As much as we love the onset of the holiday season every year, most of us know that one of the pitfalls of Christmas is the extra weight we put on, from eating all that wonderful food. There are so many parties and gatherings, with so many gorgeous and sugar-filled treats, most of us tend to sigh and accept the fact that we'll gain a few extra pounds. This is the one time of year when we should be able to overindulge a little, and enjoy the delicious and traditional foods that we find at all of the Christmas season's events. Still, we can make the season a little less destructive to our belts and waistlines, if we spend a little time considering how we eat. For instance, most gatherings and parties at Christmastime are about family and friends, about love and fellowship. We should remind ourselves, as we arrive at these gatherings, that we're here to enjoy our families and friends, and not just to taste every single dessert on the table. When seeing a spread of holiday food on a buffet table for the first time, we instantly want to taste everything. But that's just not practical. Look at the food, carefully, and decide what you really want to have, then help yourself. Just don't take large portions of everything offered-you can't possible enjoy it all, equally. If you know you'll be attending a party with good food, don't starve yourself all day, so that you can eat more. Arriving hungry is a perfect way to guarantee that you'll eat too much. Remember, the food is the party's enhancement, not its purpose. Try to get plenty of sleep during the Christmas season. It's difficult, with all of the shopping and parties, but sleep can help your body resist cravings. A lack of sleep makes you want more sugar and starch. Your children are especially vulnerable to the temptation of over-indulging this holiday season. Most of the food we associate with Christmas is filled with sugar and fat, and is presented in a beautiful, appetizing manner. Chances are, your kids will eat too much of the wrong stuff this year. Try and make sure they get plenty of exercise to burn off some of those extra calories. When faced with all of the glorious food you'll see, this Christmas season, don't punish yourself-enjoy it. But remember that the food will vanish. The extra pounds may not, unless you understand, ahead of time, that January will be a time for a few extra visits to the gym.

There is a great deal of joy when holiday shopping online and the Wal-Mart online store is one of the best places for your bargain shopping online. They give you always low prices and meet virtually every shopping need for your holiday gift list. You can really enjoy your shopping experience by trying out the Wal-Mart online shop. One of the joys for bargain shopping online is not wasting your valuable time. You do not have to worry about cruising all of the store shelves trying to find an item on your list. Everything that you need is right there on your computer screen at your finger tips. This results in you not wasting time trying to locate hard to find items at always low prices. They even have the sales posted right at your fingertips to make your shopping faster. Having all the items sent to your house is a great benefit to bargain shopping online. Let's face it. Hunting for parking spaces and battling traffic jams can be a real hassle. The products at the Wal-Mart online store are offered at always low prices and sent to your doorstep. This means that you don't have to hassle with holiday shoppers and all the chaos. Boring lines is not a problem when bargain shopping online. You don't have to wait for those price checks where someone just had to pick up the only item on the shelf that wasn't priced. Nor do you have to wait for someone to rummage through their purse and find their check book after they've been rung up. The benefit to shopping at Wal-Mart on the Internet is always low prices and completely avoiding those irritating shopping lines during the holidays. One terrific benefit to bargain shopping online is never going to the store just during store hours. The Wal-Mart store is always open for shoppers on the Internet. From the comfort of your living room, you can shop virtually anytime of the day or night. You can even shop for their always low prices in your pajamas if you like. Your wallet will like the savings as well. You can find always low prices when bargain shopping online at Wal-Mart. This means that you can actually buy more items in your budget because the discounts are so great. You can even have enough left over from your holiday budget to purchase something for yourself.

Any room becomes warm and inviting when you use beautiful, seasonal floral arrangements to brighten your celebration. There are flowers that have come to represent certain holidays such as poinsettias for Christmas, red roses for Valentine's Day and lilies for Easter. However, holiday flower choices are not just limited to these traditional flowers. Use your imagination in creating your holiday flower arrangements. Flower arrangements add a great deal to the decor and the ambience of parties, open houses and just day to day visitation and create a festive mood for the family as well. Choosing flowers or plants that last a long time is thrifty and saves time as well during the busy holiday season. Many people prefer the "green" choices in their floral purchases as well as the rest of their lifestyles, including buying live plants only. Flower arrangements don't need to just be greenery and flower stems arranged in a vase, but can be in all sort of unique containers, or can even be masses of live plants arranged in pleasing displays. Adding evergreens for Christmas makes almost any arrangement match the seasonal theme, for example, and putting it all in a toy sled would be charming. Some people like to make their own floral arrangements to express their creativity and style or to economize, while many others prefer to rely on their florist to make appropriate and beautiful flower arrangements. You can use online floral websites to do it yourself and find ideas to personalize your own arrangements. The cheapest source for floral arrangements is growing your own flowers, fern, and other greenery. You can also make a trip to the countryside where gathering flowers or greenery is permitted, but be sure you have the owner's permission and that you do not pick protected wildflowers and plants. The first place to check is your own yard or greenhouse! During the holidays, assembling a flower arrangement can become a fun holiday tradition. It is the perfect opportunity to spend meaningful time together. Families might collectively work on one arrangement, or each member (or pair of relatives) might be assigned their own arrangement on which to work. Living flowers bring life, color, and happiness to every day life and especially the holidays. Bringing home a bouquet is a marvelous sign of love.

Most people are too distracted thinking about Christmas sales and promos, they tend to forget the celebration of Epiphany. Epiphany is the time after Christmas when the 3 Magi visited the Child Jesus. Back then, the Epiphany celebration had the twelve days Christ's birth when the church celebrates Christ being shown as the Light of the world and remembers the journey of the three wise men. Many people not from the United States start the Epiphany celebrations by caring for others on St. Stephen's Day. St. Stephen's day is on December 26, in honor of Stephen, considered the the first martyr of Christianity. In Acts 6-8, his story might be included during family bible readings on December 26. His convictions about the revelation of Christ in the world brought about his death. In the book of Acts, he was considered the first martyr among Christians. For hundreds of years, people of the Christian faith have remembered his faithfulness on December 26, the day after Christmas. This day marks a day for selfless care for people in need, the unwanted, who have no people to love them. As a family, you might choose a needy family or local group to help the day after Christmas. When most families are shopping the after-christmas sales, you can make an impact on your local community by taking a meal or gifts to a family in need. In Britain and Canada, this day is called Boxing Day, an official holiday in Britain. When my kids first heard of Boxing Day, they thought it was a celebration of those who box as a sport. They were surprised at the true meaning of Boxing Day. On this day,food boxes are delivered to the ones in need. In the past these were given to workers from their masters. The spirit of Wenceslaus is shown so that the whole community may join in and celebrate the manifestation of the Good News of Christ's birth. Churches usually organize Boxing Day to specifically serve the physical and spiritual needs of their fellow men and thus show that Word of God requires good deeds to your neighbors. Boxing Day is one of those days where you can see these good acts being done.

This is a season which seems to be full of holidays. From Halloween to Thanksgiving to Christmas, it seems as though we just move from one celebration to another. One of the most wonderful aspects of the season is that it's a time for celebrating the love and the closeness and the fellowship of our families. Most of us stay incredibly busy during this time of year. The normal routines and habits we observe during the rest of the year fly out the window, as we rush from parties to shopping malls, from churches to grandmothers' houses to holiday pageants. As hectic as it can be, at least we know that it will only last a short time, before winter sets in. At least, most of us know that it won't last. We may notice, at this time of year, our pets behaving in strange ways. Dogs and cats, especially, depend on the routine of their family, for security. The family dog will be confused, if his walk-time is altered, even by an hour. He may wait by the door, anxiously, wondering why we've forgotten him. That usually lazy, silent cat may stand by her empty bowl, staring into it, and meowing louldy, wondering in her cat-language why she's not being fed at the normally appointed time. Even pet birds measure their security by our constant habits. They know when the house should be quiet and empty, during the daylight hours, and when to expect the sound of the family, every evening. A sudden alteration in our normal habits will be noticed immediately by our pets, and they may react in odd ways. Cats may choose to hide in secret places, calling out, confused and frightened. Birds may eat much less or not at all for a while, and they may lose feathers in the process, or they may pick at themselves, opening sores on their bodies. Dogs who have been well-trained may suddenly behave like puppies, again, urinating indoors or chewing shoes or tearing up newspapers. We don't need to change the way we celebrate the holidays in order to please our pets, but we do need to be aware that they don't understand why Christmas alters our routines. As much as possible, pet owners need to spend a little extra time with their pets at this strange time of year. We need to let them know that, yes, we do think of them and that they really are important family members. There's nothing we can do to make our pets grasp what's happening, fully, but if we take a few minutes, each day, to acknowledge their importance in our lives, the stress we put them through during the holidays will be softened a great deal.

Christmas is a magical time when you stroll outside, the air is cold and crisp and often the sky looks a little grey but you still feel happy and walk with an added bounce in your step.  It makes you smile seeing the great job Jack Frost did on your windowpanes and you do not mind scraping the car windows before you can drive to go Christmas shopping.  You travel slowly down the street looking at all the fabulous light shows displayed on the houses and lawns of friends, neighbors and even strangers.  Fighting the crowds while shopping for the perfect Christmas gifts for loved ones, friends and co-workers, just adds to the excitement of Christmas.  This is all part of the joy of Christmas. 

If you have children, you hide their gifts because you know that just like you when you were a child, they will be hunting for them.  Sometimes you keep them at a friend’s house so the children do not find their Christmas gifts and you get a chance to visit while you wrap them.  If you have younger children, there are often bikes and doll carriages to be constructed or toys that need batteries put in them.  Do not forget to mail the children’s letters to Santa at the North Pole.  No matter how old your children are, even ones living away from home, they love Christmas stockings so stocking stuffers are necessary.  A great family tradition is to take your children to buy a few Christmas gifts and food items to donate to those less fortunate.  Christmas is a time for giving and enjoying the company of all people, not just those that you already know.         

Christmas morning finally arrives, gifts are opened and the turkey is stuffed and in the oven.  The Christmas tree glows and sparkles with tiny lights and beautiful Christmas ornaments.  Opened gifts sit under the tree; the children are playing while the adults sit and talk.  After all the hard work of preparing for Christmas, it has been worth every second.  Other family members and friends stop by to wish you Merry Christmas and to celebrate this wonderful holiday.  Everyone sits down to a lovely Christmas dinner of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy.  Desert is often plum pudding or Christmas cookies, if you have any room left.  After tidying up and tucking the children into bed, you finally get to sit down and put your feet up.

At Christmas, many people celebrate Christ’s birth while others celebrate life and pray for peace and harmony.  We remember loved ones we have lost and reminisce about years gone by.  No matter how old we are, what race, heritage or upbringing, Christmas is a time to love, rejoice and live. 

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Every year, we wonder how we can possibly make it through the Christmas holiday season with our sanity intact. There's just always too much to do, and the calendar seems to get filled in completely, from October through December. In most households, today, two careers are required to make ends meet, so finding the time to do everything the season demands is harder than ever before. Every year, parents are forced to figure out how to manage careers and the events that make the holidays so special. Some activites just can't be enjoyed. This hectic modern life has meant the end of some of the most time-honored customs that families once observed during the holidays. Pulling out the old family recipe book, for instance, and spending days at the oven, doing all the Christmas baking, is something we only read about in history books or historical novels. Stringing popcorn, as hanging decorations, is an activity most kids today have never imagined. So many of the customs that used to be integral parts of our Christmas celebrations have been lost to the bustle of modern life. But it needn't be that way. Parents who'd like to keep those traditions from dying out, completely, can join in groups, to help each other maintain some of that vanishing charm of Christmas. When we were young and early December rolled around, for instance, we used to gather pencils and papers, and we carefully crafted the perfect letters to Santa Claus, asking for those goodies we wanted to find under our trees on Christmas morning. It took time, and Mom and Dad always helped us with the letters, mailing them when we were done. One way that parents can help each other is to share the oversight of such activities. Parents of schoolmates, or parents of kids in the same neighborhood can switch off, from year-to-year, the duties of hosting get-togethers for their kids, to tackle tasks like writing to Santa Claus. One family can have all the kids over on a Saturday afternoon, and one or two parents can help the kids all write their letters at the same time. The non-hosting parents can help out with food and writing supplies, and then can be free to spend the afternoon taking care of their own Christmas business, or everyday chores which will free them up for more Christmas activities. Those great old Christmas customs we used to love can be preserved, this way, while allowing time for mom and dad to handle the other business of the season. And ultimately, sharing these duties with the other parents in their peer group will create more time for their own families, which is what Christmas is all about.

Every year, the dazzle, the colors, the music, and the magic of the holiday season seem to fill our senses earlier than the previous year. Santa Claus appears in stores and advertisements as early as October, and the parties that fill the season begin in November, often prior to Thanksgiving. The season that leads to Christmas and Santa Claus's visit is full of parties and events that keep most families busy, until January. Many of the holiday activities we indulge in, every year, are centered around food. Every culture and ethnic group seems to have its own rich epicurean heritage, which is spotlighted in this season of joy and cheer. Not only is it difficult to avoid eating wonderful, calorie-filled food during the holidays, it's probably impossible. It's really true that the average person puts on at least a few pounds during the holiday season. And the earlier we begin celebrating the holidays, each year, the more pounds we're likely to add, before the New Year. And it's not just an adult problem, either. Children today are just as vulnerable to the holiday weight gain as their parents. So, what to do? It's probably unrealistic to expect anyone, during this busy season of parties and pageants, to begin a brand-new cardio-vascular exercise program. Our calendars are too full, already, to spend hours, each day in the gym, to make up for our over-eating. That doesn't mean that there aren't ways for families to spend at least some time, each week, burning off a few calories. Weekends can be great times for parents to take their kids on morning walks. An early, brisk, half-hour walk can charge the metabolic batteries for the whole day, so that the body burns calories more efficiently. A good walk on the morning of a party, where there will be great food, can stave off a tiny bit of weight gain. Whenever possible, family members should avoid elevators and climb stairs. There are few ways to get an overall cardio workout that are better than stair-climbing. Though children love escalators, parents should set an example, especially during the holidays, and use the stairs. Parents should make sure that both they, and their children, receive as much good sleep as possible, during the holidays. Lack of sleep has been proven to contribute to weight gain, in both adults and children. Avoiding wonderful food during the holidays is like trying to avoid Christams carols-who wants to do that? The best thing that families can do to avoid buying larger clothes in January is to look for as many opportunities as possible to burn a few extra calories, every day.

Christmas carols are playing on the radio, delicious scents waft out of the kitchen, and everywhere you look, you see evergreen, red, and gold.  It’s that time of year again.  And every year brings the desire to make this the best holiday season ever.  Every family has a set of traditions they religiously follow, but it can be a lot of fun to shake things up a bit.  There are a huge variety of Christmas activities that can make your holidays brighter.

One good way to find new and exciting Christmas activities is to check your local newspaper.  Most communities plan special Christmas events.  Your city’s chamber of commerce or community website can provide a calendar of events as well.  You are likely to find things like choir performances, live nativity scenes, and maybe Christmas themed socials.  Taking part in events like this help to put the participants in a holiday mood, break up the monotony of shopping, and make some wonderful memories.  Another option to get in the spirit of things is to attend a holiday show.  Many community organizations, such as the ballet or symphony, have productions of holiday shows, like The Nutcracker or a selection of holiday music.  Attending a show and enjoying an elegant dinner after is an excellent way to start a new tradition with your friends or spouse.

Staying in can inspire some fun and creative Christmas activities too.  Many people enjoy making the same holiday goodies from year to year.  These treats could be used as gifts or added to the menu at a Christmas party.  An added bonus is the warm scent of cinnamon and nutmeg that is sure to infuse your kitchen.  Cooking and baking can be a great way to unwind alone or have a more rambunctious event with family or friends.  Decorating the tree and house are other ways people get in the Christmas mood.  Warm up some apple cider, set out a plate of cookies, and go to work creating a magical holiday look in your home.  It’s a lot of fun to reminisce about holidays past while preparing for the new.  After all, that’s what Christmas activities are all about.

Whether done alone or with a group of loved ones, Christmas activities enrich the holiday season and make beautiful memories for years to come.  The important thing is to do what you enjoy in your preparation and celebration of Christmas.  Each family is unique and observes the holiday in their own way.  Just remember to include Christmas activities in the holiday festivities.

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Christmas is the most special time of the year for most families. Children can't wait for Santa Claus to slide down the chimney and leave a great bundle of goodies under the tree, on Christmas Eve. As they dive into their presents, their parents get caught up in their joy and forget about the stress of the past few weeks, and the trouble it took to get here. For parents with younger children, though, the magic of Christmas may seem like a million years in the future After a holiday season full of activities that are supposed to be joyful, parents with infants can only remember packing and unpacking strollers in crowded parking lots and changing diapers in strange rest-rooms. It's really difficult, nowadays, to find a sitter who's both trustworthy, and who can be hired without taking out a second mortgage. Simply because they have toddlers or infants to deal with, parents shouldn't have to dread the holiday season. They shouldn't have to sacrifice all of the parties and pageants, because they can't figure out child care. Especially since there are millions of parents everywhere in the same boat. One way for parents to attain some free time for holiday activities and Christmas shopping, while ensuring trutworthy baby-sitting at the same time, is too form a holiday baby-sitting pool. Whether through church or daycare or pre-school, most parents of very young kids are acquainted with other parents in the same boat. Four or five sets of parents, helping each other, can make all of their holiday seasons pass more smoothly. After Thanksgiving, a group of like-minded parents can share their holiday schedules, with an emphasis on their free days. Then, a schedule for all can be determined, and distributed among the group. When a couple has a free day, they may then be asked to care for all of the children in the group, so that those parents can go shopping, or to a holiday party to which children aren't invited. As parents drop their kids at the host's house, they can also leave food and drink, to help with the cost of the afternoon. Couples who help each other with child care will find themselves, on Christmas morning, much less stressed than many of their peers, who've tried to survive the holidays without the help of their friends. By forming a club of sorts for the purpose of caring for each others' children, couples can enjoy those activities that make the holiday season so special, while being sure that their children are safe and well-attended.