For all our friends and family, I seriously urge you to set aside some time and scroll through this vast cornacopia of treats! To get you started, simply hit play on this first link to set the mood as you scroll through 14 years of Christmas fun and memories.
2022 Update
I have a few new goodies to add, but first, I must confess..... I love this blog! I started this in 2010 with multiple additions over the years. Enjoy!
Every Christmas, when I come back to this site, I find it so joyful and special to scroll through all of the links and messages here (Which I must do to ensure all the links and videos are still working - kinda like checking the lights before you hang them up!). It truly gets me into the Christmas Spirit!
Over the years, I have grown very fond of the following song. Specifically, I like to play it once I have finished my last day of work and start my time off for the Christmas Holiday! I also like to play it once our kids arrive to join us in celebration.
"It's that time! Christmas time is here!!!"
My sister shared this picture (Thanks Nancy!) that made me literally lol.
Every Christmas, when I come back to this site, I find it so joyful and special to scroll through all of the links and messages here (Which I must do to ensure all the links and videos are still working - kinda like checking the lights before you hang them up!). It truly gets me into the Christmas Spirit!
Over the years, I have grown very fond of the following song. Specifically, I like to play it once I have finished my last day of work and start my time off for the Christmas Holiday! I also like to play it once our kids arrive to join us in celebration.
"It's that time! Christmas time is here!!!"
My sister shared this picture (Thanks Nancy!) that made me literally lol.
This next song is one that most of you will not know - unless you are a fan of "The Bishop's Wife".
"Oh Sing to God" (the words to the song are provided - and when you read them, you may be reminded (as I was) of the Whos from Whoville that come out to sing on Christmas morning - don't worry, I have that link below!
Christmas Trees and the Meaning of Christmas
I'm going to share with you all one of our family traditions regarding our Christmas Tree and decorations, which most likely is quite different from your own.
Here is the scenario I will pose: A good friend is pregnant and expecting their first child. Excitement abounds as the delivery date nears and the care and comfort for the expectant mother are primary. The weeks and days leading up to the birth of a young babe include many prayers and preparations.
The day finally arrives, a child is born (!), and then everyone leaves? No! It's NOW that we gather together and celebrate this miraculous event. We travel distances to see our friend (relative) and their new born child! We bring food! We bring gifts! We bring ourselves to share our joy with the new mother and new family!
See where I am going with this???
It's my opinion that we've allowed our retail world to hi-jack this celebration. You see trees and decorations going up BEFORE Thanksgiving! Christmas Music is played 24/7 in our big box stores (I feel so bad for retail workers that have to listen for 30 days to the same shuffle of Christmas classics). By the time the Child arrives - the baby Jesus - everyone has had enough and the day after, December 26th, you'll see faded Christmas trees tossed to the curb, bare of the beautiful ornaments and decorations that adorned it just one day ago! The music changes also - Christmas is over - onto the next holiday....
So our family has pretty much rejected this approach as we are always the last to put up our decorations before Christmas and also the last to take them down as we prefer to celebrate the reason for the season! Before I share our personal story, I'm sharing with you that it was not that long ago that decorating the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve was not that crazy! In fact, in the movie "The Bishop's Wife" (a Christmas Classic and favorite of ours), Dudley decorates the tree on Christmas Eve, allowing Matilda, the maid, to go be with her family. (Click the pic to see the video)
In yet another Christmas Classic - "It's a Wonderful Life", the family is busy stringing popcorn and placing ornaments on the tree as George Baily ponders the missing $8,000 on Christmas Eve. 
To make one more case, I offer little Cindy-Lou Who, who inquires of the Grinch why he is taking their Tree. "There is a light on the tree that won't light on one side. So I'm taking it home to my workshop, my dear. I'll fix it up there. Then I'll bring it back here."
(Ok - This one is probably a stretch...:-) ) To share the book, rather than the TV Show or Movie - >>>> How the Grinch Stole Christmas .
In other cultures - mostly European, it's long been a practice that the tree was not to be decorated until Christmas eve -. "The German Christmas tree (Tannenbaum) is usually put up and decorated on Christmas Eve, though some families opt to erect their tree during the Advent season."
One other observation as a Catholic - it is only AFTER Christmas that we sing traditional Christmas songs in church, not before.
I guess for us, this really took hold (the delayed start of decorating and putting up our tree) once our oldest went away for College (even though he was about 10 miles away attending the University of Kansas in Lawrence). The point was we did not want to put up our ornaments on the tree without him, so we would wait until classes were over and he could join us. This actually paid off over the years as the longer we would wait, the more of a discount we could get on our live tree as the stores were looking to get rid of them. The downside - obviously, was that these trees had been cut and standing around for weeks. Anyway, on our last Christmas in Kansas before moving to Florida, we scored our biggest tree ever, a 12 footer, for $10! I think there were only like 5 trees left on the lot, and this was one of them.
2017 Update!
I guess it has been 4 years since I last updated my Christmas Fun Time evolving Internet blog post Christmas Card. Joy and Peace to you and your family! Please take a few moments and enjoy all the goodies I've built up here over the years. I guarantee you will enjoy (at least something).
1984 - When this song came out, I was a freshman at Washburn University. Check out all the heavy hitters in this wonderful peace (see what I did there? ;-)
BONUS!
2013 - Adding to the Magic
mer·ry
[mer-ee]
adjective, mer·ri·er, mer·ri·est.
Idiom
2. laughingly happy; mirthful; festively joyous; hilarious: a merry time at the party.
4. make merry,
a. to be happy or festive: The New Year's revelers were making merry in the ballroom.
b. to make fun of; ridicule: The unthinking children made merry of the boy who had no shoes.
Christ·mas
[kris-muh
s]
noun
1. the annual festival of the Christian church commemorating the birth of Jesus: celebrated on December 25 and now generally observed as a legal holiday and an occasion for exchanging gifts.
A Christmas Sermon (from 'The Bishop's Wife')
Once upon a midnight clear, there was a child's cry, a blazing star hung over a stable, and wise men came with birthday gifts. We haven't forgotten that night down the centuries. We celebrate it with stars on Christmas trees, with the sound of bells, and with gifts.
But especially with gifts. You give me a book, I give you a tie. Aunt Martha has always wanted an orange squeezer and Uncle Henry can do with a new pipe. For we forget nobody, adult or child. All the stockings are filled, all that is, except one. And we have even forgotten to hang it up. The stocking for the child born in a manger. Its his birthday we're celebrating. Don't let us ever forget that.
Let us ask ourselves what He would wish for most. And then, let each put in his share, loving kindness, warm hearts, and a stretched out hand of tolerance. All the shinning gifts that make peace on earth.
The Spirit of Christmas
One of my personal favorites - Spirit of Christmas - along with all the nostalgic memories of Christmas past. (speaking of nostalgia - here are some childhood photos of my Dad , Bill Toalson, growing up in Dodge City, KS. It fits right in with the Sprit of Christmas video below.)
Christmas is the time of year
For being with the one's we love
Sharing so much joy and cheer
What a wonderful feelin
Watching the one's we love
Having so much fun
I was sittin by the fire side
Taking a walk through the snow
Listening to a children's choir
Singing songs about Jesus
The blessed way that he came to us
Why can't it remain
All through the year
Each day the same
Heyeah, that's what I wanna hear
Heh heh
It's truly amazin
That spirit of Christmas
All the kin folk gather round
The lovely Christmas tree
Hearts are glowing full of joy
Sense the gifts that we're giving
And the love that we're living
Why can't it remain
Ohhh all through the year
Each day the same
Heyeah, that's what I wanna hear
I'll tell ya
It's truly amazin
That spirit of Christmas
Let me hear ya
Why can't it remain
All through the year
Each day the same
That's what I wanna hear
Listen to me
It's truly amazin
That spirit of Christmas
Ohhh It's truly amazin
That spirit of Christmas
Ain't it so
It's truly amazin
Yeah, that spirit fo Christmas
Oh Christmas
Oh Christmas
Or..... in a scene from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
From 2010....... A Flashback for the Ages.....
Bing and David circa 1977.
Here is a link to a Washington Post story about the making of the song/video.
Here is a link to a Washington Post story about the making of the song/video.
(So every year it seems some videos are removed, replaced, or restricted in some manner. Today, 2017, I see that one of my favorites has disappeared. Doing a search, I look again for Bing Crosby and David Bowie and I find this 'up to date' little gem. Its a spoof on the Bing Crosy Christmas Special that spawned the famous duet. )
Still 2017 - also found this little piece of whatever you want to call it...... hilarious!
Guaranteed to give you goose bumps!
Charlotte Church (at the age of 14) - Ave Maria - 2001 - Recorded live in Jerusalem. Seriously - text me if you listen to this and get goose bumps (816.206.7726)!
The Greatest Christmas Movie of ALL Time
Its a Wonderful Life: Original Ending
Its a Wonderful Life - the Lost Ending.
2017 - Just found THIS version to add to the collection. :-)
And here is one that could get you into a lot of trouble.... Line Rider. Nothing like wasting an hour or two on the computer doing absolutely nothing productive, but having one heck of a time. Don't know about Line Rider? You've been warned!
And just to give you an idea of how far you could take this......Click Here.
Its a Wonderful Life - the Lost Ending.
2017 - Just found THIS version to add to the collection. :-)
And here is one that could get you into a lot of trouble.... Line Rider. Nothing like wasting an hour or two on the computer doing absolutely nothing productive, but having one heck of a time. Don't know about Line Rider? You've been warned!
And just to give you an idea of how far you could take this......Click Here.
And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so?
It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
"It came without packages, boxes or bags!"
And he puzzled three hours, `till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!
"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store.
"Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!" - 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so?
It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
"It came without packages, boxes or bags!"
And he puzzled three hours, `till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!
"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store.
"Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!" - 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas
More Links...
'It looks like a Christmas Tree!' - Buddy. (Click the quote - it's a link!)
'He's an angry elf.' - Buddy (Click the quote and enjoy!)
'He's an angry elf.' - Buddy (Click the quote and enjoy!)
'Oh, Christmas isn't just a day, it's a frame of mind' - Kris Kringle, Miracle on 34th Street
The internet is a fascinating place. Just googling the above quote brought me to this blog (here). Read it if you want. It kind of captures my perspective as well.
The internet is a fascinating place. Just googling the above quote brought me to this blog (here). Read it if you want. It kind of captures my perspective as well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)