CHRISTMAS

December 22 Inspirational Advent Calendar ~ Winter Solstice

CHECK DAILY FOR AN INSPIRATIONAL CHRISTMAS ADVENT POSTER.

There are 24 posters, one for each day leading up to Christmas.

An Advent calendar is a special calendar which is used to count or celebrate the days of ADVENT in anticipation of CHRISTMAS.

Advent meaning ‘the coming’, is a month full of expectation,

anticipation and preparation for Yule/ winter solstice and Christmas

Please feel free to copy and share.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Once the Winter solstice arrives (Dec 22nd),

the days will begin to lengthen again and

the sun will grow stronger and brighter….

Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories”

Winter either bites with its teeth or lashes with its tail”

“I like these cold, gray winter days. Days like these let you savor a bad mood.” Bill Watterson

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. 
Albert Camus

It snowed and snowed, the whole world over, Snow swept the world from end to end. A candle burned on the table; A candle burned. 
Boris Pasternak

But see, Orion sheds unwholesome dews; Arise, the pines a noxious shade diffuse; Sharp Boreas blows, and nature feels decay, Time conquers all, and we must time obey. 
Alexander Pope

Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart. 
Victor Hugo

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome. 
Anne Bradstreet

Perhaps I am a bear, or some hibernating animal underneath, for the instinct to be half asleep all winter is so strong in me. 
Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Winter lies too long in country towns; hangs on until it is stale and shabby, old and sullen. 
Willa Cather

And for the season it was winter, and they that know the winters of that country know them to be sharp and violent, and subject to cruel and fierce storms. 
William Bradford

O Winter! ruler of the inverted year, . . . I crown thee king of intimate delights, Fireside enjoyments, home-born happiness, And all the comforts that the lowly roof Of undisturb’d Retirement, and the hours Of long uninterrupted evening, know. 
William Cowper

Blow, blow, thou winter wind
Thou art not so unkind,
As man’s ingratitude. 
William Shakespeare

One kind word can warm three winter months. 
Japanese proverb

Perfect Man, Perfect Woman and Santa Claus

Once upon a time there was a Perfect Man and a Perfect woman.

After a perfect courtship they had a perfect wedding.

Their life together was, of course, perfect.

 One snowy and stormy Christmas eve, they were driving their

perfect car along a winding road

when they noticed someone on the side of the road in distress.

Being the perfect couple they stopped to help.

To their surprise, there stood Santa Claus with his huge bundle of toys.

Not wanting to disappoint any children on Christmas eve,

the perfect couple loaded Santa and his toys into their car.

Unfortunately, the storm got worse

and the perfect couple and Santa were in an accident.

Only one of them survived the accident.

Question: Who was the survivor?

The perfect woman survived the crash.

She’s the only one who existed in the first place.

Everyone knows that Santa isn’t real and there has never been a Perfect Husband.

Women stop reading now.

Men continue reading below.

So, if there was no Perfect Man and no Santa,

the woman must have been driving!

This explains why there was a car accident.

Men, continue reading below.

By the way, if you’re a woman and you are still reading,

this illustrates another point.

Some women never listen or follow directions!

DECEMBER 21 INSPIRATIONAL ADVENT CALENDAR ~ CHRISTMAS TREE

 CHECK DAILY FOR AN INSPIRATIONAL CHRISTMAS ADVENT POSTER.

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: 

the presence of a happy family

all wrapped up in each other.  ~Burton Hillis

Christmas Tree History and Interesting Facts:

Many believe that the first Christmas tree was originally used back in the 8th century in Germany. An English missionary, Boniface, was said to be the first to introduce a decorated fir tree. Evergreens were taken into homes at that time because it was believed that they had protective and magical powers by the Pagans, as they remained green during the winter. Decorations for the trees became popular during the 18th Century. Originally, there were white or red decorations symbolising innocence and knowledge, also paper flowers, sweets, candles, gingerbread shapes were used. The first tinsel was made from stretching real silver into long strips.

The Christmas tree tradition had spread to other northern European countries by the 19th century.  Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband, first brought the Christmas tree to the UK. Glass baubles became available and the first electric lights were patented in 1882.

• There are approximately 25-30 million Real Christmas Trees sold in the U.S. every year.

• There are close to 350 million Real Christmas Trees currently growing on Christmas Tree farms in the U.S. alone, all planted by farmers.

  The most common Christmas Tree species are: balsam fir, Douglas-fir, Fraser fir, noble fir, Scotch pine, Virginia pine and white pine. 

  

Brief History of Santa Video

Published on Dec 19, 2011 by CGPGREY

Season’s Greetings From the 2012 London Summer Olympics

Merry Christmas Kitty Style ~ Meowy Catmas From PETA

Have a meowy Catmas and a hoppy new year!

December 20 Inspirational Advent Calendar ~ The Holly

CHECK DAILY FOR AN INSPIRATIONAL CHRISTMAS ADVENT POSTER.

There are 24 posters, one for each day leading up to Christmas.

An Advent calendar is a special calendar which is used to count or celebrate the days of ADVENT in anticipation of CHRISTMAS.

Advent meaning ‘the coming’, is a month full of expectation,

anticipation and preparation for Yule / winter solstice and Christmas

Please feel free to copy and share.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Green groweth the holly,
So doth the ivy.
Though winter blasts blow never so high,
Green groweth the holly. 
King Henry VIII 1522

The Christmas Holly

The holly! the holly!  oh, twine it with hay – 
   Come give the holly a song;
For it helps to drive the stern winter away,
   With his garment so sombre and long. 

It peeps through the trees with its berries of red,
   And its leaves of burnished green,
When the flowers and fruits have long been dead,
   And not even the daisy is seen.
Then sing to the holly; the Christmas holly,
   That hangs over peasant and king;
While we laugh and carouse ‘neath its glittering boughs,
   To the Christmas holly we’ll sing.

The gale may whistle, the frost may come
   To fetter the gurgling rill;
The woods may be bare, and warblers dumb,
   But holly is beautiful still.
In the revel and light of princely halls
   The bright holly branch is found;
And its shadow falls on the lowliest walls,
   While the brimming horn goes round.

The ivy lives long, but its home must be
   Where graves and ruins are spread;
There’s beauty about the cypress tree,
   But it flourishes near the dead;
The laurel the warrior’s brow may wreathe,
   But it tells of tears and blood;
I sing the holly, and who can breathe
   Aught of that that is not good?
Then sing to the holly, the Christmas holly,
   That hangs over peasant and king;
While we laugh and carouse ‘neath its glittering boughs,
   To the Christmas holly we’ll sing.

Eliza Cook

During December as the winter solstice approached, and when the bright red berries appeared on the holly our Celtic ancestors decorated their homes with sprigs of the evergreen shrub. It was believed that holly brought magical protection for homes against witches and lightning strikes. 
At this time of the year the Romans gave holly wreaths as gifts during the Saturnalia – a celebration sacred to Saturn, and we continue to decorate our homes with cheerful holly …’deck the halls with boughs of holly‘

History of the Christmas Tree

Inspirational Quote Christmas Advent Calendar ~ December 19 ~ Teaching

CHECK DAILY FOR AN INSPIRATIONAL CHRISTMAS ADVENT POSTER.

There are 24 posters, one for each day leading up to Christmas.

An Advent calendar is a special calendar which is used to count or celebrate the days of ADVENT in anticipation of CHRISTMAS.

Please feel free to copy and share.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Top Quotes and Sayings About Christmas

Best quotable Christmas quotes.

At Christmas, all roads lead home.”
~ Marjorie Holmes, American writer.

It comes every year and will go on forever. And along with Christmas belong the keepsakes and the customs. Those humble, everyday things a mother clings to, and ponders, like Mary in the secret spaces of her heart.”
~ Marjorie Holmes, American writer.

My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?”
~ Bob Hope, American film actor and comedian.

“The best way to spread Christmas cheer, is singing loud for all to hear!” From the Movie ELF

The only real blind person at Christmas-time is he who has not Christmas in his heart. – Helen Keller

A good conscience is a continual Christmas. – Benjamin Franklin

Christmas, my child, is love in action. … Every time we love, every time we give, it’s Christmas. – Dale Evans Rogers

Christmas is most truly Christmas when we celebrate it by giving the light of love to those who need it most. – Ruth Carter Stapleton

· “I will honor the Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year.” Charles Dickens

· “He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree.” – Roy L. Smith

· “Christmas gifts suggest. To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect.” – Oren Arnold

· “Christmas is not a time or a season but a state of mind. To cherish peace and good will, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.” Calvin Coolidge

· “I wish I could put up some of the Christmas spirit in the jars and open a jar of it every month.” – Harlan Miller

· “Christmas is the gentlest, loveliest festival of the revolving year and yet, for all that, when it speaks, its voice has strong authority.” – W. J. Cameron

 ”Unless we make Christmas an occasion to share our blessings, all the snow in Alaska won’t make it white.” – Bing Crosby