My Token Christmas post

That is my favorite 'Christmas' song.

Here We Go Again!

Recieved this morning from AFA"Here it is - AFA's 2010 Christmas 'Naughty or Nice' store listing
Which stores recognize Christmas in their advertising...and who's the Scrooge?
November 17, 2010Dear Trina,As the Christmas shopping season begins full swing, AFA has prepared its annual "Naughty or Nice" retailer list. We have taken the top 100 national retailers and reviewed their websites, media advertising and in-store signage in an effort to help you know which companies are Christmas-friendly.
Over the past five years, your AFA has stood firm in the "War on Christmas." Companies who used to refuse to acknowledge Christmas now have Christmas "shops" inside their stores. Many of them now liberally use "Christmas" in their advertising and in-store signage. Sadly, there are still some companies which refuse to use "Christmas." They continue to insult and offend Christian shoppers by sticking with their politically correct "holiday" term.
On Friday, November 19, AFA will announce a "Christmas shopping boycott" of a well-known major retailer who doesn't deserve your business. This particular company has ignored yours and AFA's pleas for years. We will be asking you to tell this company that you will not do any "Christmas" shopping in its stores this year. Watch for the AFA Action Alert coming to your In-box this Friday!
Time is running out! Supplies are now limited on AFA's beautiful Christmas buttons.
I'm asking individuals like you in thousands of communities across the nation to head up this project in their local churches. Your willingness to underwrite the cost for your church and enthusiastically promote this project is the key to making an impact in your area.
Order your personal pack of 10 or 30 buttons today, or, sponsor your entire church by choosing a Large or Small Church Packet or the NEW Display Box of 250 buttons. And, we will include FREE SHIPPING on all Christmas buttons and stickers."I've blogged about this before and my opinion hasn't changed, except perhaps that I am more disgusted with Christians' materialism.

And so it begins...again!

The yearly battle about whether to say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays". It is not even Halloween yet!

The Gap has said that they will not say "Merry Christmas" and the Religious Right already has their panties in a bunch. LOL

So why is this so important to the Religious Right? Why does it matter so much that companies want to be inclusive rather than exclusive?

Christmas did not begin as a Christian holiday. It's origins are pagan. Early American Christians actually did not observe Christmas because it was pagan and the Puritans thought it was just a show of fleshly lusts (the gifts, overeating, and other revelry).

I will acknowledge that most Christians these days accept Christmas as the celebration of Christ's birth, but will also add that much of the celebration has little to do with true Christian charity.

We must face the fact that there are many other holidays around Christmastime. Kwanzaa, Hannukkah, Winter Solstice, etc. And that America has a population that is mixed.

By making such a stink about this causes Christians to seem desperate and reactionary. Wish people "Merry Christmas" if you want, but don't be childish and get upset when a business makes a business decision (and I could go on about the ethics of a business using a religious holiday for profits). This griping sounds like my kids when one wants to play one game and the other doesn't and a fight ensues over something that DOES NOT MATTER in the grand scheme of things.

I posted about a similar topic last year.

Why do we let what the world does, or does not do, have such an impact? Why get so upset about something so trivial? How can saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" be construed as "War on Christmas"? Why would you want companies, whose sole aim is to profit from the holidays, to use Christmas, ostensibly Christ's birthday, for purely secular means? Why would you want Christ's birth associated with such frivolity?

I may add/change this later but for now, that's all I have! :D

A Christmas to remember (pics added)

Our Christmas morning began VERY early. About 2 am.

Wes woke up sounding awful with croup and seemed to be having trouble breathing. I tried to comfort him and get him calmed down so he could breathe easier. Hubby was beside himself, worried that he has gotten water in his lungs that night in the bath. I love my hubby, but he isn't very level-headed when he's half asleep! LOL So Dh called 911 and Wes and Dh went to the hospital in the ambulance, first ambulance ride for our kids.

At about 5:30 I went and picked them up from the ER and then we came home to get a nap.

We let the kids open presents at about 9. They were all happy. The blocks were a big hit. We ate a late breakfast of pancakes and eggs with homemade egg nog.

Oh I need to back up and tell about the egg nog. The day before Christmas Eve I found my bottle of rum extract spilled in the pantry and made a mental post-it note to pick some up. Well...mental notes don't stick on me anymore.

So at 7 pm Christmas Eve when we were ready to make the egg nog I remembered about the rum. Every place was closed. Who would have rum extract? If it had been vanilla I could have asked anyone, but rum extract?

I called a lady from church that is always baking. I knew if anyone would have it she would. She looked in her pantry and the bottle she had was gelled. Then she spied another bottle that was nearly full and still good. So I drove 20 minutes to her house to pick up the rum extract and then back home to make the nog. It turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself!

Okay, back to Christmas. I started the ham about 11:30 so it would be done around 3:30. Then I went for a nap. I got up at 1:30 and dh went for his nap. At 2:30 I decided to check on the ham. The roaster oven was not on!! I should not cook when I am so sleepy! LOL So I turned it on and figured it would be done about 6:30.

During all this time the kids were playing and watching a movie or two. Ellis managed to break one of his new toys. The blocks kept the boys and Kyla busy for quite awhile ( I will be uploading pics later). Emma has been listening to her new MP3 player all day. And Cora has been skating around the house in her new in-line skates. She has been very productive too, looking for any excuse to be helpful so she can skate around. lol

We just finished dinner at 6:30. Not a bad day, a bit tiring, but not bad. And not one we will forget soon. I sincerely hope that the kids will go to sleep early.

This post is taking forever to get done. I just had to take a break to give Wes a bath. Now Sara wants me to hold her while she goes to sleep.

Enough rambling I suppose. Merry Christmas!

Sara wanting her mommy

A sleepy Daddy looking at a big mess!

It was amazing!!

That pic on the top of the page was taken after only one try!! I was not going to push it and try to get a better one. The preparation for that pic took about an hour and a half. I was already worn out. Everyone was looking at the camera and no funny faces or closed eyes. That's good enough for me! So that's the one that is going in all our Christmas mailings. Just waiting to pick them up from Walgreens and then put the envelopes in the mail box and pray hard that they will arrive by Christmas Eve to their destination. Not likely that they will, but one can hope.

P.S. Well they are off. Want to hear something funny? When I went to Walgreens to get the pics the attendant told me I needed to have a release form signed to get them. Apparently they thought that they were professional portraits done in a studio because of the background. Thankfully I had taken my camera with me and showed the picture on it.

Keeping Christ in Christmas?

I have a hard time with that. Not because I don't believe in Christ or don't want to use this holiday season to remember his birth. I have a hard time with it because I know that the roots of Christmas are pagan and it was later absorbed by the Catholics to be a holiday commemorating Christ's birth.

Any Christian who studies much knows that Christ wasn't really born on Christmas day. And the holiday has become SO commercialized!! Even I am infected with the idea that one MUST get presents or it isn't really Christmas. Which explains why I am a little disappointed that our kids won't have much in the way of presents this year.

Anyway, back to my original topic. Why do we say "Keep Christ in Christmas"? If it's roots are really pagan (it had to do with the celebration of the winter solstice) shouldn't we really say, "Put Christ in Christmas"? ( Here is another link.)

Do not misunderstand me. We celebrate Christmas. And I wish people 'Merry Christmas' not 'Happy Holidays'. But Christians cannot claim that the 'ungodly' are trying to steal their holiday when a good case can be made that the opposite is true. And why not represent all the various holidays? Why not put up Hanukkah and Kwanzaa and the like? I have no problem with a Jew wishing me a 'Happy Hanukkah'. To each his own and all that. :) Why must Christians be so rabid about their holidays and then be so against retailers trying to include a variety of beliefs?

Let's face facts. We have a very diverse set of people here in America. I agree that if someone wants to put up a 'Merry Christmas' sign on their business they should be allowed to do so. I also think that if they prefer to put up 'Happy Hanukkah' or 'Merry Kwanzaa' or 'Happy Saturnalia' or just 'Happy Holidays' they should be allowed to do that without being harassed. We are supposed to have freedom to practice our religion in this country, right? But too often I hear Christians saying things that belie them. They seem to only want religious liberty if the religion bears the 'christian' stamp.

So, celebrate Christmas, but do not get upset when people celebrate something else during the same time.

Merry Christmas All!