Some Fun & Interesting Christmas Tree Facts - Did You Know . . .

If you are like me, your Christmas Tree went up after Thanksgiving dinner, so you have been enjoying it for several weeks. My grands once again helped with the decorating - it makes the tree so much more fun and meaningful for me. Today I thought it would be fun to look at some of the fun facts about Christmas trees - share them with the children you love . . .

Discover New Creatures with Red-Lipped Batfish, Giant Purple Squirrels, Kakapos & More!

  

Did you know there is actually such a thing as the Red-Lipped Batfish? Have you ever heard of Rufous Hummingbirds, Gharials, Asiatic Lions, or Giant Purple Squirrels? Yes, they are all real animals and you will find all of them, along with Komodo Dragons, Dumbo Octopuses, Sumatran Rhinoceros, Baikal Seals, Guanacos, Blue Whales & Whale Sharks, and Kakapos in the book, Red-Lipped Batfish, Giant Purple Squirrels, Kakapos & More! 

My Christmas Carol for Today - Everybody Loves Christmas

It is very easy to notice on grandma's cookie jar, I love Christmas! I love everything about it - the reason we celebrate and the wonderful opportunity it gives us to spend time with our families! So, this song, Everybody Loves Christmas, had to be part of my "Christmas Carols" - you will find it at this link - enjoy!

These are the lyrics if you would like to sing along . . . 

Five True Facts about the Real Saint Nicholas

Yes, there really was an actual Saint Nicholas, and while time has changed a LOT about him, we do still know the actual truth about him . . . 

• Santa Is from Turkey, not from the North Pole - The actual Saint Nicholas lived in the southeast of what is now Turkey, though his bones are entombed in Bari, Italy.

Civets, Tree Kangaroos, Batoids & More! Will Help You Hand Down Confident Faith - What Could Be Better Than This!

 

When my grands and I started talking about writing this book series together, we talked about the animals/creatures we thought should make it into our books. My grands, being the sweet rascals they are, thought we should include a spider. They know how I truly am frightened of these creatures, but they told me God made them and there are interesting things about them. I was skeptical, but told them if we wrote a third book, we would put a spider in it. I didn't think we would write more than two books, but when it became clear it was time to work on book three, a spider had to be included. So I started looking for the least scary-lookin spider and found there were three - sorta, least scary-looking, and these three became part of book three - Civets, Tree Kangaroos, Batoids & More! Look at the animals/creatures you will find in this book . . . 

My Christmas Carols for You - TobyMac & Tasha Layton - Christmas Hits Different

Christmas tends to be a time of joy with family and friends, but for some of us, Christmas is a sad time, difficult time, challenging time - if you struggle and if Christmas is different for you this year, this song is for you. You will find TobyMac's and Tasha Layton's song, Christmas Hits Different at this link. If your Christmas is "hitting" "different" this year, please consider this song a big hug.

Teach the "Whys" by Reading Eyelash Vipers, Pygmy Elephants, Pangolins & More!

  

Reading books to and with children is an important and essential thing for us to do - it helps children become people who learn more easily, helps them develop their vocabulary, prepares them to be people who read, strengthens their ability read, and so much more! Yes, reading with the ones we love is a powerful thing we are able to do to make a difference in their lives.

But, when the reading also helps us hand down a confident faith by teaching the "whys" - why we are able to believe God is real and God and science DO go together, then we have even more reasons to read and give books which equip us to do this. The Life on the Goldilocks Planet books do exactly this, so today I want to let you know about another book in the series - Eyelash Vipers, Pygmy Elephants, Pangolins & More! - look what you will find in it . . .

My Christmas Carol for Today - All I Want for Christmas - by the Piano Guys

Okay, once again, yes, I know for a song to be a "Christmas Carol" there should be some singing, but once again, the Piano Guys put together "All I Want for Christmas" with fantastic music (there is a cello so it has to be fantastic), and combined it with Lego animation of a number of favorite Christmas movies/shows in a "nutshell" presentation - watch it at this link and you will see what I mean and why I had to include this in my Christmas Carols!

Enjoy!

Look at Blue Dragons, Red Pandas, Hoopoes & More!

  

From time to time over the past couple years I have written about the Life on the Goldilocks Planet books - these books are not only interesting and fun, but they are a terrific tool to help you as a parent or grandparent hand down confident faith as they will help you talk about and learn some important "whys" - why we are able to believe God is real and the God and science DO go together! Today I thought I'd let you know about the animals you will find in the book - Blue Dragons, Red Pandas, Hoopoes & More! . . . 

My Christmas Carols - Wrap Me Up

Last year I heard a new Christmas song by Jimmy Fallon and Meghan Trainor called, Wrap Me Up and I knew I had to share it with you on my Christmas Carols for this year. You will be able to find it at this link.

I love the humor and the message in this song - if you would like to sing along, here are the lyrics . . . 

Science Project - Popsicle Stick Chain Reaction!

Today I want to share a fun popsicle stick science project with you - I used to teach a Sunday School class of first graders - almost all boys, so whenever I added in a science project, the boys not only LOVED it, but they listened and really did get the point because I tied the project in with the lesson. 

So, I'll share it with you today so if you go to the store to get the popsicle sticks you will be able to show your grands how to do this fun experiment which I found on-line. This project uses popsicle sticks - LOTS of popsicle sticks. 

My Christmas Carol for Today - Breath of Heaven - by Amy Grant

When we think about Christmas Carols some of us think of the old Christmas songs we sang in church, like Joy to the World and Silent Night. Others think of more contemporary songs like It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas or Frosty the Snowman. Today my Christmas Carol is a newer song, a beautiful song, sung by Amy Grant - Breath of Heaven - you will find it at this link.

If you would like to know the story behind the song, you will find it at this link. And, if you would like to sing along, here are the lyrics.

grandma's chuckles - It Would Be Wonderful to Have Four Cookie Jars Filled with Cookies!

Yesterday was Bake Cookies Day and reminded me of a busy cookie-baking day at this grandma's house a few years ago. On this particular day before my grands arrived for a visit, I made Peanut-butter, chocolate chip, oatmeal cookies and put them in my photo cookie jar. When they arrived we made Snicker-doodle-Sprinkles cookies and my youngest grand thought they should go in my penguin cookie jar.

Countdown-to-Christmas Caroling - O Come, O Come Emmanuel - the Piano Guys

Today I'm sharing another Christmas Carol! Emmanuel means God with us; and this is why Jesus came . . . to be with us! This is why we celebrate Christmas. When I hear the song, O Come, O Come Emmanuel I think about what it would be like if we were still waiting for Him to appear and I rejoice in knowing He has come and we can know Him because He is with us!