MY CHRISTMAS STORY

Written by: Keon Fuoco Taffe

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I dedicate my Christmas book to my mother Tracy Fuoco because she always supports me and she is always there for me.

My dedication page

Copyright 2010 Santa’s Workshop PublishingBack Forward

Table of contents Dedication pageMy family traditionsChristmas around the world 1:ItalyChristmas around the world 2:Spain Poem 1Poem 2Poem 3Poem 4Red Activity 1Red Activity 2Green Activity 1Green Activity 2Green Activity 3Purple Activity 1Purple Activity 2Purple Activity 3Purple Activity 4About The Author

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My family traditions

The family traditions that my family have are, every year are we buy our Christmas tree two weeks before Christmas, we decorate it on Christmas Eve. Another tradition that my family has is that we sleep at our house two days before Christmas and on Christmas Eve we sleep at my grandparent’s house and we open one present on Christmas Eve. Every year we also eat a turkey dinner at my grandparent’s house when they cook it, you know it will be good. All of my family member come together at my grandparent’s house it is a good way to bond as a family. We also put out a nativity seen.

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Christmas around the world Italy

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In Italy, the Christmas season goes for three weeks, starting 8 days before Christmas known as the Novena and lasts till after the Feast of Epiphany. This celebration in remembrance of Magi's visit to the baby Jesus. Eight days before Christmas, a special service of prayers and church worship begin this ends on Christmas Day. The opening of the Holy Season is announced by the sound of cannon firing from the Castle of Saint Angelo in Rome. . A 24-hour fast ends with an elaborate Christmas feast. Small presents are drawn from the Urn of Fate. Presents are exchanged on January 6th .

Christmas around the world Italy

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The Christmas tree is a fir and is decorated with lights and colored balls. Santa in Italian is called Babbo Natale .When translated into English it roughly means “Father Christmas”. The Christmas eve dinner never has meat items the dinner is mainly based on fish. On Christmas day it is permissible to eat meat. The menu varies from region to region, the first course of a Christmas feast is either a Lasagna, Cannelloni or a timbale of pasta. The popularity of the Nativity scene, one of the most beloved and enduring symbols of the holiday season, originated in Italy. Kids wait for a visit from La Befana who brings gifts for good and punishment for bad.

Christmas around the world Spain

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Christmas is observed on December 25th it is a deeply religious holiday in Spain. The Christmas season officially begins on December 8th with a feast of Immaculate Conception. This is a public holiday in Spain this occasion is celebrated before the great gothic cathedral in Seville with a ceremony called “Los Seises" or the “dance of six”. December 28 is the feast of the Holy Innocents. Young boys of a town or village light bonfires and one of them acts as the mayor who orders townspeople to perform civic chores.

Christmas around the world Spain

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Christmas Eve is known as Nochebuena or "the Good Night." It is a time for family members to gather together to rejoice and feast around the Nativity scenes. Nativity scenes or Belénes are very popular and found in every household across the country. Christmas trees come up in most houses around the second half of December. The children of Spain receive gifts on the feast of the Epiphany. They call Santa in Spain Papa Noel . Christmas dinner is never eaten until midnight. The menu is a typical Spanish Christmas beginning with serving prawns followed by roasted lamb. The dessert is a traditional Christmas sweet it is a turrón

Presents

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Precious time for family

REINDEER LANDING ON HOUSE TOPS

SANTA GIVING PRESENTS

ELVES MAKING TOYS

NATIVITY SCENES ARE BEAUTIFUL

TOYS UNDER THE CHRISTMAS TREE

Santa loves cookies and milk!

Santa

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Santa Chubby magicalLoving caring sharing An amazing person saint Nicholas

Winter vs. Summer

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Winter White flaky

sleighing throwing playing Toys north pole pool bike smiling swimming running Hot sunny Summer

Christmas

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Santa's toy workshop

Putting the Christmas tree up

Time for family

Stockings

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The origin of stockings is that a long time ago there was a man and his wife died ,the man went on to live a life of poverty .Then the man didn’t have enough money to pay for his daughters to get married because the parents back then paid for their kids weddings. So one day Santa Claus heard about it and wanted to do something about it so he went and dropped three coins down the chimney and the girls had their leg stockings drying on the fireplace and the three coins landed in the stockings. So the girls had enough money to have their weddings and everyone had wonderful lives after that. This is how the stocking originated.

The Mistletoe

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The origin of the mistletoe dates back to the ancient Scandinavia when the people thought that the mistletoe was a plant that brings them peace . So the people thought that when their enemies walked under it they would by peaceful for the day. So the custom slowly and gradually excavated to be kissing.

Santa losses weight

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One Christmas Eve night Santa was getting ready to go give all the little boys and girls their presents and his suit did not fit. So he told Mrs. Claus “did you shrink my suit” and she said “no I do not shrink your suit”. So he decided he will just try to force it to fit. So Santa went to give out presents and he noticed that the reindeer were going slowly so he said “hurry it up you guy”, so they went faster.

Santa losses weight

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When they were finish there jobs and got back to Santa’s workshop he said boy I’m tired so he went to bed. The next day the reindeer said “why were you so heavy”, and then Santa said “I think I got fatter over the off season, I think it was from all that milk and cookies”. So he said I will lose some weight”. So he exercised over the off season. Next Christmas came and the reindeer said “you were light”. So Santa said I like being light”. This is the story of how Santa Claus lost weight.

Asking the right questions To Santa Claus

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Me: Hello Santa Claus ,I have some questions to ask you.Me: Ok lets kick it off, when was the first time you were caught by a child?Santa: Ha ha ha silly silly man I have never been caught by a child! I'm to sly.Me: How much milk and cookies do you eat and drink on Christmas day.Santa: Oh I eat a lot of milk and cookies . I eat about four billion cookies and drink about eight billion glasses of milk.Me: Do you save any cookies for Mrs. Claus .Santa: yes I save Mrs. Claus some cookies she gets four billion to.Me: how many toys do your elves make and how long does it take them.Santa: Those elves they are hard workers they make 12 billion toys and it takes about 11months so then they have 1 month to rest.Me: one last question that I have is how long does it take you to get ready. Santa: It takes me about 2 hours to get ready if that dumb button works.

Asking The Right Questions ToMrs. Claus

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Me: Hi Mrs. Claus, I will be interviewing you today Me: When was the first time you meet Mr. ClausMrs. Claus : The first time that I meet Mr. Claus was when I was going to the restroom at a restaurant and he laid eyes on me and it was love at first sight Me: Have you ever in Santa's sleigh Mrs. Claus: yes he took me out on our first date. Me: have you ever helped the elves with toy makingMrs. Claus: Yes I have I helped them I made a doll.Me: do you like living in the north pole.Mrs. Claus: Oh my god I love living in the north pole the snow is amazing. Me: Do you ever do any activities in the north poleMrs. Claus: We always play around with the reindeer and the elves .

Asking the right questions one of Santa’s elves

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Me: Hi will be interviewing you Me: Do you like working at Santa's work shop? Elf: Yes I love working at the Santa's workshop it is so fun.Me: How many Elves at the toyshop?Elf: There is 5000 of us but the workshop is very big.Me: Why are you guys so small?Elf: we are so small because we are midgets with pointy earsMe: On Christmas day what do you do? Elf: We wake up and just like any other person Santa gives us presents Me: Do you make the presents that you get?Elf: No Santa makes them all by himself

Asking the right questions to Rudolph the red nose reindeer

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Me: hello Rudolph I'm going to interview you Me: Why is your nose red ?Rudolph: My nose is red because when I was a baby I burnt my nose Me: How did you start flying ?Rudolph: I started flying when I was 2 years old it was amazing Me: Where did Santa get you from ?Rudolph: I was in a herd and I got lost and he found me Me: how old were you when he found you?Rudolph: I was just a young calf.Me: how many Christmases have you done?Rudolph: I have done 3058 Christmases. I know it has been a long time

MY favorite Christmas carol

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My favorite Christmas carol is jingle bells because it is such happy song it makes me joyful if I am in a bad mood. It is my favorite carol also because I know all the words to it and when I was in kindergarten I preformed it and I had so much fun we were dancing around. The last reason is that we sang it as a family at my grandparents house it was so funny we were playing around and my dogs were barking . These are the reasons why jingle bells is my favorite Christmas carol.

Wish Upon A Star

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I think that wishing on a star does help make dreams come true because if you keep wishing you will get your hopes up and you might or will get what you want. I can make a list of what my wishes are and take little steps to make my wishes come true. I wish that I can get a iPod touch because I can listen to music, I could watch videos and play games like the touch madden 11 football and I also wish I could get a retro Jerry Rice jersey because he is a hall of famer. I wish that I could get other people a place to live and food to eat for Christmas . I wish I could make it so there is no war. It takes everyone to give food to the food banks, books to book drives and everyone to pitch in to make others happy.

Christmas Colors

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The color red is a traditional Christmas color because it symbolizes the first blood when Jesus Christ was being crucified. The color green is a traditional Christmas color because it represents eternal life. Especially the evergreen tree and how it can survive the whole winter. White is a traditional Christmas because it symbolizes the color of the snow . The color gold symbolizes the gifts the wise man gave to baby Jesus.

Giving & Receiving

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The saying it is better to give then to receive is because if you give presents you can make other people happy. It is also good to give than receive because if you get a lot of stuff and you don’t giving people might think that you are selfish and being selfish isn't good. This is why I think giving is better than receiving.

The Ideal Christmas

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On Christmas I usually eat a big turkey dinner it has a big turkey, with beautiful fluffy mashed potatoes with creamy gravy, corn and cranberry sauce it is really good. I would go to my grandparents house to eat my Christmas day dinner. Some special things that my family might do is open our presents, watch movies, and sit around the fireplace these are some special things I might do .

Hanukkah

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Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy temple in Jerusalem in 165 BC. This Jewish holiday lasts for eight days. The Hanukkah menorah is a nine branched candelabrum. The role the menorah plays in Hanukkah ceremonies is that one candle is lit each day and they are lit with the middle candle.

About The Author

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Hello my name is Keon Taffe, and I am almost 12 my birthday is on 9th . I have four siblings and guess what they are all girls if you include my mom it is 6 girls.

I enjoy playing sports but the one I enjoy the most is football it is really fun. My favorite animal is a dog. I have two of them there names are Jules and Cesar.

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