Add a Soldier to Your Holiday Card List

The holidays are such a busy time that we sometimes forget that there are many men and women serving our country in less than festive environments. They are far from their families and often enjoy the holiday season through their memories of traditions celebrated in years gone by. Your family can share your holiday spirit with a service person thousands of miles away by writing a simple letter. It only takes your thoughts and a 44 cent stamp.

Servicemen and women are stationed around the world in combat and non-combat situations and they all enjoy being remembered. There are two sites I like to use when my children write to service personnel. The first is through the USO (www.action.uso.org/action/sem-thank-you?sc=OM-gadw-p_Support-search_ThankyouLetter). This site allows you to simply send a general email to a service person, thanking them for their efforts.

If you would like to write a more personal letter or send a care package, using Any Soldier (www.anysoldier.com), is a great site to use. This is a non profit website and does ask for donations however, they are not required. Any Soldier allows you to select a military branch as well as request an address for a soldier serving around the world. The site offers a multitude of information about contacting soldiers and will answer any questions you may have. To send a holiday message, you will want to start this project right away because the mail can take a while to reach the service person.

Soldiers sometimes reply to letters they receive, depending upon where they are stationed. The children at our church sent letters and received handwritten replies from some soldiers they contacted. One soldier who responded was a mother, serving in Iraq, thousands of miles from her children. The children were thrilled to receive a reply, especially from Iraq, but, it was the mothers in the group who were moved to tears of gratitude for her sacrifice of service.

It doesn't take much to write a note of thanks to a brave soldier who voluntarily enlists in our country's military. We are blessed by their service which allows us the freedoms we enjoy this holiday season and everyday.

Stationery for Santa

In our house if you don't believe, you don't receive. So if you are 3 or 30, this "Santa" needs a wish list ASAP which is why it is the first activity in our stocking on the countdown tree.

To start, we gather some art supplies we have around the house and sit down together for a 30 minute creative session to make stationery for Santa's letter. There is only one way to make the stationery and that's your child's way. You can give them a few ideas, but they will most likely know exactly what they want to do. Making your own stationery with them will also give them ideas without telling them what to do.

If your child is too little to create a letter for Santa, a hand or foot print is always a wonderful reminder of the holidays. Gather a sponge, paint, tap, heavy piece of cardboard, paper, paper plate, and baby wipes. Tape the paper on the cardboard and squeeze some paint on the paper plate. It's easiest to make the print while your little one is in their car seat as it is a familiar place. Sponge paint their hand or foot and place it on the paper. Wipe their hand or foot with the baby wipes.

The toddler or preschooler just like to stick stuff on

things. Lay out several cut up pieces of construction paper, wrapping paper, holiday stickers, stamps and stamp pads. Give them a piece of paper and glue stick and let them go for it. You can write on the back or make it a folded card.

Want something a little more challenging? Draw a box in the center of the paper leaving a border that your child can decorate with crayons,markers, stickers, stamps, glitter, etc. If your little artist gets overly creative and decorates inside the box, don't worry. Write on the back or glue another piece of paper in the center of the paper.

Up for a little bigger challenge for your older kids? Honestly, it's not that hard so you may want to keep reading. Try some stencil sponge painting. Use a file folder or index card and cut out a simple stencil like those in the picture.

Tape the pencil on a piece of paper. Use a small piece of a moist kitchen sponge and dip it lightly in paint then dab it inside the stencil. Remove the stencil and let dry. Your child can decorate the painting with stickers, paper, ribbons, markers, glitter and much more.

Your child may only take 5 minutes or 1 hour to create their stationery. When the decorating is done, be sure to write the date on the card and set it aside until you're ready to write the note to Santa.

Have fun with this project!

Creating Family Traditions

I love the holidays! You can stop grumbling at me now because it's not the shopping, decorating, cooking, cards and everything that goes along with the holidays that I love. My favorite part of the holidays are our family traditions and how my children talk about them.

Even though we've lived in many different states, our traditions have stayed the same and the kids talk about them with a fondness in anticipation of the holidays. To me, this is the most heartwarming part of the holidays because there are many holiday traditions from my

childhood that I will always treasure. I remember how my mother always decorated the tree,

the homemade pajamas and a book we received every year, Christmas Eve with 60 of my relatives, dinner with my grandparents whom I loved dearly and many more. What I don't remember are the gifts that I thought were so important at the time but now, are meaningless.

If your children are young or old, you can always create family memories. Over the next several weeks, I will be sharing several ideas you may want to add to your holiday celebration. Please share your ideas so we can learn from each other.

Our kitchen is decorated as a kid-friendly space and our advent tree is the highlight for the kids. We have a small artificial tree that the children decorate with old Mardi Gras beads, lights, small stockings and homemade ornaments.

At the beginning of the season we hang 24 stockings on the tree. In each stocking is an activity for holidays. Each idea gives children a simple fun activity to do with you or for someone else.

The stockings are simple pieces of felt glued or sewn together. You can embellish them anyway you would like or not at all. Each stocking is labeled from 1-24.

On December 1st, the first stocking is "opened" to discover the holiday activity for the day. The stocking is replaced by a simple, kid-friendly ornament the kids have made or been given.

The following are some ideas that I include in the stockings.

1. Decorate stationery to write your letter to Santa

2. Write your letter to Santa

3. Bring cookies to a fire station and thank the firemen and women for all they do.

4. Paint a winter snow scene on a window in your house.

5. Make snowflakes.

6. Write a letter to a soldier overseas.

7. Bring a neighbor some cookies.

8. Make a Christmas ornament.

9. Read a story about Christmas.

10. Tell someone about your favorite holiday tradition.

11. Make a present for your mom.

12. Sell hot chocolate and donate the money to a cause.

13. Make a present for your dad.

14. Be extra helpful to your teacher or friend.

15. Make a present for a sibling.

16. Donate a gift to a child in need.

17. Make some decorations or color some holiday pictures to bring to an assisted living or nursing home.

18. Learn a new Christmas song.

19. Find out how Christmas is celebrated in another country.

20. Pack a lunch or two and give it to homeless people you pass on the street.

21. Ring the bell for the Salvation Army.

22. Visit a local animal shelter and spend some time playing with the animals.

23. Fill a stocking with a piece of candy or small toy for each child.

24. Do something nice for someone without telling them.

25. Make a paper chain to decorate your home.

26. String some pop corn and hang it on a tree for the birds.

Be sure to include your own ideas that work for your family, faith, and are age-appropriate for your kids. Most importantly, create a tradition that celebrates the real reason for the season.

Each day, we will share instructions and ideas for the activities listed above and sites you can visit for information on other activities on the list.

We hope this will help you create or add traditions to your families holidays.