A Christmas Eve Tradition Reborn!

Christmas is a time of traditions and memories. Some are too special to allow to fade… Every Christmas Eve I would climb on my dads lap along with my siblings and our dad would read us the The Night Before Christmas. It was a wonderful tradition that we continued even until grown adults were crowding onto his lap. When I finally became a father myself one of the things I was eager to do was start my own family traditions. Last Christmas my dad surprised me by giving me the very book he read the story from during my childhood! We both took turns reading to my son, but not until after my dad read us a poem he wrote as he passed this tradition down to his oldest son: ‘Twas Our Night Before Christmas Every night before Christmas In th’ young Bastian hom Eager children were restless: “Dad Santa” would roam. It was mostly our secret To play Santa’s game; But we knew it was Jesus Who down to earth came. For the kids, it’s a mixture Of shepherds and elves, Of both chimney and manger, And toys for their shelves. So now I, without nightcap, Would sit in…

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12 Days of Christmas ToyBox Tales WINNER! #12

Well, the depression is setting in… Christmas is nearly over. But at least ONE VISITOR to my blog will still be getting another Christmas Present! THAT’S RIGHT! I still have to give away the GRAND PRIZE for the 12 Days of Christmas ToyBox Tales! In fact, your 12th Christmas ToyBox Tale is one I JUST MADE TEN MINUTES AGO and is converting to flash as I type this! In this final Christmas ToyBox Tale the WINNER WILL BE REVEALED! So to win, you have to watch the video! There were 41 entries into the contest, and have no fear, the winner was chosen by Random, as you will see “LIVE” in the video. (Well, live during filming anyway!) So… WHO WON?? Watch and Find Out! CONGRATS TO THE WINNER! And what is the prize? It is the set used in Swine Control, but brand new in the box and includes three action figures! WOW, what a prize! I hope everyone who watched had a Wonderful and Merry Christmas this year! There are some new things planned for ToyBoxTales.com in 2008… so stay tuned!

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Home School Families – Scary?

Over the years we’ve known a lot of home school families… and may be one ourselves one day soon. (Not making that decision until the time comes. We see many of the advantages and disadvantages – so it will come down to what is best for Luke when that time comes.) Anyway, I came across this video, and just had to post it here. Before any home schooler is offended, please know it was made by a home school dad and is just for fun! It does a good job of pointing out many of the stereotypes of home school families. [flv]http://media.kidology.org/flash/kblog/homeschool-families-450×338.flv[/flv] It is from www.timhawkins.net and there are some other funny videos there as well!  ENJOY!

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12 Days of Christmas Toybox Tales! #11

WHAT IS THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS TOYBOX TALES? Read the Introduction! Well, we are coming to the end of our 12 Days of Christmas! TOMORROW THE WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED RIGHT HERE ON THE SITE… someone will have a Very Merry Christmas with a special gift from me and toyboxtales.com! WHO WILL IT BE? TODAY is your LAST CHANCE to post a comment or post to be entered! So, what are you waiting for?? HERE IS YOUR ELEVENTH CHRISTMAS TALE: A ToyBox Tale Christmas This was a fun tale to make. My entire K.C. Krew helped write it and did the acting, er, voicing of the characters. The angel, which caused the most controversy (not too bad) was done by the senior pastor’s son, so that helped. But overall the kids did a great job! And since this was made in my pre-Mac days, I need to give credit to Jim Crouter, the youth pastor at my previous church who did all the editing, music and title screens for me. It turned out fantastic! ENJOY! From The ToyBox Tales Christmas DVD. TOMORROW: The 12 Days of Christmas Toybox Tales… WINNER! LAST CHANCE TO BLOG or COMMENT and WIN! BLOG…

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FREE Simple-ology Blogging Course

Hello my fellow bloggers. As one of the first bloggers on the net (before there even were blogs), I have posted my own advice for bloggers in the past. Well, fellow blogger Todd McKeever tipped me off to a free online course on blogging from the folks at Simple-ology, but for it to be free, you have to paste some code on your site. So here is my required posting: I’m evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they’re letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.It covers: The best blogging techniques. How to get traffic to your blog. How to turn your blog into money. I’ll let you know what I think once I’ve had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it’s still free. I apologize for some of the language on the site linked above. (Here on Kidologist.com we would prefer to say “kick bumbee” for something really really good.) But I will let you know in an update what I think of the course – whether it truly kicks bumbee, or kicks the can.UPDATE: I never could get past…

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