of green.

And Conrad was sitting with face a-shine,
When he suddenly stopped as he stitched a twine,
And said, "Old friends, at dawn today,
When the cock was crowing the night away,
The Lord appeared in a dream to me
And said, 'I am coming your guest to be.'
So I've been busy with feet astir,
Strewing my shop with branches of fir,
The table is spread and the kettle is shined
And over the rafters the holly is twined,
And now I will wait for my Lord to appear
And listen closely so I will hear
His step as He nears my humble place,
And I open the door and look in His face...."

So his friends went home and left Conrad alone,
For this was the happiest day he had known.
For long since his family had passed away
And Conrad had spent a sad Christmas Day.

But he knew with the Lord as his Christmas guest,
This Christmas would be the dearest and best,
And he listened with only joy in his heart.
And with every sound he would rise with a start
And look for the Lord to be standing there
In answer to his earnest prayer.

So he ran to the window after hearing a sound,
But all that he saw on the snow-covered ground
Was a shabby beggar whose shoes were torn
And all of his clothes were ragged and worn.

So Conrad was touched and went to the door
And he said, "Your feet must be frozen and sore,
And I have some shoes in my shop for you
And a coat that will keep you warmer, too."
So with grateful heart the man went away,
But as Conrad noticed the time of day.

He wondered what made the dear Lord so late
And how much longer he'd have to wait,
When he heard a knock and ran to the door,
But it was only a stranger once more,
A bent, old crone with a shawl of black,
A bundle of faggots piled on her back.

She asked for only a place to rest,
But that was reserved for Conrad's great Guest.
But her voice seemed to plead, "Don't send me away
Let me rest awhile on Christmas day."
So Conrad brewed her a steaming cup
And told her to sit at the table and sup.
But after she left he was filled with dismay,
For he saw that the hours were passing away
And the Lord had not come as He said He would,
And Conrad felt sure he had misunderstood.

When out of the stillness he heard a cry,
"Please help me and tell me where am I."
So again he opened his friendly door--
And stood disappointed as twice before,

It was only a child who had wandered away
And was lost from her family on Christmas Day. .
Again Conrad's heart was heavy and sad,
But he knew he should make this little child glad,
So he called her in and wiped her tears
And quieted her childish fears.
Then he led her back to her home once more
But as he entered his own darkened door,
He knew that the Lord was not coming today
For the hours of Christmas had passed away.

So he went to his room and knelt down to pray
And he said, "Dear Lord, why did you delay?
What kept You from coming to call on me?
For I wanted so much Your face to see...."

When soft in the silence a voice he heard,
"Lift up your head for I kept My word--

"Three times My shadow crossed your floor--
Three times I came to your lonely door--
For I was the beggar with bruised, cold feet,
I was the woman you gave to eat,
And I was the child on the homeless street."

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Television Specials

Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (1999)
Disney Dec 22 07:00AM
Movies, 80 Mins. (Rated NR)

Mickey and his friends tell three stories including ``A Very Goofy Christmas'' and ``Mickey and Minnie's Gift of the Magi.'' Animated.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas
ABC Family Dec 03 05:00pm
Special/, 30 Mins.

Joel Grey narrates an animated version of ``A Visit From St. Nicholas.''

It's a Wonderful Life
NBC Dec 1 8:00PM

The holiday season just wouldn?t be the same without at least one viewing of Frank Capra's classic 1947 drama. The scene of George (James Stewart) running back home to find his friends and family waiting for him with donations in hand will make even the biggest grinch misty-eyed.

A Charlie Brown Christmas
ABC December 20, 8/7c
In the digitally-remastered 1965 special A Charlie Brown Christmas, Charlie Brown complains about the overwhelming materialism that he sees everywhere during the Christmas season. Lucy suggests that he become director of the school Christmas pageant, and Charlie Brown accepts, but it proves to be a frustrating struggle. When an attempt to restore the proper spirit with a forlorn little fir Christmas tree fails, Charlie Brown needs Linus' help to learn what the real meaning of Christmas is.

ELF
ABC Family Dec 1 08:00PM

Will Ferrell and Zooey Deschanel will inspire you to join the "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" sing-along and raise Santa's sleigh with the holiday spirit.

A Christmas Story
TBS Dec 24 08:00PM - 24 Hour Marathon

A Christmas classic for the family.

Iron On Transfer T-Shirts

Candy Cane (makes 1 shirt)

Santa Claus (makes 1 shirt)

Sleepy Santa Claus (makes 1 shirt)

Winter Angel (makes 1 shirt)