Three wise women
The Christmas story talks about three wise men following a star for days to get to the stable.
Now, had there been three wise WOMEN, they would have stopped to get directions, arrived on time to help tidy the stable and deliver the baby, bought along some cold meats and salad, and brought gifts such as nappies, face washers and sheets!
Teacher gifts
As a teacher, I often get a number of gifts from students. Every one of those gifts is appreciated for the thought and the message it conveys, but I have to say that not all of them are wanted.
I mean, little soaps are cute but not so practical in a house with 3 boys and I’m actually allergic to chocolate (yes I know it is shocking!) And I’ve noticed that female teachers never get given wine! (I wonder if female coaches, leaders, etc find the same thing???)
So I was VERY pleased today to get a gift from my class – not each child, but a class gift organised by a parent or two. They gave me a voucher for a massage and a bottle of moisturiser – a perfect way to relax at the end of the year and very thoughtful as a teacher gift.
It’s probably too late for this year, but if you are thinking of a gift for a teacher/leader/coach consider getting something as a group – the recipient is likely to appreciate it and it may even be cheaper than buying something yourself.
And for anyone who does want to organise a group gift, I came across a site that may be useful – Group Prezzie manages the payments from everyone in the group.
The truth about Santa’s reindeer
I’m not 100% sure of the accuracy of this but it certainly sounds plausible. Perhaps Santa could confirm this?
According to the Alaskan Dept. of Fish and Game, while both male and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer each year, the male antlers drop their antlers at the beginning of winter, usually late November to mid-December. Female reindeer retain their antlers until after they give birth in the spring.
Therefore, according to EVERY historical rendition depicting Santa’s reindeer, EVERY single one of them from Rudolph to Blitzen, had to be a girl.
We should have known… only women would be able to drag a (ahem – sorry Santa) rather largish man in a red velvet suit all around the world in one night and not get lost!
Birthday close to Christmas
Today is my son’s 4th birthday.
We went to the shopping centre to get some last minute things for his party, and we thought we’d stop in on Santa too. When we first arrived, Santa was having lunch, so we had a chat to his helper who takes the photos. DS happily told him it was his birthday today and showed him one of the trains he’d got as a present. We decided to come back after shopping.
When we returned, Santa was there and wished DS a very Happy Birthday, even giving him a birthday present of a bouncy ball with a Santa face in it. As usual this year, he informed Santa that he wants a turntable for Christmas, and that’s it! DS was delighted with this visit to Santa and Santa remembering his birthday too and chatted about Santa the whole way home.
DS was also pleased to tell his big brother about it – cos big brother’s birthday is in January & there’s no Santas in the shopping centres to visit then!
Kulkuls
Kulkuls are an Indian biscuit that is made in most (all?) regions of India for Christmas.
They’re easy to make and the kids will have fun BUT make sure an adult does the frying and heating the syrup.
We made some yesterday – it was great timing as our Santa letters arrived afterwards so we nibbled on yummy Indian Kulkuls while reading Australian themed Santa letters! Some port for parents, milk for kids, and it made a really nice family evening:)
So, onto the Kulkul recipe…
You need:
- 1 kilo of flour
- 1 teaspoons of baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 2 Tablespoons ghee
- 2 cups of coconut milk
- 8 Tablespoons sugar (very fine so use castor sugar or grind some other sugar yourself)
- 4 eggs.
Instructions
Beat the eggs, then mix in with the baking powder and flour. Add in the sugar, cardamom and coconut milk.
Knead the dough then cover with a damp cloth for about 30 minutes.
Separate the dough into small portions and roll into balls (remember playing with play dough as a kid?) Flatten the balls with the back of a fork, leaving lines in it, then curl up the edges a bit before deep-frying in small batches.
Drain on paper towel or newspaper.
Heat 2 cups of sugar to 6-8 Tablespoons of water until sugar is dissolved.
Place kulkuls in the syrup to absorb the syrup, then put aside to let the sugar harden.
Store in airtight containers.
Note – ghee is a form of fat used a lot in Indian cooking. Instead of ghee, you can use shortening or a light margarine.
Love Santa letters
If you have ordered a Love Santa letter, watch your (well, the child’s!) letterbox over the next couple of days as all letters have now been mailed and we’re in Australia Post’s hands.
Orders can still be placed in our order form, but the sooner you order the sooner the child will get their letter and the less risk of the letter arriving after Santa does!
Santa is preparing for his trip…
It is getting close now – one week to Christmas Eve and Santa’s arrival Down Under to help create some more Christmas memories.
As Santa is flying across Australia, our Air Control Towers will be keeping planes and other air traffic out of Santa’s way so there are no nasty surprises for anyone.
Apparently, Santa has a new sleigh with added safety features – you can see pictures of Santa and diagrams of his sleigh (click on the labels below the diagram for a full explanation) on the Air Services website’s Santa pages.
Due to this being the most popular flight in Australia, Air Services will continue tracking Santa’s progress everyday until Christmas.
Love Santa letter winners!
It took a bit of time yesterday to read all the stories again and decide on a winner. Actually, it was two winners as we chose one form November and one from December 🙂 Each winner recevies one personalised letter from Love Santa for an Australian child they love.
So the November winner is Precious Water for the funny and sweet story of his daughter ‘s fear when he was being Santa.
And the December winner is Donna-Marie for her reminiscences about European-style Christmases as a child in Australia.
Congratulations to both of you and we hope the special little children in your life delight you with many smiles 🙂
memorable Christmas gifts
I love giving gifts that really mean something to the other person – it takes more time than buying a box of chocolates or a book voucher, but the look on their face and the knowledge that the present will last (in their memories at least) is well worth it to me.
I remember I once gave a babysitting voucher to my cousin who had a boisterous toddler – the look of joy on her face was priceless, and she treasured that voucher above her other gifts (by treasured I mean she kept it away from her toddler whereas he could look at her other gifts!) It was a simple gift and affordable as I had little money at the time, but meant a lot to her.
Another year I gave another cousin a calligraphy set because I remembered her saying she’d love to learn calligraphy. She had forgotten telling me that so her gift was a surprise but really suited her.
What presents have you given or received that are memorable for more than the price tag?
Making a child happy!
We have some good friends who have a 2 year old son. His was the first Christmas present we bought this year – we saw it months ago and grabbed it on the spot for him.
On the weekend, we saw our friends and gave their son his gift. It was a little barn (made out of fabric like a small tent) with 8 soft animals (4 pairs of mother and baby). He wasn’t overly excited when it opened and I set up the barn for him, but he then played with his animals happily.
We all left together to go to carols by candlelight – and the barn came with us. One determined two year would not let go of his barn in the car or walking from the car to the park where we had carols, and likewise to go back to the car! He did put it down to run around the park and eat a doughnut, but we got the message that he loved his new barn and animals.
That is the sort of reaction we love when giving a present!
Competition closes tonight…
…so tomorrow morning we will be reading all December posts to choose the best one to win a personalised Love Sanat letter.
Don’t be shy – this is the time to share your story and preserve it forever.
Not sure how to enter? This post explains how to enter and the terms of the compeition – Good luck!
A Christmas Letter
Dear friends
With Christmas almost upon us, I’d like to extend my heartfelt appreciation to all of you who have taken the time and trouble to send me “forwards” over the past 12 months. Thank you for making me feel safe, secure, blessed and healthy.
Extra thanks to whoever sent me the email about rat crap in the glue on envelopes – cause I now have to go get a wet towel every time I need to seal an envelope.
Also, I scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.
Because of your genuine concern, I no longer drink Coca Cola because I know it can remove toilet stains, which is not exactly an appealing characteristic.
I no longer check the coin return on pay phones or anything anymore because I could be pricked with a needle infected with AIDS.
I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.
I no longer go to shopping centres because someone might drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.
I no longer eat KFC because their “chickens” are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers.
I no longer worry about my soul because at last count, I have 363,214 angels looking out for me.
Thanks to you all, I have learned that God only answers my prayers if I forward an email to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.
I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl on the internet who is about to die in the hospital (for the 1,387,258th time).
I no longer have any money at all in fact – but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special on-line email program.
Yes, I want to thank you all so much for looking out for me that I will now return the favour!
If you don’t send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 7 minutes, a large mutant pigeon with a wicked case of diarrhoea will land on your head at 5:00PM (EST) this afternoon. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbor’s ex-mother-in-law’s second husband’s cousin’s beautician.
Merry Christmas to all,
Love Santa
BROWSE BY CATEGORY
- About Love Santa
- Baby’s first Christmas
- Children’s craft
- Christmas activities
- Christmas books
- Christmas cooking
- Christmas crafts
- Christmas gifts
- Christmas humour
- Christmas Lights/Decorations
- Christmas Memories
- Christmas spirit
- Christmas today
- Easter
- Green Christmas
- Happy kindness
- International Christmas
- Santa letters
- Santa Memories
- Santa’s snacks
- Christmas elf fun
- Uncategorized
Start your Christmas kit gifts
Â
Â
Order Cut Off Dates
Please note that Love Santa letters need to be ordered before December 18Â to be delivered before Christmas!
Order now to be sure of delivery before Christmas. Keep an eye on our blog for final ordering days as we get close to Christmas Eve.
Â
Privacy Policy
Under no circumstances, not even under threat of having to fill in for Santa on Christmas Eve, will your details of any kind be given, sold or lent to any other party.