Christmas Family Traditions

Every Christmas Eve since my oldest child was 4, I visited our home as Santa. I'll be posting a video tribute to that event soon, so keep watching. I won't be doing that this year for the first time because my youngest two are about 99% certain it's me. I never seem to be around when Santa visits. They also discovered my tattered, worn out Santa suit....wouldn't have made it beyond this year anyway. That's OK, I have something else planned so please don't tell my kids. Shhhh!

We also like to go to the church plays. One in particular is done every other year by a small country church near our home. The entire church membership participates in an outdoor play of Jesus' birth, with the guests walking from scene to scene through the woods. It ALWAYS turns cold the week of that play...which makes the hot chocolate and desserts afterwards by the church fireplace a kid favorite.

What family traditions do you have for Christmas?

Christmas Lights Video

This is an actual house, with the lights choreographed to Amazing Grace with a techno twist. Created by Richard Holdman, with 45,000 lights and 176 channels of computer control.

Amazing Grace Techno - Computer Controlled Christmas Lights from Richard Holdman on Vimeo.

Printable Christmas Story Poem – Twas the Night of Jesus’ Birth

Printable Christmas Story Poem – Twas the Night of Jesus’ Birth

Came across this cute rewrite of the poem "Twas the Night before Christmas," written by Felicia Mollohan at the Ministry to Children blog. It's a printable story about Jesus' birth that can be read aloud and shared with children. This is putting the Christ into Christmas.

5 Slideshow Mistakes

If you want your friends and family to look at your show more than once, here's some things you might want to avoid:

1. Using too many transitions: Sure you want it to look cool... Using transitions will help tell the story. But don't drown out the message with too many. Instead, use 2-3 per song.

2. Using poor quality photos: if the photo is blurry or the lighting too dark, guess what? We will have to look extra close to see what's being displayed. That's too much work for someone who just wants to kick back and enjoy the story you are trying to tell.

3. Displaying photos too long: about 3 seconds is what you want to display before moving on to the next photo. If that's not enough time, they may likely want to see it again. There are times to display photos longer and shorter, and we will cover these in a future post.

4. Using the wrong music: this will make or break a slideshow. Think about the story you want to convey and let the music take the audience through the different moods.

5. Making the slideshow go on and on: let's face it, a 1 hour show probably won't cut it. There's only so much you can tell through an abstract presentation. If you are going to post to facebook about your household, keep it just a few minutes. You can do several of these short vignettes using different themes if you want.

One fun thing to try is to collaborate with friends and family in making a slideshow. The easiest way to do this is to create a show where everyone can add stuff just by logging into an account. You can try this with your family and friends at the Memories Alive site.

Hope these tips are helpful.

Creating a Slideshow...and Everyone Gets to Help?

We received a number of comments wondering how the slideshow sharing feature works. Here's the Step by Step instructions.

1. The first step is to login or create an account (Name, Email, Password).

2. Next, add your photos, videos, and music & edit the slideshow. A timeline will show, which looks a lot like Windows Movie Maker. The upload screen will look like this:

3. After adding your media and editing the show (transitions, etc), you must Save it. This is important as you may lose the changes if you don't.

Now Comes the Fun Part!

4. Click the Email Slideshow button to send a copy to your friends or family, inviting them to add their photos and videos and music. You will be asked to give your name, their name, and their email address. This will be used to personalize the email we send to them on your behalf. The email they receive will look something like this:

5. When they edit the copy and Save, this becomes their original to send to whomever they want. They can send a copy back to you for further editing, or email to whomever they want....just like you did.

6. When you are satisfied with all the edits: 1) Email it to everyone; 2) Bookmark it; AND 3) Post to your favorite social sites....FREE! Just click on the relevant links.

For those who sign on as Fans of Memories Alive, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Memories-Alive/31666044473, we will do something fun and make a slideshow together. Real Soon!

Make Yours and Share NOW!

My Lost Blackberry

It happened just like this:

For lunch yesterday I decided to brave the elements and go out. Had a craving for Sushi which meant I would have to do some walking in the rain/wind storm. And it was during the walk that Mr. Blackberry and I became separated.

For several days now it has rained here in Virginia.

This is a combination of the remnants of hurricane Ida

and a passing Nor'easter.

I made it to the restaurant OK, although a little wet and cold from the driving rain. Lunch was great. I even managed to tweet about the experience while there. It was after lunch that I lost my blackberry.

While crossing a busy intersection, a gust of wind blew the raincoat around my head. I became significantly disoriented...and Yes, it wrapped around my head. I managed to get it off and hastily exited the intersection towards the nearest shelter. After composing myself, I realized my phone was missing from the holster.

Back out in the wind and rain I go, retracing my steps. And guess where I found it? In the middle of the intersection where I was attacked by the raincoat. Sitting in a pool of water. And that's not all. It had also been struck one or more times by a passing vehicle...as evidenced by the many new scars.

POOR Blackberry. RIP!

The Grandma Tree

9/11 will forever be... remembered as one of the saddest days in American history. Exactly 3 years after that tragedy was another sad day for my family. It was the day my mom was diagnosed with a recurrence of cancer. She fought valiantly, but succumbed to the disease exactly 13 months later on October 11.

At the funeral, mom had 5 pallbearers – her sons. My brothers and I had decided that since she carried us into this world, we were going to carry her out. She lived a hard life here on earth. At age 59, God said she had suffered enough and that it was time to come home. Knowing this gave us much peace, as we shouldered the responsibilty of taking our mother to a better place.

When I returned to the office, some friends gave me a tree to remember her. My kids called it the Grandma Tree and we decided to plant it in a special place in our backyard. Well, my skills as a gardener are at the same level as Roundup, so it was no surprise that the tree didn't grow much over the next few years.

Then one day my kids noticed that Grandma Tree had these beautiful purple and white flowers. A couple of days later, I was mowing the yard and stopped to reflect as I looked at the flowers which were now growing prolifically on Grandma Tree. At that very moment, I realized the significance of this event. The day my family first noticed the blooms was October 11, exactly three years after she died.

I love you mom.

A Valentine's Tale

Puppy Love. At least that's what it was called when it afflicted me....several times as I recall. I'm glad I no longer suffer from the condition. It had the power to make you do strange things.

I recollect one such instance when I was “overwhelmed” by a particular girl at school. Don't remember her name, or whether we were in middle or high school, or whether we even attended the same school.

Nevertheless, Puppy Love had infected my soul. So much so (I think), that I wanted to do something special for her. Something unique.

After much thought, I decided to what all jocks do (lol) and write a poem. That I did (with great pain I might add), as writing was not my forte in school. The completed masterpiece was given the title, Love is Time Not Lost.

After you've had a chance to compose yourself, please know that I am 100% certain about the title. Love is Time Not Lost. After all, it was the only poem I ever wrote. I kept a copy for myself and even re-read it several times over the years.

I don't remember how she reacted when I gave her the poem, although I'm sure it was a good experience. As is the case with many of my memories, the poem is now lost. Other than the title, the only recollection I have of the composition is that it was deep. Either I pulled it from way down in my soul or it was piled high :-)

Regardless, I'm sure I could reconstruct some of the poem if only I could remember the first few lines.

So, on this Valentine's Day occasion, could you help by telling me what you think those first few lines might have been?

My Worst Fears

The headaches wouldn't stop, and I couldn't help thinking the worst had come. After all, both my parents had died at a young age from chronic conditions. As many people do when faced with seemingly dire conditions, I put off a visit to the physician.

My oldest daughter and I were driving home from swim practice one day when it happened. She was texting on her cell phone like she always did and asked me to look at a photo someone had sent. It was a pic of a tornado. I glanced at the photo when we reached the next red light. “Nice”, I said, even though I couldn't see it. I realized then that my headaches and recently acquired poor eyesight must somehow be related. Yes, my fears were now confirmed.

That evening, my daughter showed her mother the photos. Excited, she called me over to look at them as well. I declined, describing the events earlier that day. “Have you had vision problems recently”, she asked in a tone that told me we were about to enter into a nurse/patient relationship. “Well.... Yes”, I replied, recounting how I could no longer read the fine print on sales papers. She gave me a pair of glasses and asked me to read some small print with them on. “O my God”, I could see the print perfectly.

A few days later, an optometrist confirmed my diagnosis and prescribed a pair of reading glasses.

I love my glasses, they make me look smart.