As a way of saying thank you to our readers, we are having a Christmas giveaway. We will award 35 copies of the New York Times bestselling book, The Christmas Box, by Richard Paul Evans. He originally wrote The Christmas Box as an expression of love for his two daughters, never intending for it to be published. Now, many Christmas seasons later, this touching tale relates the meaning of Christmas in a profound but simple way.

This book was the inspiration for the many angel statues around the country which are places to remember a child who has died. Mr. Evans founded The Christmas Box House International, an organization devoted to building shelters and providing services for abused and neglected children. To date, more than 16,000 children have been housed in Christmas Box House facilities.

The most important story we will ever write in life is our own — not with ink, but with our daily choices. ~Richard Paul Evans

The Christmas Box – Richard Paul Evans shares his story.

“So,” you ask, “What do I need to do to get one of these free books?”

Just two easy things: First, we want you to subscribe to GrandparentsTLC.com, either by email or RSS. Subscribing is free, and lets you know as soon as new posts are published.

Second, we want you to share with us a favorite holiday activity or tradition you have with with your grandchildren. Holidays such as Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or a special New Years Eve party. To qualify, your story needs to be a minimum of 100 words (about 9 lines in the comment field). Write your entry in the comment section of this post.

We only have 35 of these books to give away, so don’t miss out! Do it now while it’s on your mind. Click here -

1. Subscribe to GrandparentsTLC.com RSS feed or by Email.
2. Add your story.

So spread the word, and let the comments commence. Thank you. We look forward to reading your entries.

By the way, If you already own a copy of The Christmas Box, you can gift this to a grandchild or a friend.

- Shayne and Tanda Packer

We will mail a copy of this book to you at no charge. So be sure to enter your correct email address in the email field. We will contact you for your shipping address. This free book offer is good only while the supply lasts. Entries will be accepted until midnight January 5th, 2009.

[Update: Please feel free to add your story, even though this giveaway has ended. No more books will be given out. Each of the people who commented before the deadline will receive their book.]

Do you like surfing the web to find articles and tips about grandparenting? There’s a lot of useful information on the WWW. Grandpa Shayne and I are always looking for fun way to connect with the grandkids. We’ve collected some of our favorite Halloween web pages for grandparents.

Halloween is a wonderful time to share with the family. It’s especially fun to see the grandkids all dressed up in their favorite costumes. Here’s a photo of our 6 month old grandbaby in the cute costume I bought at 60% off. Hey, I’m like my mom, always looking for a bargain!

A grandmother pretends she doesn’t know who you are on Halloween. ~Erma Bombeck

I teach family and consumer science, I’ve always admired Erma Bombeck. She was such a practical homemaker.

Shayne is a Cub Master, and one of his Weblos is a budding artist named Zac Willberg. He draws comics and publishes them on Zac’s Cartoon Cave blog. Shayne commissioned Zac to draw a special comic strip for today’s Halloween post. Boo is the main character (a ghost). Ancient is his girlfriend (a mummy). Today, there’s a special guest appearance by Boo’s Grandma.

Halloweenies by Zac Willberg

One of our favorite cartoons by Zac is his Charlie Brown Halloween.

Before you leave, be sure to subscribe to our Grandparents TLC feed.

Favorite family-friendly web pages with ideas for grandparents

Nana’s Corner – Halloween recipes and poems

Nana Finds – Special halloween books for grandchildren and Ideas for homemade Halloween costumes

Joan Adams – collection of fun Halloween songs and lyrics. (Joan says “I hope you all have as much fun with this site as I have! We love to sing with the grandchildren! Our two are 5 and 6 years old, so they are the perfect age for learning all the fun Halloween favorites! Enjoy!”)

Grandma Ideas – Halloween ideas for grandchildren

Grandmother Wren - Family Alternatives to Halloween

SandwichINK – Sharing God’s Love on Halloween

LoveMyGrandchild – Halloween ideas

FamilyCorner – Lots of Halloween ideas

ParentHacks – Best Parent Hacks (tips and ideas that work for grandparents too)

GroupCard – Free Halloween ecards (the whole family can sign an ecard)

Bluemountain – Free Halloween ecards (free month trial)

DLTK’s Crafts for Kids – Halloween Activities for Children (halloween coloring pages, printables, worksheets, craft projects, games and puzzles, online games, pumpkin carving patterns, recipes)

Babble – Just in Time for Halloween: How to Make Your Own Slime

Radiant Ideas – Tips for going green this Halloween

What are some of your favorite Halloween web pages? You are welcome to add your family-friendly link in your comment.

Have a fun Halloween! – Grammy Tanda

Hey, I’m on twitter now!

Please help us reach more readers by bookmarking or emailing this to a friend!

Well, I’m flying high in the clouds like Superman. Except instead of a cape, I’m in jet airplane. I’m headed to see two of my grandsons, ages 6 and 4. Grammy Tanda had her turn a couple of weeks ago. So I figured, just to be fair to our grandsons, I should have a turn too! As I mentioned before, my wife and I enjoy traveling together, but sometimes our schedules don’t jive. School starts today, and as I write this, she’s teaching class about now. Probably trying to act tough and lay down the rules for her high school students in her Cultures and Cuisines class. (But she’s a “marshmallow”, and she knows it.)

So here I am, loaded with ideas of things to do with my grandsons this week. I’ve got my iPhone stocked full of fun little apps from the iTunes app store. (I’ll be writing about this in the near future.) I’ve got stickers. I’ve got crafts. I’ve got some play money I call “Grandpa bucks” that I’ll give them each time they chose the right or help clean up their toys. Then I’ll open up my “Grandpa Store”, my cache of goodies from the dollar store. We’ll go camping. We’ll be goofy. We’ll build a “fort” in the back yard. And maybe by the end of the week, I’ll understand why my wife felt so tired when she got home from her visit.

Grandparents are there to help the child get into mischief they haven’t thought of yet. ~Gene Perret

Boys – they’re so full of energy! As a young father, I learned it is best to be flexible, because sometimes, before we can finish one of my planned activities, these young’uns decide they want to do something else. Now, I wouldn’t want to run out of ideas on this trip. So I’m hoping to pick up a few tips and ideas for games, treats, activities, and so forth from you, our readers. Things that you’ve found particularly successful with young grandsons. We had such a wonderful discussion about what you grandparents like to do with your grandchildren in our Grammy’s back home post. Let’s continue the discussion here. What would you suggest for young grandsons?

Thanks, Shayne