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In This Issue

We never showed all of our porch decorations from Christmas, 2017. And we may show some of them as we get closer to Christmas, 2018. But in the meantime, after a long, cold, wet, winter, we feel like it might be more helpful to show some spring decorations. There are nowhere near as many elements as there were for the Christmas season, but I hope you find it "cheery."

I admit that this newsletter includes links to articles we've already published, but a lot of people have joined since we published them, and some of our old-timers appreciate the reminders.

Also, Easter comes on April 1 this year, which means that it will likely catch some folks by surprise, so I wanted to make certain we reminded everyone of the unusual date. (And moving your clocks forward this weekend.)

The following two photos show the portions of the porch that are to the left and right of our front door, respectively.

The dark red shutters are actually there to hide a very ugly electrical service box and meter. Paul hasn't gotten around to fastening them so that they stand upright. The gate is from our old property; the fence it was attached to had been torn down decades before we moved there, but it was still leaning against a tree in the back yard when we moved in. The bench to the right is an old folding pew we picked up at a garage sale many years ago. A two-seat version is in the entryway of our home.

It's hard to tell from the photo, but the quilt is actually yellow and white.

The photo to the right shows part of the porch you pass on the way from the front steps to the door. This gate is from a fence that a neighbor's tree brought down at the old house, back in 2003. But we've been using it as a decoration ever since. I guess you could say "It's an ill wind that bloweth nobody good."

The one-eared bunny is also from our old house - it was there when we moved in and the widow we bought the house from was glad to see we enjoyed having it. In fact, it's part of a bigger story - because Shelia found it a friend a few years ago - a porcelain rabbit you can see under the red shutters in an earlier photo.

Click the following link to see Shelia's tale about our one-eared rabbits.

https://familychristmasonline.com/stories_other/shelia_race/rabbits/rabbits.htm

Topics discussed in this update include:

• Saint Patrick, a Reminder

• Introduction to Easter Articles - Links to a few of our most popular Easter articles so far.

• Old Christmas Tree Light Forum Issues - I've noticed recently that the discussion forum for the Old Christmas Tree Lights site has decided to block visitors from seeing the discussions. I

• Jan Brett's Kids' Activity Pages for Spring holidays - Fun pages from a popular Children's author and artist.

Saint Patrick: His People, His Work and His Day

To learn more about the history behind the man and the legend, click on the following link:

http://familychristmasonline.com/other_holidays/st_patricks_day/st_patricks_day.htm

Introduction to Easter Articles

To jump to our Easter Introduction/Table of Contents article, click on the following link:

http://familychristmasonline.com/other_holidays/easter/intro_easter.htm

Easter: Frequently Asked Questions

http://familychristmasonline.com/other_holidays/easter/easter_faq.htm

The Myth of the Myth of the Easter Bunny

http://familychristmasonline.com/other_holidays/easter/easter_bunny.htm

Old Christmas Tree Light Forum Issues

We are trying to resolve the problem without deleting the entire database and starting over. In the meantime, if you have a log-in and you log into the pages, you can see the pages just fine. If you don't have a log in and you want to follow the discussions, please use the following page to sign up, and we'll get you signed in.

https://oldchristmastreelights.com/octl_forum_signup.htm

Jan Brett's Spring-Themed Coloring Pages

Click the following link to see Jan's St. Patrick's Day Rainbow coloring page:

http://janbrett.com/saint_patricks_coloring_rainbow.htm

Click the following link to see Jan Brett's "Hedgie Takes a Ride" coloring page:

http://janbrett.com/leprechaun_takes_a_hedgie_ride.htm

Click the following link to see Jan Brett's Hedgie Leprechaun coloring page:

http://janbrett.com/saint_patricks_coloring.htm

Click the following link to see Jan's "Happy Easter Eggs" coloring page:

http://janbrett.com/happy_easter_eggs_coloring_page.htm

Click the following link to see Jan's St. Patrick's Coloring Place-Mat:

http://janbrett.com/place_mats/happy_st_patricks_coloring_place_mat.htm

Click the following link to see Jan's "Happy Spring from Hedgie and Henny" coloring page:

http://janbrett.com/happy_spring_from_hedgie_and_henny.htm

Click the following link to see Jan's other coloring sheets:

http://janbrett.com/activities_pages_artwork.htm

Click the following link to see Jan's spring bookmarks:

http://janbrett.com/bookmarks/happy_spring_cursive_bookmarks.htm

Click the following link to see Jan's St. Patrick's Day bookmarks

http://janbrett.com/bookmarks/bookmarks_saint_patricks_day.htm

Click the following link to see Jan's other bookmarks.

http://janbrett.com/bookmarks/bookmarks.htm

Keep in Touch

Each month, we get more interest in this newsletter, in our Christmas sites, and in the Christmas traditions, ideas, and memories we discuss. We welcome your questions and comments as indicators of what we should be working on next (also, we always try to answer reader questions quickly). In addition, if you have any photos, tips, or articles you'd like to share with your fellow Christmas enthusiasts, please let us know.

Best Wishes!

As always, our hope is that we can continue helping you and your family (as Dickens said of Scrooge):

Honor Christmas in your heart, and
"try to keep it all the year."

In the meantime, please keep in touch, and let us know what you'd like to see added or changed.

May God grant you joy and wonder every season of this year,

Paul and Shelia Race

http://FamilyChristmasOnline.com

http://CardboardChristmas.com

http://OldChristmasTreeLights.com

Click the following link to view our January, 2018 newsletter:

https://familychristmasonline.com/fco_newsletter/18_01_c_times.htm

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