SNOWMAN PUNCH

Stir up a pint of ice cream - vanilla, peppermint, mint, adding a little milk to thin it. Scoop it into snowcone cups or other festive ware. Disposable plastic Christmas ware is great for little elves!

Variation: Add green creme de menthe flavoring, non-alcoholic.

SPICY CRANBERRY PUNCH

1/2 cup red cinnamon candies 4 C. water 8 C. cranberry juice cocktail, chilled 6 oz. can frozen limeade concentrate 6 oz. can frozen orange juice concentrate

In small pan, melt candies in water; chill. At serving time, combine candy liquid and fruit juices in punch bowl. Stir to dissolve. Makes 18, 5-oz. cups.

WASSAIL BOWL

Whole cloves 1 large orange 2 qts. apple juice or cider 3 T. lemon juice 4 cinnamon sticks Heat oven to 350. Insert cloves into orange. Place in shallow baking pan and bake at 350 for 30 mins. Pierce orange in several places with tines for a fork.

In large saucepan, combine apple and lemon juice, cinnamon sticks and baked orange. Cover; simmer over low heat 30 mins. Remove sticks and orange. Pour into heatproof punch bowl. If desired, float orange in bowl. Serve [safely] hot. Makes 16, 4 oz. servings.

CRANBERRY "CHAMPAGNE" FOR CHRISTMAS CERUBS

Combine 2 well-chilled 750-ml. bottles non-alcoholic sparkling cider with 1 cup cranberry juice cocktail or to taste.

ELF WARMER

1 qt. vanilla ice cream 3 sticks margarine 1 box brown sugar nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice Combine and keep in freezer. At serving time, put 1 heaping T. scoop into a mug, add hot water (to taste) and heat.

SANTA-RED PUNCH

4 cups water 3 cups sugar 2 small packages of red Jello l large can pineapple juice 1 bottle of almond extract Serves 25-30.

EVERGEEN PUNCH

2 pkgs. unsweetened lemon-lime Koolaid 2 cups sugar 2 qts. water 1, 46-oz. can pineapple juice 1 quart gingerale

Dissolve sugar and koolaid. Add pineapple juice and chill. Add gingerale at serving time. Good too if you freeze it for a while until it's slushy. Then call it Santa Slush. Serves 36.

©Susan Dunn, MA, Marketing Coach, http://www.webstrategies.cc . Is this the year you produce your eBook? We offer all services from start-to-finish: editing, pdf formatting, ghost-writing, Internet launch, webpage, sales letter, search engine submission, pdf and print-on-demand formatting, press releases - everything you need to get the word out and start earning passive income. Packages for all needs and budgets. Email us at sdunn@susandunn.cc .

7. Avoid Lectures Many parents have a lecturing style that they’re unaware of. Their kids are very aware of this style however, and tune them out. Speak in a casual and pleasant tone that you would use when talking with a friend

8. Limit their TV watching. Kids who watch a lot of TV tend to be more easily distracted and have a more difficult time listening. This may also help to improve your relationship when you spend more time with your kids!

9. Talk to your kids in a non-judgmental way. The more they feel judged by you, more shame they’ll feel and less they’ll hear. See your kids as great and they’ll listen as though they are! 10. Be genuinely interested in your children’s lives.

Ask them curious questions about what’s they’re experiencing. When your kids know that you have a real interest in their life, they’re more likely to look forward to what you have to say.

Mark Brandenburg MA, CPCC, is the author of “25 Secrets of Emotionally Intelligent Fathers” (http://www.markbrandenburg.com/e_book.htm#secrets. For more great tips and action steps for fathers, sign up for his FREE bi-weekly newsletter, “Dads, Don’t Fix Your Kids,” at http://www.markbrandenburg.com