For children and adults alike, family traditions bring joy and warmth to the holiday season. From picking out lights to putting the Lionel train around the tree, decorating for the holidays provides a wealth of opportunities and children activities to integrate new and contemporary touches to established traditions.

Traditions can be inherited, created as new or even made as a combination of both. Evette Rios, Lifestyle Expert, Designer and Stylist, offers the following tips for mixing the old and new to make your holidays even more memorable:

Infuse your family history into the Christmas Tree: View the tree as a blank canvas and go through old family photos and keepsakes to find decorations. A favorite family photo can be made into an ornament. Even your baby rattle or first pair of shoes can find a home on the Christmas tree.

Bring out vintage favorites to create new memories: For example, model trains are a classic element around a Christmas Tree. Holidays evoke nostalgic feelings so pull out your family’s Lionel Trains and bring multiple generations of families together to set it up around the tree. Help the younger members of your family pick out a new car to add to the set or even decorate their own. Lionel Trains have been shaping family memories for over 100 years and adding a car to the train each Christmas can strengthen a wonderful family tradition this holiday season.

Make the gift wrapping meaningful with new gift wrapping traditions: The act of opening presents can create as many memories as the present itself. While wrapping presents can be as difficult as finding the perfect present, a little creativity can make gift wrapping a fun and meaningful experience:
Adorn your gifts with little packs of seeds. Giving someone you love something new to grow in the New Year is a green and a symbolic gift.

Make gift tags out of the large Christmas lights - just use the bulb and write on it with a permanent marker and use wire to attach it to the gift. You can use the colorful, but burned out ones, instead of tossing them in the trash.

Get the kids involved in wrapping! Have your kids draw on scrap paper to make their own wrapping paper. Friends and family will love seeing your kids’ masterpieces.

Source Carsten’s Publications

Pacific Shore Holdings, Inc., manufacturers of Burner Balm and Energy-X lip balms, today announced the launch of their new product line which can aid in child care.

These 100% natural therapeutic heating/cooling treatment packs are specifically designed to reduce swelling and relieve pain and have been developed in a variety of applications.

Researchers behind Thermal-Aid created a line of products, which allows a specialized corn to hold temperatures for long periods of time, making a more effective product for both humans and pets. Thermal-Aid is recommended by doctors and physical therapists across the United States.
“These low cost Thermal-Aid products are truly extraordinary and have given many of my patients the ability to reduce and sometimes eliminate taking their expensive arthritis and pain-killer medications,” said Dr. David Toomey of Toomey & Toomey medical group.

In conjunction with the Thermal-Aid launch announcement, company representatives from Pacific Shore Holdings, Inc. will be giving out warm Thermal-Aid Bears to children attending a holiday party at the North Hills transitional housing facility operated by Penny Lane. Since 1969, Penny Lane’s mission has been to empower children, youth, and families in Southern California by providing a wide range of essential programs including residential services, foster care, adoption services, an on-site special education school, and outpatient mental health services.

“We are very honored and proud to support the hard work and dedication by so many individuals that make Penny Lane the cornerstone of non-profit organizations in Los Angeles today,” said Matthew Mills, CEO of Pacific Shore Holdings Inc. “We feel it’s our duty to support the children in our community who are in need during the holidays.”

Thermal-Aid Bear can be found at all 98 California-based Ralph’s Grocery Store pharmacies.
Pacific Shore Holdings, Inc., a multidivisional corporation, strives to fulfill consumer demands by manufacturing and distributing low cost niche products that are green, clean, and safe.

SOURCE Pacific Shore Holdings, Inc.

Since November 19, World Vision and thousands of people around the world have been traveling the globe in search of the Christmas spirit as part of the Christian humanitarian agency’s “Spirit of Christmas” tour. The month-long tour features interviews and stories with children and families in the United States, Ecuador, Cambodia, Zambia and Ethiopia. In the past two weeks, World Vision’s team has been highlighting both the heartbreaking circumstances of the poor and the inspiring impact even small donations of a few dollars can make in helping families provide for child education.

“So far, we’ve traveled from the neighborhoods of New York City to the mountains of Ecuador to see if we can find the ‘true spirit of Christmas’ around the world,” said Devin Hermanson, campaign manager for World Vision’s “Spirit of Christmas” tour. “In a year full of financial scandals, war, natural disasters, and a global recession, we all need a little encouragement. What we’ve found so far is that people around the world are still helping their neighbor in need.”

The team has traveled to New York City and Quito, Ecuador. The team left Ecuador on Saturday, November 28 and traveled to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. There the team will learn first-hand about the sex trafficking industry and meet several young children who have been rescued from sexual slavery and are rebuilding their lives. About 2 million children - most of them girls - are enslaved in the global sex trade today.

SOURCE World Vision U.S.

Santa Claus is coming to the annual “L. Ron Hubbard’s Winter Wonderland” this Sunday at 8:00 PM directly following the Hollywood Christmas Parade to give away gifts to hundreds of underprivileged Southern California children and teens.

Santa’s gifts and children activities will include Disney Studios’ movie DVDs, Stories from the Golden Age print and audiobooks by L. Ron Hubbard, and presents donated by Southern California businesses.

The invited children and teens (ages 6-19) come from local youth shelters and programs for underprivileged youth.

“We wanted to make this evening a very special one for these young people, so several of us (area businesses) decided to contribute gifts for those who might not otherwise receive any,” said Tony Dinges, president of LTD Enterprises, one of the event’s sponsors.

Other event sponsors include Audiology & Associates, Color West Printing/Packaging, Inc., Distribution Video & Audio, Hirschey & Associates, Pasadena Family Dental Center, Stevedores Physical Rehabilitation and the Wellness Support Network.

For more information on the event or how you can participate, contact John Goodwin at jgoodwin@galaxypress.com or call 323-321-2144.

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SOURCE Hollywood Christmas Parade

A survey of over 1,000 people across the UK and Ireland has revealed that people, children specifically, have not lost the Christmas spirit, despite the recession.Expect the holiday children activities and festive celebrations to continue.

With more than half of adults saying that this Christmas is set to be just as good as any other, the festive spirit is, clearly, still very much alive.

64 percent of adults who took part in the survey said that Christmas 2009 will not be different to any other year.

The poll crushes any fears that Britain will have a gloomy time this winter, amid the economic recovery.

Youngsters are set to have a merry Christmas too as only 2 percent of adults admit that they will be cutting spending on their children this year. The survey also revealed that most people are looking forward to spending some quality time with their families this Christmas.

“Christmas is obviously a special time for families,” said Scott O’Donnell of http://www.triviala.com, which commissioned the survey.

“It is sometimes the only chance each year that families will be able to get time off work and all spend the day together.”

Other things people admitted to looking forward to this Christmas included, indulging in some festive food and drink, and getting a well-deserved break off work.

Receiving presents was listed as the fourth most popular answer with 11 percent, closely followed by entertaining and having people over, which 10 percent of Brits are looking forward to doing this year.

Scott O’Donnell added: “Christmas traditions are certainly not dying out either, regardless of the current economic climate. It just seems that everyone wants to have an enjoyable Christmas together and forget about any money issues.”

The survey revealed that 84 percent of people are going to have a Christmas tree in their homes this year. When asked whether their trees had decreased in size over the past few years, 64 percent of people said it had not.

With increased high street competition among retailers this year, many revealed their Christmas displays in mid October, the earliest recorded so far. 79 percent of people agreed that this is far too early for shops to be beginning their Christmas retailing.

What people are most looking forward to this Christmas:

1. Being with family
2. Food and drink
3. Time off work
4. Presents
5. Entertaining people
6. Christmas shopping
7. Work Christmas Party
8. Going on Holiday
9. Other

SOURCE Triviala