2009 Holiday Calendar Up

The Christmas Calendar covers events in both the Whatcom County area and throughout Western Washington, with occasional listings from lower mainland British Columbia. Calendar listings will increase with time as information on events becomes available, so check back often. I will be happy to list your holiday event, or events which you have heard about, [...]

Read Full Post »

Whatcom County “Toys for Tots” Drive begins today, Sat. Nov. 22, 2008

What: Toys for Tots drive for new, unwrapped toys and cash donations to buy toys for children of families in need. Where: Whatcom County Haggen locations; NW Hot Spring Spas; all Whatcom County Little Caesar’s Pizza locations; Whidbey Island Bank locations, and Quizno’s locations. When: Now until Dec. 18  Haggen & NW Hot Spring Spa [...]

Read Full Post »

What do you get the kid who has everything?

Well, no kid has everything, but let me pose the following scenario to you. I have no doubt that many readers will be familiar with it– Dick and Jane get lots of presents at Christmas.  Their parents go all out, as do both sets of grandparents along with assorted aunts and uncles. There’s not room [...]

Read Full Post »

A fun project for kids: Make your own Christmas ornaments

Instructions: Paste each picture onto cardboard and cut out along the dotted lines (always use safety scissors so you don’t cut yourself). Color with plain or glitter crayons,  with paint or felt-tip markers – whatever you’ve got. Punch out the black dots and string with bright ribbon, then hang them on the tree, over the [...]

Read Full Post »

Chocolate-frosted marshmallows/fruit on a stick

Your kids will enjoy helping with this recipe – and they’ll be more than happy to eat the product of their labors afterwards. This is a great item for a kids’ Christmas party, as well. Ingredients: 15-20 large marshmallows 6 oz. semisweet chocolate red and green sugars waxed paper toothpicks cookie sheet or platter Preparation: [...]

Read Full Post »

The 2008 Simply Xmas Events Calendar is Up and Running!

I know that October  8th may seem rather early to debut the Christmas calendar for 2008, but the fact of the matter is that some of the ticketed events are already selling seats – and it wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense to bring the calendar online after these have sold out. Surprisingly, however, [...]

Read Full Post »

The Christmas Workshop 2008 is Open!

Over the next couple of months visitors to Simplify Christmas (yes, visits have remained consistently high, even through the spring and summer months of 2008) will notice some fairly dramatic changes in the organization and appearance of the site as I prepare for the official start-up date of November 1st. The first big change is [...]

Read Full Post »

Chocolate Christmas Punch

A non-alcohol punch great for the kids – but an adult might want to add a splash of Bailey’s Irish Cream in their cup– Chocolate Punch INGREDIENTS: (4) 1-oz. sq semisweet chocolate 1/2 cup sugar 2 cups hot water 2 qts. milk 1-1/2 t. vanilla extract 1 qt. vanilla ice cream 1 qt. club soda [...]

Read Full Post »

Whatcom Children’s Museum: “Wonder Workshop”

Where: Children’s Museum, 227 Prospect Street, Bellingham When: Saturday, Dec. 22, 1:00 – 3:00 PM What: Make a beautiful lantern on the first day of winter! Cost: The workshop is free with $3.50 admission For more information: 733-8769

Read Full Post »

Scared of Santa

Anyone who has stood in line with their kid, waiting for the annual communion with Santa, knows that some children just don’t respond to the hoary graybeard with the kind of delight like you’d see in…well, a Norman Rockwell painting. In fact, sometimes they scream their heads off. To pay homage to this yearly tradition, [...]

Read Full Post »