Hoppy Holidays

Our BLOG post this week is a holiday wish from our bunny, Sweetie Pie and also a big thank you from all of us here! Thank you to everyone who has supported us this year by purchasing items from our store (http://stores.ebay.com/herbnhome), downloading items from http://www.thewaldorfchannel.com/ , enrolling in our program (http://www.earthschooling.com/), joining our group at http://www.herbnhome.com/ and buying unicorns (http://www.buyaunicorn.com/) and photos at http://www.imagenations.com/ .

Seriously - and I am not embarrassed to say this - without your support and purchases we would not have had a holiday season at all this year! We are very thankful for all of our clients and customers! When you own your own business you appreciate everyone so much and each purchase makes a difference in our lives. A download is a carton of milk, a unicorn purchase paid for our Christmas tree, an enrollment in our program purchased Sunii's winter snowgear and he has been able to be outdoors sledding every day now that he has a snowsuit and boots! it is really cool to see how direct it all is! We love you all!

Our rabbit Sweetie Pie also wants to wish everyone a hoppy holiday - Eid, Hanukkah, Christmas, Solstice, Kwanza - everything! She especially wants to thank the person who bought something that helped paid for "her" tree.

Here are some tips she would like to share for a better holiday season:

Sweetie Pie Holiday Tip #1: Buy your rabbit a tree to eat for the holidays so she does not eat your gifts.

Sweetie Pie Holiday Tip #2: Cats look better in boxes wrapped up with bows.

Sweetie Pie Holiday Tip #3: Don't even TRY to put a bow on me for this photo.

Sweetie Pie Holiday Tip #4: Humans don't always appreciate the way rabbits trim trees.

Sweetie Pie Holiday Tip #5: Bows don't taste as good as carrots.

Sweetie Pie Holiday Tip #6: Humans don't seem to appreciate the little "gifts" that I leave under the tree. Perhaps if I wrapped them?

Sweetie Pie Holiday Tip #7: If you are cute and fluffy people can forgive a lot.

Sweetie Pie Holiday Tip #8: Turkey is really good for holiday season. Rabbits don't taste very good at all.

Sweetie Pie Holiday Tip #9: Did I mention how good a cat would look in a box with a bow on top?Sweetie Pie Holiday

Tip #10: Carrots - the gift for the person who "has everything" - and eco-friendly too!

Spiritual Letter from Santa Claus

Letter from Santa
By Kristie Burns
http://www.thewaldorfchannel.com/
http://www.herbnhome.com/
Note: If you repost this to other lists please include the above header as this is original copyrighted work :) Thanks!

Update from last year:

Sofi has been talking about this letter all year and refers to it often when the tooth fairy comes and the Easter Bunny, etc...she treasures the letter and keeps it on her desk and has already brought it out again this year and said to me, "Mama, remember when Santa made you put presents under the tree last year?" As if she enjoyed the fact that Santa was playing a little "joke" on me:). The response to this letter has been more overwhelming than I imagined...so I am reposting this year. She talks about so many aspects of the letter. It really fits her world-view and has been a real blessing to her!

Intro from last year:

Truly I was inspired to write this letter. I didn't even think about it. I sat down this morning and it seemed to fly off the page directly from the depths of my mind to the keyboard without any thought inbetween. Perhaps it came because it is needed at this time when my children are questioning who Santa is. I have known for a long time who Santa is, but I have been unable to put it into words until today...

Dear Sofi,

This is from Santa. Not the Santa of the chimneys and reindeer, but the real Santa. I have enjoyed the stories that people have created about me over the years but I think you are old enough now to know the real story. Did you know that in some countries I don't come on Christmas day? I come on St. Nicolas Day and I fill their boots with treats. In America they changed the story to Christmas day and I fill their socks instead of boots. Some people thought it was sort of icky to fill their socks so they created really pretty socks for me to fill.

Did you know that my story started in 280 A.D. When St. Nicholas was a saint? My spirit has existed since before then, but that was when people first started calling me St. Nick. The real Saint Nicholas was greatly inspired by the spirit of giving. He wandered the countryside giving away all his wealth to poorer people. He especially treated children with kindness and helped children who needed money or gifts. After that, many people in Europe, inspired by his name St. Nick, continued to give money and gifts to people in need and to children even after the real Saint Nick was gone. I didn't officially come to America until 1861 when the Dutch brought my celebrations to New York and distributed pictures of what I "looked like". Their name for me was Sinter Klass...which Americans made into Santa Claus.

However, as I mentioned before, just because my name did not come to America before 1861, does not mean that I have not always been here. For I am the spirit and angel of giving and charity. This concept is hard for some people to understand. People have a hard time understanding ideas or spirits or angels because they cannot see them. So to make it easier they sometimes make stories or draw pictures so it is easier to understand. That is the short story of how I, the angel of giving and charity, became known with a name and a face. And that is how you probably know me. I don't really mind.

I am known by so many different names and faces that are not the "real" me, but who doesn't like a story? I find the stories very creative and wonderful and since they are each accurate in their own way I don't mind! My favorite is the one about my riding a sleigh and delivering presents all night. That is accurate in a way, for I never sleep or run out of energy so I could, in theory do that, but I do not need a sleigh to ride. There are so many angels on the earth that watch over you and protect you and we each have our own job - some protect from accidents, some teach wisdom, some are keepers of history, and we each have done our jobs since the beginning of time and will continue forever to do our jobs for angels never tire and never sleep. We don't really have names but in some books we have given ourselves names to make our stories easier to read.

It is hard for humans to understand something that they cannot see and that does not have a name! You may also be familiar with the angel of awakening childhood (the tooth fairy who guides you across the bridge from childhood to being a young lady or young man as you loose your teeth along the way), or the angel of eternal life who teaches us about the endurance of spirit and the rebirth of the soul during Easter. And what about your guardian angel? Everyone has one of those. Some of the angels don't even have names. They are eagerly awaiting the day when humankind gives THEM names too.

It is an honor to be recognized by those we serve and to be given names and stories. You mom is writing this letter for me and she may or may not remember writing it. That is how it works. I inspire people to do my work through their spirit. Sometimes this may awaken them in the middle of the night to fill a stocking and they may think they were dreaming. Sometimes they are aware of what they are doing and remember doing it. But in both cases I have been able to motivate millions of parents around the world to share my vision. And at some point everyone understands that I am the angel of giving and they also know that they must continue to work for my vision in the ways that children will understand.

I don't know what story your parents shared with you. They are all different - even in little ways. However, I do know, that whatever story your parents told you was one that they thought would touch your heart and prepare you to understand more about giving and charity and joy so that you would be able to carry on my traditions during your life as well. My vision is that all children feel a sense of wonder and awe at the power of giving.

I want people to always feel this spirit within them and to look for ways all year to give and to help others. I am honored that a day was chosen to do this, but I don't want people to forget that we should do this every day. But since humans have created a day to honor my spirit, I want all children to wake up Christmas morning and to feel so wonderful and filled with joy that they are inspired to share this joy with others. This is my gift to the world. It is simple and yet is so powerful as you can see from what is happening around you this Christmas season. Please continue to tell my stories. I enjoy them.

I sometimes come by and sit by your guardian angel and listen to them. They are beautiful stories that make who I am into pictures instead of spirit. It is almost like when a painter has a dream and then he paints it. He is not really painting the dream, because nobody can really do that, but he has made his dream into a picture. That is what it is like with my stories. Nobody can ever really understand me completely - for you are humans and I am an angel spirit. However, the more stories you create, the closer you come to understanding who and what I am. So please continue creating stories and pictures and please continue my tradition and pass it on to your children.

Please know that as your mother was inspired to write this letter one day, you will also be inspired to write a similar letter one day. You may also keep this one and pass it on. Merry Christmas! Please enjoy the gifts I have sent you through others and please pass these gifts on to the people you love. - Santa

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