Bringing the Joy Out in Christmas wish Joy Tamsin David : )

Sorry! Another pun for a title : P

Anway we have a very special guest here today, ladies and gents! It's Joy David from Edgy Inspirational Romance! I'll get right onto the interview : )

H: What is your favorite part(s) of the Christmas season?

J: Going to church and my sons' Christmas pageant at school. Wrapping presents on Christmas Eve, the look on my boys' faces when they see the tree for the first time Christmas morning.

H: Awwww, all are very sweet memories, Joy! Are you a big celebrator of Christmas?


J: Well, I'm no Clark Griswald, but after I had kids, Christmas definitely eeked past Thanksgiving as my favorite holiday.

H: Lol!! I can't quite picture you as Clark but....you never know I suppose :P What are some of your traditions? (i.e. food, gift giving, family traditions, etc)?

J: We open gifts in the morning (the boys aren't allowed to wake us up before 6am). Then my husband starts dinner- he makes a mean turkey. Family members from both sides of the family come to our house for Christmas dinner.

H: Ah, sounds similar to ours, if you saw my post the other day! Lol...and a fellow Christmas turkey eater! Do you have a favorite Christmas themed book/recommendation? Movie?

J: I discovered a new favorite book this year! Readers with young children really need to get The Elf on the Shelf. I bought it this month to use in my classroom. The book comes with a toy elf and the story explains how the elf spies on kids the days before Christmas and reports back to Santa.


The first day I used him in my class, I taped the elf's hands over his mouth because he's not allowed to speak to the children- Santa's rules. Well, sometime during math, the elf's hands popped off his mouth (cheap tape!) and pandemonium broke out in first grade.

After one boy jumped up to scream, "He moved!" everyone went crazy. I put my hands on my hips and tried to keep a straight face, "I told you he was an elf. What did you expect?"

Long story short, I'm not having any problems with behavior these days. ;)

H: THat's cool, Joy! You're really lucky to be able to keep such a Christmas theme in your classroom, a lot can't nowadays. How have your Christmas traditions changed since you were a kid now that you have a _________ (family, at college, etc)?

J: My dad was pretty strict with the Christmas tree because he was always concerned about fire hazards. Rules were it went up no earlier than December 18 and always came down New Years eve. These days, I put our tree up right after Thanksgiving (I buy it from a tree farm so it's really fresh). I still take it down on New Years though. I don't want to end up like my brother who once left his tree up until February. It got so stiff and prickly he couldn't get the ornaments off. They had to throw the whole thing- lights and all- out on the curb.



H: Oh my gosh! I can't imagine a tree like your brother's! That would be terrible, lol. What did you ask Santa for this year? *wink*

J: "Santa" bought me an outfit from NY and Company on Black Friday while she was out shopping for everyone else. LOL.

H: LOL Joy!! Very cool, Santa must've known exactly what you wanted ; )

These are some bests. Just fill them in with your favorite/the best.

Christmas present as a child? In fifth grade I got a Sony Walkman with Prince's Purple Rain cassette tape. At ten, I was totally in love with the artist formerly known as a symbol. I fantasized about driving a red corvette with the words "Little Red Corvette" actually painted on the sides. (Don't judge me).

Here's a picture of the Sony Walkman circa 1983:



Favorite Christmas song? Silent Night, Silver Bells

Place to spend Christmas day? Our family rule is Christmas is always spent at home. We'll travel for Thanksgiving and Easter, but my kids wake up in their own house to celebrate Christmas.

Christmas food? Desserts, definitely the desserts.

Oh man, Joy, Renee will be all over the last one with....pie! ; )

Now, I think it's time for our Mystery Song of the Day!! There is absolutely NO way to give a hint for this song. It's called Prayer of the Children by Kurt Bestor. We sang it in four-part harmony in jazz choir last year and it was so touching. Here are the lyrics:

Can you hear the prayer of the children?
On bended knee, in the shadow of an unknown room
Empty eyes with no more tears to cry
Turning heavenward toward the light

Crying Jesus, help me
To see the morning light-of one more day
But if I should die before I wake,
I pray my soul to take

Can you feel the hearts of the children?
Aching for home, for something of their very own
Reaching hands, with nothing to hold on to,
But hope for a better day a better day

Crying Jesus, help me
To feel the love again in my own land
But if unknown roads lead away from home,
Give me loving arms, away from harm

Can you hear the voice of the children?
Softly pleading for silence in a shattered world?
Angry guns preach a gospel full of hate,
Blood of the innocent on their hands

Crying Jesus, help me
To feel the sun again upon my face,
For when darkness clears I know you're near,
Bringing peace again

Dali cujete sve djecje molitive?
(Croatian translation:
'Can you hear all the children's prayers?')
Can you hear the prayer of the children?.

Sorry to give you a depressing song on Monday!! This might be a little better! Happy Monday! Less than two weeks to Christmas : )
Hannah