A great idea for the holidays is to set aside a special box or basket containing your family’s special Christmas or other holiday books. The Holiday Book Box only comes out during the Advent season, and is put away again with the decorations after the first of the year.
THE ADVENT BOOK BOX
This list of Favorite Christmas Books was compiled following a discussion between a group of mothers looking for “twaddle-free” holiday reading for their families.
A Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens
Becky’s Christmas
by Tasha Tudor
(The) Best Christmas Pageant Ever!
by Barbara Robinson
Christmas at Long Pond
by William T. George
(The) Christmas Box
by Richard Paul Evans

(The) Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey
by Susan Wojciechowski
(The) Christmas Stories of George MacDonald
by George MacDonald (out of print)
(The) Christmas Tree
by Julie Salamon
(The) Crippled Lamb
by Max Lucado
(The) Donkey’s Dream
by Barbara Helen Berger
(The) First Christmas
by Marcia Williams (out of print)
(The) Glorious Impossible
by Madeleine L’Engle
Martin Luther’s Christmas Book
by Martin Luther
(The) Night Before Christmas
by Clement Moore, illustrated by Jan Brett
A Northern Nativity: Christmas Dreams of a Pairie Boy
by William Kurelek
One Wintry Night
by Ruth Bell Graham
Rembrandt: The Christmas Story
Seven Stories of Christmas Love
by Leo F. Buscaglia
(The) Story of Christmas: Words from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke
illustrated by Jane Ray
Tale of Three Trees
by Angela Elwell Hunt
This is the Star
by Joyce Dunbar
OTHER HOLIDAY-RELATED BOOKS
Unplug the Christmas Machine, by Jo Robinson
Don’t wait until Christmas to read this book! The earlier you start thinking about the holidays, the easier it will be to make any necessary changes in your celebrations.
Debt Proof Your Holidays, by Mary Hunt
Whether you’re just looking for further frugal ideas for the upcoming holiday season, or you’re truly dreading another after-holidays debt hang-over, this book will be beneficial.
Frozen Assets: How to Cook for a Day and Eat for a Month, by Deborah Taylor-Hough
Less time in the kitchen means more time for activities you really enjoy. This book will show you a step-by-step plan to simplify and revolutionize the way you cook. Save time; save money; save your sanity! Contains a special Ten Day Holiday Meal Plan — perfect for simplifying your holiday meal preparation.
Simplify Your Christmas, by Elaine St James
Simple ideas for taking the complexity out of the holidays.
Hundred Dollar Holiday, by Bill McKibben
“What we need and long for now are the gifts of time, meaningful family connections, periods of silence, a relationship with the divine,” McKibben writes.
~Debi
At the end of November, the United States celebrates Thanksgiving Day. One of our family traditions for this particular holiday is making a Thanksgiving Tree. People tell me every year that they like this particular idea so much, I repeat sharing it (sorry if it’s a repeat for you!).
And what would holidays be like without a few special treats?
And for another treat, make some baked pumpkin seeds (you can also do this with acorn squash seeds). After all the pumpkin carving or pie making, don’t throw out the seeds. Separate the seeds from the stringy pulp (don’t rinse or remove every last bit of the pulp — the pulp adds flavor). Place the seeds on a cookie sheet, stir in about 1/4 cup of melted butter, sprinkle with a small amount of salt and then bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes until lightly browned. Enjoy!
When my email newsletter, Simple Times, was switched to a new server last year, I lost all the back issues and the online archives. Trying to make sure I have a back-up archive in place this time, I just finished uploading the past year’s worth of Simple Times’ issues to a 

Leaf Prints:
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