We woke up this morning to snow falling and the Magic Mail Mailbox so full that the lid wouldn’t close! After writing Santa last night and putting the letters in the mailbox, then sprinkling the magic North Pole dust on the letters, the letters were magically sent to Santa’s Workshop at the North Pole. When we awoke this morning we had received letters back from Santa! Santa also sent us one of his friends to stay with us until Christmas. We’re excited because this is the first time a tiny scout elf has come to stay with us for Christmas time! He also sent peppermint chap stick for the boys like the kind he uses when he is flying in the sleigh. Santa told the boys he was very excited that they wanted to become elf apprentices. Because of that, Santa’s head elf Albi sent toy soldiers for them to finish painting and the Snow Fairies sent a snow flake ornament to decorate.
It seems our elf was supposed to be here right after Thanksgiving, but I guess our elf got held back a week in flight training for what is being call the eggnog latte incident. I guess our elf drank 14 eggnog lattes at the opening of the new North Pole coffee shop. Then he flew around the workshop for more than two days straight leaving a trail of syrup on just about everything! Our elf finally gave out while doing loopty loops in the retro toy department; where he fell into sticky tangle of slinky toys and hula hoops. It took another two days to get the jittery elf untangled! It figures our elf would have a caffeine and sugar addiction, because he will fit right in. Well I’m sure we’ll be sharing any trouble our elf might happen to get into while he is visiting us so stay tuned. This year we also had the pleasure of sharing our Magic Mail Mailbox with a friend! A little boy who was in need of some Christmas magic and it was so much fun to have him with us. The Magic Mail Mailboxes are such a fun tradition. We hope you are having a merry magical weekend! *Shawn*
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A couple of days ago I read an article called “Bring Back the Lean Green Father Christmas” by Permaculture Magazine. They want to bring back the Father Christmas that came from the deep Germanic woods and was dressed in all green. It seems the main reason they want to do this is because the evil soft drink corporations turned Father Christmas/Santa red and made him fat. Okay, the premise of a leaner greener Santa is a good one in general, but just like all the historical errors I couldn’t help but point out to them, I guess I still feel the need to pick this article apart even more. I support a greener Christmas, not because I’m all worried about the polar ice cap melting and leaving Santa homeless; He has contingency plans for that ;) My reasons are because I really want to see Christmas become more meaningful and less materialistic. I also support Santa becoming leaner. Santa being immortal doesn’t have to really worry about his waistline. However, he is concerned about being a good role model and has been working hard on being more fit and trim.
These things being said, though Christmas seems like it last for about a month, it is really only one day a year and it is truthfully the other 364 days that are more of the problem. In the famous 1823 poem Twas The Night Before Christmas “the Children were nestled all snug in their bed, while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads” and I think this is an awesome. I love the thought of my kids going to bed and having dreams of dancing sugar plums, but I am pretty sure our kids are not having dreams about getting to eat sugar. If anything it would be nightmares about ever having to go a day without it! Because of our hyper consumption lifestyles it seems like Christmas has had to become bigger and bigger to compete with everyday life. If you remember in the poem Santa only filled the stockings not the entire room with presents. I just think if we could create a simpler less materialistic everyday lifestyle for our family then Christmas would become even more special. So even though I agree with Permaculture Magazines lean and green premise, I think buying green presents or green energy investments, so we can feel all warm and fuzzy green inside at Christmas is kind of lame. Buy green energy investments to celebrate tax season or something, not Christmas! I read Permaculture Magazine because I want to create a more sustainable lifestyle for my family and they have some great articles to help in that endeavor. However this article just didn’t resonate with me and by reading the comment section I wasn’t the only one. What color we dress Santa or Father Christmas seems like a personal preference and more about our rich cultural traditions than our ideological leaning. My Santa wears red, but he doesn't work for any corporation and he himself is fighting to restore the magic of a less materialistic Christmas! So dress Santa in green if you desire to, but I will work on doing a better job of dressing the other 364 days in the year in a simpler greener lifestyle. Then hopefully my cookie eatting Santa dressed in red will inspire sugar plums to dance through my childrens head every Christmas eve. Shawn, Head Elf Elf Certified Workshop Here is the link to the article.http://www.permaculture.co.uk/news/0312134041/bring-back-lean-and-green-father-christmas They told me the fixed the mistakes, but they didn’t, they just added to them lol. Do You Believe?
We are asked this question throughout our lives; do you believe? This question is usually asked about things we cannot see or easily prove. Such as do you believe in God, Santa, flying reindeer, or maybe even global warming? However, the question I’m asking is about something you can see and prove exists. Do you believe in YOU? It seems like it would be easy to believe in something that is staring back at us in the mirror every day, but many of us have a hard time believing in ourselves. Maybe it’s because of past failures and mistakes. Maybe it’s because we don’t feel smart enough or talented enough. Maybe we don’t believe we have enough time or money. Maybe it’s because we feel pretty sure that if we can’t even keep our house clean or make sure our kids have matching shoes on before they go to school, how could we ever achieve our life goals! Whatever it is, nearly all of us struggle with doubt in ourselves and our ability to make all our dreams come true. I know I struggle with self-doubt and even unworthiness to achieve my goals. I’m sure I could fill this page with good arguments why too. However even though I struggle at times I’ll let you in on a little secret; I do believe! I not only believe that we can reach our goals here at the workshop, but even more crazy I believe that we can be a part of making the world a better place. How can I believe in such a grandiose dream? Well you see there is more to me than who is staring back at me in the mirror. There is something inside me that I can’t see and it is inside of you too. Working with Santa and his elves over the last year has shown me anew that inside each and every one of us there is a very special magic. This magic has the ability to help us overcome our past and our perceived limitation to achieve dreams much more wonderful than we even imagine! I have also learned two little, but important secrets about this magic. Number one is that the magic only works when doing for others comes first in our lives. Second, there is something we must do in order to activate this magic inside of us…BELIEVE! Our goal here at the Elf Certified Workshop is to encourage our Elf Apprentices to use this magic inside of them to help spread the magic of Christmas, love and giving to our families, communities, and the world. We are truly convinced that if each of us would whole heartily believe in the magic that we all have inside, we could join together and make the world a better place. So the question still remains; Do You Believe? Shawn, Head Elf Elf Certified Workshop Welcome to the Workshop
Hi, I’m Shawn the Head Elf here at the Elf Certified Workshop. Shortly after Christmas last year Santa came and swept us into an enchanted adventure of elves, flying reindeer, Holiday Barometers, Snow fairies, and Magical Dust. On this adventure we’ve learned magical secrets and stories. We’ve learned about making toys and baking cookies like elves do. We’ve learn how reindeer fly and how people in Japan celebrate Christmas. We also learned from the elves that work is supposed to be fun and happy. Most importantly however we’ve learned that Santa’s real mission behind bringing toys to boys and girls has always been to teach us about the power of giving. Santa says, he took his instruction from higher authority and has always tried to be a living example of selfless giving for all to follow. At the workshop here we hope to follow Santa’s example of giving and love in everything we do. While never forget our lesson from the elves about fun! So join us in our adventure and help this little elf workshop grow in joyful giving and fun. Shawn, Head Elf Elf Certified Workshop |
Head Elf Shawn*Head Elf of the Elf Certified Workshop* Recipient of Santa's Golden Hammer Award*Elf Apprentice Trainer*Founding Member of 'FREE TOYLAND'* ArchivesCategories
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