Christmas Eve is Here I'm On My Way!

Today is the day! I hope you’re ready for Christmas! I sure am!
I’m up in the air as I write this note, and we’re speeding South at a blinding speed! The elves have fitted this sleigh with all kinds of electronics, and there are hundreds of blinking lights plus these new, glowing instruments on the dashboard! It doesn’t really matter though, it’s ultimately the reindeer who know the route and who I trust to get me where I'm going– all the gizmos in the world can’t beat reindeer intuition and guidance!
It has been such a flurry of activity! I was so forgetful that I had forgotten to kiss Mrs. Claus good-by, and when we took off we had to make a 180 degree turn for a quick landing – I received a nice kiss and hug, plus the elves managed to squeeze an extra thermos of hot chocolate on board. Mrs. Claus told me to be careful - wear my hat and gloves and don't eat to many cookies!
The reindeer really look sharp. There were all carfully groomed and fitted with new harnesses pluse new, silver bells around their necks. These bells are tuned to a perfect, harmonious pitch. You should go outside tonight and see if you can hear the bells...
The Silver Streak sleigh is very bright because it is lined with hundreds of red LED lights – new this year are two 10-million candle power headlights – one green (on the left), one blue (on the right), and with reindeer Rudolph leading the way with his red-glowing-nose we have to be the absolutely most colorful sight streaking across the sky tonight!
With me are Elf Vizz, McPhee, LePhant, Noelstra, Emmup. And of course up front with me is Elf McCandles – she’s in charge of checking off all the deliveries and she’s also carrying the big bag of magic snow crystals. We use this magic snow when we must land on rooftops that don’t have snow.
Please keep me and your families in your prayers, be good and Merry-Christmas everybody!

Getting Santa's Sleigh Ready

I can’t believe all the activity at the Merry Christmas Village! The elfins are moving so fast that they seem to be in a blur and I feel like I’m standing still. This is the best time of the year, however for I can really feel the excitement. I can especially tell from the many letters that children are sending that most everyone is anxious for Christmas! To add to the excitement we’ve been singing a lot of Christmas songs too. Mrs. Claus has chosen the Silver Streak sleigh for toy deliveries this year. The elves are now polishing the skis and putting in the new GPS electronics. Elf Chinn said he will soon start filling the sleigh full of presents. By Christmas Eve he will have double-checked in all the toys. To begin, we’ll move the sleigh into the Village’s Toy Barn. There is a big platform that we set the sleigh on that makes it easier sleigh loading. Plus, it’s nice and warm in here too! I’ve asked the elves to add some of these new bright red-colored LED lights. I understand these lights will really help light up the sky as we’re flying over towns and cities – plus, it will help pilots from all the aircraft we see and pass to know where we are – and where we are heading! You should look for flashing red lights in the sky Christmas Eve night– you never know!

Santa's Sleigh Practice Flights

The elves are beginning to take more and more practice flights with the reindeer. The take-offs and landings are so important because we have to be careful on the roofs of so many homes. Practice is very important! Elf McJenny had loaded the sleigh full of sand bags to simulate the extra weight for when we are loaded up with toys and other wonderful presents on Christmas Eve. Elf McJenny was in the back of the sleigh with Elf Ephem, who was along for the ride as an observer. Pilot Elf Eloise was at the reins steering the reindeer. She took the reindeer quickly up to 10,000 feet and they performed a very sharp banking U-turn. Unfortunately, one of the sandbags came loose during this turn and fell out of the sleigh! Elf McJenny didn’t panic for she signaled to Rudolph and pointed to the falling sandbag, and she also yelled to Elf Eloise what had happened. Rudolph and Eloise immediately put the reindeer and sleigh into a steep dive. They were going extremely fast straight down but they caught up to the falling sandbag, and Elf McJenny was able to reach out and grab it in mid-fall! It was an amazing stunt!
When they landed they realized they had forgotten about Elf Ephem! They found him shaking underneath the seat with a look of terrible fright on his face. This was his first flight in the Merry Christmas sleigh, and I think he’s volunteering to stay on the ground for a while! But for now he sure has a great adventure to talk about!

Merry Christmas Village Penguins

Kids often write and ask me about our resident penguins. I understand children’s curiosity since most penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere. However, the reindeer up here are so friendly that they easily make friends with all animals of the earth. Once the reindeer found out that penguins were experts at tobogganing they knew they had to invite penguin to become residents at the Merry-Christmas village. I’m so happy to have the penguins here – they are so fun to watch! I didn’t realize how fast these penguins could go as they slide down our mountain slopes on their bellies. And when they have races it’s often a penguin that wins.One thing the penguins like to do is change their colors. All penguins have a white underside and a mostly black upperside. But during the Christmas season the penguins will surprise everyone by coloring themselves bright colors such as green and red. Some even put red stripes on their belly so they look like a waddling candy cane – it is so hilarious! What make our penguins really unique are they way they can sing together. They have beautiful singing voices and we look forward to hearing them perform during the many concerts we have at the village

The reindeer treadmill

The reindeer at the Merry Christmas village are very health conscious. I joke with them on how they like to eat candy canes all the time, but I know they like vegetables just as much, especially carrots. They often are at practice as they hone their flying skills (not to mention the very robust air-ball games they play while flying). Yet, on the ground they also have a daily exercise routine that involves all kinds of fun activities. Recently, the elves built a very large treadmill inside reindeer exercise center. The elves installed some large screen televisions so the reindeer could watch their favorite TV programs or DVD movies as they walked on the treadmill. This treadmill was very large and 10 reindeer could easil walk on it together. They asked me to join them in a group exercise on this new treadmill. I was very amazed because the floor of this treadmill is made of real green grass! It’s like walking on a large moving soccer field. Now this is the kind of treadmill I could get used to!

Santa's Christmas Socks

I have to hand it to Mrs. Claus when it comes to her being thrifty. She doesn’t waste anything, and she very diligent about recycling. She just brought me some of the warmest wool socks I’ve ever worn! She knew I’d like them because she and some of the elves made them from remnants of old sweaters that I once had. Elf McDonnegal, who is the fastest knitter around and is also in charge of the Merry Christmas Irish Sweater, Scarves, and Hats shop, broke down these old sweaters and rolled them into several balls of colorful yarn. Elf McDonnegal and some of her helper elves then set out with Mrs. Claus to knit socks as gifts for the reindeer. Fortunately for me, they had enough material left and they made an extra pair of socks for me! I hope I don't wear these down too fast. My feet get cold too often, and these socks are so warm! I think I’ll give McDonnegal some more of my old sweaters and see what she comes up with for a new hat!

Christmas Calendar

In the middle of the Merry Christmas Village square is a raised gigantic floor of very large squares that makes up the official Christmas Calendar. There are 37 squares (31 for each day of December and six more squares to end the Christmas season on January 6th with the Epiphany). Each square is a 10 X 10 foot picture frame for there is a magnificent painting or photograph on top of each. Each day, starting on December 1st, we begin to reveal the images on the squares. They are covered with matching green-colored canvasses, and at the 6 o’clock bell a new square is revealed with a musical ceremony put on by the snowmen. We do this nightly as we countdown to Christmas – and afterwards as the Christmas season continues. Many of pictures come from artists around the world, and this year the elves included an aerial photograph of the Christmas Village they had taken on a practice flight with the reindeer – They had had stamped out the words in the snow that read “Elves Rock!” I think this was a wonderful, creative way to make a picture for our Countdown Calendar.

Christmas Tree Decorations

One tradition at the Merry-Christmas Village is the decorating and lighting of the giant Village Christmas Tree. Every year many of the residents bring in a new ornament that they’ve personally made. Mrs. Claus likes to make edible cookie ornaments (they’re very populular and disappear quickly); the Snowmen make some of the most beautiful ice sculpture ornaments – they really sparkle brightly. The reindeer, with help from the elves, shape out all kinds of animal ornaments (it’s funny how all their ornaments sprout antlers) and the elves themselves try to ‘one-up’ each other and always produce the most intricate ornaments you’ll ever see. Of course, we hang a lot of candy canes from the branches – I think Elf Vizz told me they bring in over 3,000 candy canes to hang – they are tasty too! Thank goodness everyone is so helpful because there are over 250,000 LED lights that get strung up around the trees. There is every colored light you’ve ever seen – plus more! Our tradition is to have all the magical reindeer to come flying over the horizon carrying a very bright star. This star will mount on the top of Ole Blue, the gigantic blue spruce tree in the square. They fly in a slowly, while making a circular pattern. All the village residents join in and sing Silent Night together. The reindeer then line up in front of the tree as Rudolph rises and places the big star on top of Ole Blue. Then everyone is silent for a moment as we contemplate the good things that we have…It’s a great tradition don’t you think?

Santa Tracking with a GPS

All the residents of the Merry-Christmas village voiced their opinion and we’ve narrowed down the choice to either the Golden Flash or the Silver Streak sleigh for delivering gifts this Christmas Eve. It’s been a while since I’ve taken the Silver Streak, but I’ll let Mrs. Claus make the final selection since she does the final inspections with Elf Emmup. The elves tell me that with all the RADAR devices that are scanning the skies that I need to catch up with technology! They’re attaching Global Positioning Systems (GPS) devices on all the sleighs. Plus they’ll be broadcasting what they are calling a blue-red-green“Santa Beacon” This will allow kids around the world to be able to see where we’re at when we’re on out Christmas Eve route! You know, I will still rely on the reindeer for directions – for no matter how fancy and high-tech the electronics nothing beats finding directions than a flying reindeer. They have the unique gift to know exactly where they are, and where they’re going without any electronic gizmos. But, with all these monitors and flashing lights inside the sleigh Elf Emmup said this will be the first Christmas we will be able to check the weather conditions everywhere!

Santa's Baseball Cap

Whenever the elves have free time they like to play games, sing, or play jokes on each other. I seem to be a favorite target of many of their pranks and this morning they got me! I have many hats, but they are all pretty much the same – a stocking cap that is red, fluffy and warm. I like that I can pull hats down to cover my ears. Mrs. Claus won’t let me go outside unless I have my hat! But, for some reason my hat closet was completely bare except for one orange-green-purple striped baseball cap. On the cap’s front logo was the text “Elves Rock!” Next to the cap was a note that read, “Dear Santa, Your hats have been taken to be cleaned, tuned and fluffed – please accept this hat as a temporary replacement.” Best regards - Elf Klaag.
Elf Klaag is in charge of the Village Hats n’ Socks workshop. So, I thought this was very nice of the elves to be thinking about me and that they thought I needed a freshly tuned hat. I gladly donned the cap and headed out to visit some of the workshops.
However, every shop I stepped into I could hear the elves giggling! I know they have seen me before wearing a baseball hat – I’ve worn them for various occasions. Yet, some of the elves were laughing out loud when they looked at me. I knew something was up.
I took the hat off and noticed that the logo had changed! It now read “Santa Has A Monkey Face!” Ho! Ho! Ho!
About every 30 seconds the logo text would change to either a funny picture to one only text that stated something goofy about me!
I’m keeping this hat. I figure that as long at it brings cheer to so many that it’s worth keeping.

Penguins vs. Bears – The Thriller Hockey Game.

There's one thing I really enjoy watching, and that's when teams at the Merry- Christmas Village play sports together. All the competition is friendly, but there are times when you really can sense increasing tensions of "The Game!"
Hockey is very popular because we have ice all year. I don't know of any group in the village that doesn't have a team. This year our resident penguins (The Tux Terminators) were starting to get a little too bold with their "perceived" team hockey skills. I overheard them bragging how they were becoming unbeatable. They were once again leading in the Merry Christmas Village (MCV) League Play. It seemed they were winning almost all of their games The reindeer team (the North Pointers) almost beat them in overtime last week! The snowmen team (Frosty's Fun Flakes) who usually field a group of great players must have been distracted for it was a disaster for them. They lost 6 – 1 . This year, the polar bear team, the UnBearables, were recruiting new players. They brought in two ringers - Bear McChuug and Big Bear Diacomo. Now, these two bears were a team in themselves!.
The penguin team, I must admit, are fast and very accurate with their shots. This is why they score so easily, but when these two teams started playing for the league championship - all bets were off!
Bear Diacomo was playing goalie and with his very large size the penguins on the Tux Terminators couldn’t get a shot in the net. Diacomo just sat there and blocked every shot without moving! He was actually yawning! Bear McChuug had the golden hockey stick in this game. He would take a pass, skate down the ice, and soon discovered that the penguin team goalie, Peng TaDrake, wasn’t tall enough to cover the top of the net. McChuug would simply pop the hockey puck over Peng TaDrake’s head! Afte the first period the bear team was leading 5-0! Then the penguins figured out two things for the second period. First they put extra tall skates on Peng TaDrake so he could stop lobbing of pucks over his head. Secondly, they realized that Bear Diacomo was just crazy about the fresh candy canes we have for free He was constantly licking a candy cane all during the first period. For the second period when one of the penguins had control of the puck another would zip past Bear Diacomo and grab his candy cane. This would make the bear chase after the offending penguin but it opened up the net and the Tux Terminators soon started scoring at will.
By the end of the second period the Tux Terminators were now leading 6-5! It was what Elf Vizz yelled as, “GAME ON!” The penguins were starting to work like a team.
The third period was much different. Bear Diacomo was now using a giant candy cane in place of his hockey stick so the bear team didn’t have to worry about him leaving the net. The penguins still managed one more score when Bear Diacomo laid down to start napping. He was having too much fun eating! Now it was going to have to be a true team effort on both teams to win. After a flurry of skating and missed shots to the net the two teams were tied 7 – 7 with only 30 seconds to go!
Bear McChug then saw something that got him very excited! He started yelling to his teammates to get him puck! When he had control he made a dash right towards Peng DaDrake, the penguin goalie.
Peng DaDrake stood his ground though, and got himself in defensive goalie position – ready for another attempt at a lob over his head.
This time Bear McChug stopped five feet in front of the defending goalie and with his foot he simple nudged the puck UNDER PegDaDrake! Bear McChug had realized that with the extra tall skates that Peng DaDrake was wearing – he had this enormous gap underneath his skates – almost like an open garage!
The end of the game buzzer sounded and the Bear fans cheered loudly! The UnBearables had won the MVC championship! The penguins couldn’t believe they had lost to a bunch of hungry, silly bears!
I can’t wait for the rematch!

The most wonder display from nature

I take a nightly stroll around the Merry Christmas Village square with Mrs. Claus. Sometimes we are joined by members of the village. Often several snowmen, elves or even a some reindeer will join us on our stroll. It's usually very cold so we make sure we bundle up. With all the twinkling lights and the warm glow through the windows of the shops it truly is a fun walk to look forward to. I am so proud of how beautiful it is in the village at night! I think it's good that everyone take time to be outside everyday - even if it is only for a short period just being outside in fresh air is perfect exercise for the mind. If it's a very still night we'll often go past the village up a small snow slope that the snowmen have built (I think they call it the Snowbump Mountain) and look back across the village - a wonderful picture that I'll never tire of. You can often hear groups of elves singing together if it's a very still night.
Last night, we were joined by a large group of elves that had just finished their day in the poinsettia and mistletoe garden - (they're getting ready to uncover the poinsettia display in the Great Hall.) They were very chatty and excited about their upcoming show! In fact they were talking so fast that I couldn't understand a thing they were saying. But just as we arrived at the top of Snowbump Mountain there were dazzling white streaks of light that came across the sky. It was so bright that we thought the sun was back up! And just as fast as it came it was gone. Everyone became quiet immediately and we all just stared into the sky. We had just seen the start of a large meteor display. About 20 seconds later, another streak flew across. And there we stood for almost and hour watching the most wonderful display of nature. I sure you get the chance to see a meteor shower someday!

Can I Sing?

Monique from South Africa sent me a letter recently and asked if I could sing? I'm glad to say that I certainly can! In fact, you will often see me joining in with the elves as we work throughout the day. Elves love to sing because it makes things seem to go faster for them. I like to sing because there isn't anything I can think of to make me feel happier than to belt out a good Christmas carol. It doesn't even have to be a Christmas song either. And if I don't know the words to a song - I make it a point to find the lyrics or ask any elf to help me through a song. I admit I'm not the best singer, but I never can see any reason why anyone wouldn't want to take part in a song. Music is such a universal language, and there are so many kinds of music - that not singing everyday would be impossible for me. My voice is lower than most and I'm always being asked to sing the low, bass part of songs, but that's O.K. Ho! Hooooooo!
What really tickles my soul is when I listen to children's choirs around the world. I look forward to listening to the song "Silent Night" every Merry-Christmas season. It doesn't matter what language is being sung - it still is the most heart warming song.

My Favorite Food? I'm not sure...

I'm often questioned by children around the world of what are my favorites. Whether it is my favorite food, television shows, website, movies, music, color, tree, animal, drink... the list goes on and on of what kids want to know. The most often asked is my favorite food!
I must say that my tastes and preferences change from time to time. Many people will change their view on things, and so do I. I think it is important to try all kinds of foods; listen to all kinds of music; research and learn about all kinds of animals and plants; and if your preferences change, it's O.K.!
At one time my favorite food was potato soup with a cheezy scone. Today, I think I'd rather have a three-cheeze pizza with a extra thick crust and a bowl of grapes. I know I'll never get tired of freshly baked Oatmeal-gumdrop cookies with cup of Hot Chocolate! But then, a bowl of tomato soup with a grilled cheeze can hit the spot too - perhaps with some creamed corn...Mmmmmm.

The Biggest Candy Cane?

I must admit that the Merry Christmas Village elves can be pretty competitive at times. Mrs. Claus and I were at the Candy Cane shop today, and she made a comment on how much bigger the canes seemed to be in one particular basket. In this basket were five canes that were made by Elf Zez. They were about a foot long! Zez was so proud of these canes. He mentioned that he had made them bigger as a special request from the reindeer. Elf McKarr overheard the conversation and about five minutes later she was proudly strolling out from the candy cane kitchen with three canes that were double the size of Zez's! But, Elf Zez wasn't about to be shown up so he immediately called his crew of elves and the competition was on. Ho! Ho! Ho! Elf McKarr started ringing her bell and immediately had ten helper elves stirring pots and firing up the big stoves. Zez started his crew singing happily, for he knows that the happier the crew, the bigger and better the candy canes. Mrs. Claus and I found some comfortable chairs to sit to watch the candy cane competition. Zez would come out with a three foot cane, followed by McKarr with a four-foot cane - then Zez would bring out a five footer - and then McKarr with a six footer. We started piling up some very big canes! The competition was getting out of hand!
Mrs. Claus is very smart and she knew that these elves wouldn't stop until they ran out of sugar and peppermint - so, she raised her hand and stopped everyone for the moment and said, "You know, making the biggest candy cane is easy, and I'm very impressed with these 10-foot high candy canes. It's just, well, for me it's the one who can make the absolute smallest candy cane is the Elf I want to meet!"
For a moment all the elves just stood there wondering what to do next. So I brought Elves Zez and McKarr together and told them they could borrow some of my microscopes and see if they could make a candy cane small enough that the only way to see them is with a 50X maginfication. Both the elves smiled brightly at me and said they wanted us back next week for the judging!

The Christmas Village Tomoniopepps

I was taking a stroll through our big indoor garden today and was watching all the elves tend to the thousands of plants they have growing there. Elf LeNoel waved me over to show me some of her new "Christmas" vegetables. She has been working several years on combining the characteristics of several veggies for her special tomato-onion-green pepper plant, and for the first time she had some big sprouts to pick. She wanted to grow this combination because the colors of these three vegetables reminded her so much of a Merry Christmas. These plants were growing what she called Tomoniopepps (Toe-Mo-Nee-Yo-Peps). I helped Elf LeNoel pick some of these new veggies and put them in a big basket for Mrs. Claus. What is special about these tomoniopepps is that they are striped Red-White-Green. This is a perfect Christmas vegetable! When we showed this new veggie in the Elf Kitchen it drew a lot of interest. Elf Noel suggested that Elf Bing (one of our top bakers) to cut some up and put them on a pizza! MMMMMmmm. My mouth was watering just thinking of the new Tomoniopepp Pizza! I must tell you that this pizza was a hit at the Merry Christmas village! In fact, Elf Bing was overwhelmed with requests for more pizza with Elf LeNoels special veggie. She's now busy collecting seeds to grow a new batch - she says it will take about three months - but it will be worth the wait!

Sillier Than Silly Skits

Many years ago Mrs. Claus decided to start a weekly Merry-Christmas Village activity of what she calls the ‘Random-Let’s-All-Be-Silly-Time’. Everyone here looks forward to this event. She first goes over to the Christmas Village Chapel and asks the musical elves to ring all the church bells from the smallest the to biggest – there’s 88 bells in the steeple, so when they start ringing and chiming it gets everyone’s attention. This is the signal to stop what we are doing and gather in the village square. Mrs. Claus calls out random names and this group gets to put on what the elves call “The Sillier Than Silly Skits.” Today, the elves and reindeer put on a tap dancing contest. Elf J.Kelly – our best dancer would tap dance a pattern, then the reindeer would try to copy her dance motions. The harder the dance step, the funnier the reindeer looked! Pretty soon everyone was trying their hand at these tap dance moves. It was so funny! Then, as always, Mrs. Claus brings out a fresh batch of cookies and candy canes. This is the perfect way to break up the week – don’t you think?

The Fast Moving Elves

December is almost here! And there is so much to do as we prepare for a Merry Christmas. It seems that time goes so fast, doesn’t it? Right now all the workshops are buzzing with activity, and the elves are really making some great toys! This year the bell-forge and castings shop made some special bells that they call their Duo-Tings. When you shake these bells they ring with two distinct notes. Plus, the faster you shake the bells the more melodious the ringing. Elf Vizz really was having fun with these bells! In fact he and the reindeer can’t seem to stop playing with these bells. I wish I could work as fast as the elves. Golly, I hope I’m not slowing down. Some elves go so fast that I can hardly see their arms and hands move – plus they’re all singing together as they work. It is such a wonderful site to see and hear. I enjoy singing with everyone.

The Merry Christmas Village Parades

There's one thing that the Merry-Christmas Village community loves to do and that's put on parades. At least once a month there's a parade that anyone at the village can participate in. Of course, the Grand December Christmas parade is always the biggest, but we get some pretty fun parades in the other months. We just had a November to Remember parade - and the theme was The blue, bahloo. The idea was to have a colorful wind-blown displays travel down the village square. The elves were challenged to put sails on their sleds and toboggans, tie them together and attach blue-colored lights and blue streamers. To make it more fun, the snowmen erected giant wind fans to create very strong wind drafts. Sure enough, the lighted toboggans and sleds came skidding along, and the elves got pretty good at navigating with their attached sails. I really enjoyed the procession of elves humming with their musical kazoos and riding their blue sleds just like they were skiing on water. With the blinking blue lights they shaped themselves into a giant Christmas tree and breezed through the square. It was a fun sight to see!

The Songs of Christmas

I can't say enough about the many ways Christmas Carols are sung and performed. There are so many talented musical artists that it warms my soul to know so many people enjoy Christmas music as much as I do. One of my favorite songs during the Christmas Season is "Carol of the Bells." I've heard so many wonderful versions of this tune that I always look forward to hearing the many different arrangements each year. The way some people can play this song on different instruments makes me realize that music is so important around the world. The many choral groups that can sing this song perfectly really tickles me too!
I like to sing. I hope you do too! The elves are great at singing! As you know, they are a very musical people. And I'm glad they often ask me to join them. They make up their own songs every now and then. There is one song they play with each year they call the "We Can't Remember September" Song. Each day in September they will add a new verse to this made up song. The challenge is to remember the 30 verses of the song! It is such fun!
You know, I just couldn't imagine going a day without singing some kind of song! How about you?

The Northern Lights

I often receive letters from kids wanting to know if we often see the Northern Lights? Of course, being on top of the world we see them all the time! The Merry-Christmas Village wouldn't be the same if we didn't have these wonderful sky lights to watch. There are a lot of reds and greens, and blue streaks in the sky when these sky lights get active. When the sky is twinkling very brightly from these auroras we will often stop everything we're doing, get some hot chocolate and take our chairs outside to enjoy nature's show! The elves say they can actually hear these northern lights! They claim that to most elves it sounds like a very soft harp being strummed. I wish I could hear as well as the elves! What is so spectacular about these northern lights is the way that they can dance in the sky. I enjoy these dancing lights, and I thank my lucky stars to be able to watch them so clearly! I think everyone should take time out to watch the wonderful shows of nature - and it doesn't have to be northern lights either. I've watched wonderful wind patterns on snow fields, and magnificent wind drawings while gazing across large crops of golden wheat fields that are planted around the globe. What kind of nature's show do you like?

My favorite breakfast?

I just received a letter from a child in Australia that wanted to know what I like to eat for breakfast. You know, I never really gave it much thought but I immediately wrote her back and listed several foods that I'm fond of. I wrote that I like to try just about anything. A bowl of cereal with some milk and perhaps a slice of fruit often works just fine. Sometimes, a stack of buttermilk pancakes and some hot chocolate really fills the bill. I like to make pancakes myself, it entertains the elves when I do my artful quadruple pancake flip! - I am so lucky here at the Merry Christmas village because we get elves from all over the world, and they bring in all kinds of foods to share. However, one of my most favorite breakfasts is a serving of apple-cinnamon oatmeal with fresh blueberries mixed in! MMMMmmmm! Add a glass of milk, perhaps a half of a wheat bagel with strawberry jam and I'm set! But, what I think is really important is that we should all try different foods. Often, when I'm visiting China I'll get a warm bowl of congee which is a watery rice gruel that's a lot like porridge. It is really tasty! I've even had this wonderful food in Egypt made with fava beans - you spread this mixture of fava bean, tomato, onion and all kinds of spices and put it on pita bread just like you would with butter. Ho! Ho! Hmmmm!

A positive way to help a friend

Have you ever been sad and didn't know why? Have you ever talked to a close friend that had a forced smile? On the outside your friend may have appeared happy, but as you talked you realized your friend was sad about something. What did you do? If you are like most of the friendly children I meet, you tried to help your friend, right? You wanted to know why there was sadness - and hopefully you asked how you could help and did something to cheer up your friend. When I talk to children around the world that may appear unhappy, I find that the best way to cheer them up is to simply listen! Yes, I like to laugh out loud, and I can talk up a storm - but what Mrs. Claus always reminds me of is that I have two ears and one mouth, and "Santa! Use them wisely!"
Listening is sometimes the hardest thing a person can do. But, if you really want to help a friend in need it is very important to first listen before you act. And, I don't mean just hearing the words. It's listening and thinking about what your friends are saying. So too will having a friendly face to talk to when you may be unhappy. Having a friend to talk to and keeping a positive attitude about any issue or problem can often overcome just about anything. Of course having a treat every now and then doesn't hurt either!

Sand sculpting

At the Merry-Christmas village we have a lot of creative elves that love to make all kinds of artwork. This week Elf Aklak took one of the Christmas sleighs down to the ocean shores of Australia and New Zealand and collected about 16 tons of sand. Elf Aklak said it took her almost a full day for her and ten other elves to sift through the sand. I think they they might have enjoyed some ocean surfing while they were away...some of the elves had sunburns! I'm sure Mrs. Clause will remind them about wearing sunscreen!
What they are doing is preparing for a Merry Christmas Village sand sculpture contest. They thought they'd be different this year and have some fun with sand! I told Elf Aklak that this was a great idea! She did mention they will still make ice sculptures but wanted to try their creative sculpture skills with sand. They asked me for a theme for the contest. I gave it some thought and I know how Mrs. Claus likes flowers, so that's the theme that I suggested. The elves in the contest thought this would be fun and started packing the sand right away. The contest begins next week so we'll wait and see what they come up with!

Gic-Duck-Bah or GCC DC BAA

I'm watching the elves polish the runners on one of the Silver Streak Christmas Sleigh. This is a fine sleigh that has silver on all the edges. For this year I'm thinking I might take this one on Christmas Eve. When it's all polished it really sparkles brightly in the moonlight. Elf Vizz was working with Elf LePhant tuning the silver bells on the front of the sleigh when they had this idea to make the bells ring in sequence so that it would play a melody. Vizz kept repeated this strange new word "Gic-duck-bah" over and over as he was arranging the bells. It was so funny! He kept saying Gicduckbah! Gicduckbah! Soon all 20 of the elves started chanting, "Gic-Duck-Bah! Gic-Duck-Bah!" They started giggling and laughing so much that they started dancing around. So, I finally asked Vizz and LePhant what in the world was a Gig-Duck-BAH! They just stared a me in a funny elfish sort of way, and all the elves started laughing loudly. Vizz stopped laughing enough to tell me that he was just trying to remember the notes for the famous melody "We Wish You A Merry-Christmas!" In music notes this translates to G-C-C, D-C, B-A-A... and the only way he could remember the notes was to repeat this made-up word! Ho! Ho! Ho! - So, I guess when you see me this Christmas I just might say, GIC DUCK BAH to you!

Luminaries Everywhere

The elves have been experimenting with the Christmas Village luminaries. Our luminary chief, Elf McMurry, convinced the elves in the candle shop to make a special layered, fruit scented candle! Elf McMurry designed the candles to start by burning with a banana-pecan scent for the top third of the candle, then burn down to an apple-cinnamon scent, and then finish with with a baked chocolate chip cookie scent. MMMMMmmmmm. I must say the Merry Christmas Village never smelled so good before!. These candles are wonderful! The only problem was that these wonderful scents made everyone hungry! Ho! Ho! Ho!
McMurry then asked the snowmen to have some fun with these luminaries by placing the candles 50 of the snowmen's heads. They then were directed in a long procession out to the great ice skating rink! All the village lights were turned off and we watched a great procession of the scented luminaries! The only lights came from the candle as the snowmen finished their impromptu show with a double-inverted figure eight pattern. The snowmen then put the luminaries back along the street of the Christmas Village square. I think every family should try a luminary display along their street. Don't you?

Christmas Bells

There was a very familiar sound today! Elf LePhant was tuning and shining Christmas bells that attach to one of our Christmas sleighs. We call this one the Golden Flash! LePhant said he was going to put over 1,250 new bells on each sleigh this year. That's nearly 8,000 new bells LePhant needs to sew! That's a lot of bells! There are five sleighs in the big red sleigh barn, plus the elves have plans to build another one soon. This is the time of year that they bring out the sleighs and polish everything. We'll decide soon which one to use for Christmas. I just love the sound of these bells. They're so wonderful to hear! The bells are so shiny and bright. LePhant is using a fine golden needle and silver thread to sew each bell to the soft red silk that lines the sleigh. LePhant is very musical, and he knows how to use his magical peen hammer to tap and tune each individual bell. These bells are made from metals from all over the world too. Each bell has a unique perfectly pitched sound. Our musical bell shop starts to get very busy in the next few weeks as the elves start hand making thousands and thousands of bells. I think everyone should have their own set of bells for Christmas.

Elf Vizz's Gravity Shoes

I have to hand it to Elf Vizz . He's interesting because he really is a creative one! We can always depend on Vizz for some of the wildest ideas on just about anything. He is an inventor and he likes to make some of the whackiest toys you've ever seen. Today, he called me over to the Merry Christmas Village Toy Testing Shop for he was so excited about his wall-walking anti-gravity boots. He wanted to give everyone a demonstration. Sure enough, when I entered the shop all the elves were standing around pointing to the ceiling, and there was Elf Vizz stuck upside down wearing his new anti-gravity boots. Only this time Elf Vizz had a look of panic on his face. He wasn't moving, but I know Vizz and he's too proud to ask for help. I suggested to Vizz that I could ask reindeer Dancer to come in here, fly up, and help him down. He said he would not have anything to do with that. He's a stubborn, old elf!
I noticed that there was an extra pair of his anti-gravity boots on the floor so I asked Elf Camada to tie a rope around one of these magical boots. He then stood under Vizz and turned on the boot. Sure enough, the boot shot straight up to the ceiling with the rope. It too was stuck tight to the ceiling. Fortunately, this allowed Vizz to undo his boot straps and climb back down the rope. But, for now we have to live with three boots stuck on the ceiling of the Toy Testing Shop! The elves are joking that Vizz now needs to make a anti-anti-boot attachment! Ho! Ho! Ho!

The Merry-Christmas Village Trees

Many people throughout the world think we don't have any trees up here at the Christmas Village. But that's not true! What most people don't realize is that there are trees from every part of the world here! Since we visit every continent each Christmas, and our world travels takes us to exotic places we naturally pick up items to bring back. And it gives the elves something fun to do by bringing back tree saplings and designing their own forests. Just like children, it is so fun to watch these trees grow! Trees are very important to us. Of course, we have all kinds of pine trees, for that's a given for Christmas. I really appreciate the fresh almost magical smell of these pines. But, we also have Ginko trees from Asia, River Red Gums from Australia, Wattle trees from Africa - you name it, and we have trees galore. I like to walk amongst the trees. When the wind blows all the trees talk in whispers to me. And I talk back! Plus, the elves and snowmen just have a blast decorating trees every year. In fact, almost every day of the year there's a different tree with lighted decorations. I guess I'll never get tired of our trees!

The Santa Library

I stopped by Santa's Village Library today to catch up on my newspaper and magazine reading. I make it a point to visit here often. I just love to read. There are so many great articles with all kinds of news, not to mention the many crossword puzzles to challenge my mind! Ho! Ho! Ho! I noticed a row of new computers in the big blue electronics room. Each one was a different color! The reds ones were sparkling brightly! Our head librarian, Elf McGenny, who is always joking with me, showed me how these computers were connected so the elves could play team games on-line. Plus, they were all internet connected. Very amazing! I think I'll like visiting here more often.