Monday, November 30, 2009 “Meaningful Christmas Traditions”

Meaningful Christmas Traditions

I’m looking for a way to teach my children about the real meaning of Christmas and help them focus more on giving then receiving.  Today we asked you to tells us about your Meaningful Christmas Traditions.  Here are some of the responses:

“We bake a birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas Eve. Christmas morning, before presents, before stockings, before ANYTHING, we sing Happy Birthday to Jesus, eat some birthday cake and talk about what Jesus wants for his birthday. That way the day starts with the right focus. It was wonderful!”

“I have my girls go through all of their stuff and make two piles–one of things they want to keep, and another for things they want to give away so other children can play with them. We also like to do the adopt a family and shop for a specific child.”

“My mom always takes the baby Jesus out of the nativity scene the morning of Christmas Eve and wraps him in a present and places it under the Christmas tree. One of my nephews is then picked to be the one to open it frst on Christmas morning – a reminder that Jesus is the real gift of Christmas.”

Cyber Monday

I don’t know about you, but my email is full of free shipping offers Today is Cyber Monday.  It’s the online shopper’s equivalent of Black Friday.  This year, roughly 87-percent of retailers with websites plan to hold Cyber Monday specials.  A good website that lists all the deals in one place is www.cybermonday.com. Here’s a link to some of the tips we talked about on the air:  Where to Find the Deals! What else are you supposed to do while you’re taking a break from catching up on emails?

3 stress-less tricks

Don’t stress this busy holiday season! Here are 6 quick tips to help you in any tough situation.

By Jen Ator, Women’s Health

Even though you can flip on the tube and watch Emeril, Guy, Jamie or Tyler whip up a mean meal, off the Food Network it’s still women who do the lion’s share of the food shopping, cooking and cleanup—especially around the holidays. But you don’t have to resign yourself to feeling frazzled. “What distinguishes one person’s meltdown from another’s indifference is their perception of control over the situation,” says Paul J. Rosch, M.D., president of the American Institute of Stress. Try these strategies and you’ll be prepared to shrug off any tough situation this busy season throws at you:

1. Tea off

In a study at University College in London, 75 volunteers drank the equivalent of a cup of black tea before completing two stressful tasks. Afterward, their cortisol levels dropped an average of 47 percent, compared with 27 percent for the people who didn’t imbibe.

2. Press the issue

Acupressure is a quick and effective tension releaser—it can reduce stress by up to 39 percent, according to researchers at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. For fast relief, massage the fleshy area between your thumb and index finger for 20 to 30 seconds.

3. Treat yourself

Flavonoids in cocoa relax your body’s blood vessels so that arteries can dilate, reducing blood pressure, a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found. Look for dark chocolate or cocoa powder, which have more of the stress-busting compound than milk chocolate, and keep it to one serving.

As if you needed another excuse to indulge in chocolate, here’s another reason.

The Best & Worst Snacks for Kids

Anyone can stock a kitchen with low-fat cheeses, lean meats and nuts in an attempt to stave off kids’ hunger with nutrient-rich snacks. The trick is to steer kids away from junk food and even seemingly-nutritious prepared foods that often abound with added sugars, preservatives and dangerous, belt-breaking fats. The next time your kid’s hunger calls, veto these dietary no-nos and opt for the smarter picks we’ve suggested instead. They’ll quash your kid’s hunger without expanding his or her waistline.

Worst dip

Kraft Cheez Whiz Original Cheese Dip (2 Tbsp) 90 calories 7 g fat (1.5 g saturated) 440 mg sodium The way most kids dip, 2 tablespoons means four chips’ worth of dip. And when has your child (or you!) ever stopped at four chips? That means these empty calories—all processed cheese goo spiked with nefarious food additives—add up quickly, as does that shocking sodium number. There are too many great dips (salsa, guac, hummus) to rely on the Whiz for flavor.

Eat this instead! Wholly Guacamole Classic (2 Tbsp) 50 calories 4 g fat (0.5 g saturated) 75 mg sodium Bonus tip: For great snack ideas, check out the 15 best snacks under 100 calories.

Worst cracker

Ritz (10 crackers) 160 calories 9 g fat (2 g saturated) 270 mg sodium The most famous name in crackers is also an easy way to get fat. Each cracker contains 2 grams of refined carbohydrates, nearly 1 gram of fat, and nary a scrap of fiber.

Choose the Triscuit Original, which is about as unadulterated as wheat gets without chewing on chaff. Eat this instead! Nabisco Triscuit Original (6 crackers) 120 calories 4.5 g fat (1 g saturated) 180 mg sodium

More tips here.

Christmas Tree for $20

UNION BRIDGE — Enter Michael Ryan’s barn and you’ll see Santa asleep in the corner, a chimney St. Nick used to come down before he fell into a snooze and a record of what had been the world’s largest wreath. What you won’t find is a shred of bah humbug to ruin the quintessential Christmas mood of Ryan’s tree farm on Clemsonville Road.

On Saturday, Ryan with the help of his sons and grandchildren handed out saws for Christmas tree-hunting families. They also hosted their largest group of visitors each season. Ryan said the tree business is competitive these days — a contrast to the boom times of the past. “People would line up on the roads to get in a tree farm in the ’70s and early ’80s,” he said. Ryan said more people are choosing natural trees. He got steady business Saturday and a visit from one of his most loyal customers.

Gaithersburg resident Jim Lucey brought his usual group of more than 35 people — a tradition that’s been ongoing for about 30 years. “The prices are pretty good,” he said. “You can’t beat $20 for a tree.” Lucey found out about Ryan’s tree farm from a flier he picked up at a grocery store 33 years ago, and he’s been coming ever since. “We make it a big yearly event,” he said.

Ryan bought the 230-acre farm in 1965 and has been selling trees since 1967. He lives in the late 1700s house built by the original landowner, John Clemson. No longer the Guinness record holder for the world’s largest wreath, Ryan said the category now allows floral arrangements. He said the reclassification knocked his 116-foot-diameter wreath of evergreen boughs out of the running in the late 1980s. He does claim to have the largest real Christmas wreath with a limestone tree as its centerpiece. “You can see how no one can reproduce that,” he said.

Positive Thoughts

Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

You know who a person is by what he does with what he has.

Circumstances do not make a man, they simply reveal him.

It isn’t what you have in your pocket that should make you thankful, but what you have in your heart.

Fruitfulness for God depends on fellowship with God Once your thoughts are in line, your attitude and emotions will follow.