A good Monday to you all!  Ready or not, the holidays are coming at us!  Soon, we will be knee-deep in family, feasting and goodies galore.  For fear of sounding negative, why is it that people save their ‘best’ for the season?  People pull out their best china for the Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, but, what about the rest of the year?  We dress up on Christmas, but, what do we wear for a typical Sunday dinner?  I’ve noticed a trend where folks volunteer at the homeless shelter on Thanksgiving and Christmas, but, there are needy people 24/7/365.  We shop for months, stashing up a horde of gifts to give at holiday time, but, what do we do for those same people the rest of the year?  See what I mean?  I don’t criticize any of these actions, at all.  Rather, it makes me wonder why people, and I, don’t do these things all year long?  
My family and friends mean a lot to me, as, I am certain, does everyone’s.  I want them to know that year round – not just one or two days a year.  There is a magic that seems to abound during the holidays.  It is a feeling of warmth, home, and connection through love.  Where did it go the rest of the year?  If folks donned their ‘holiday heart’ all year long, we’d live with that magic on a daily basis.  Wouldn’t that make for a wonderful world?
The holidays have been the time when everyone reaches out to those they love.  We let everyone know what they mean to us via pretty cards and unique gifts.  Because we typically only do this at holiday time, it does make things special.  As a child and then, a parent, ‘maybe Santa will bring it to you’ has been a catch phrase used year round when a child wants a nice, new toy.  It lends a ‘special’ status merely by the mention of Santa.  Yet, there are times throughout the year when someone could have used a perk or reward for doing things well, like a good report card or after a winning game. 
The holidays have always been special to me, mainly as my birthday is two days before Christmas.  Not many people can say that, on their birthday, there were lights and decorations and family and friends coming to call. A birthday without a Christmas tree wouldn’t feel right to me.  I wanted that feeling to last for the whole year. It can, sans the presents and cake, of course.  LOL  And, folks can be warm and generous and friendly all year long, even without a tree and carols.  
I propose to you folks, my readers, that we find a way to exhibit out ‘holiday heart’ not necessarily daily, but, each and ever week that goes by, every month or even several times a year.  Bring out those fancy dishes one evening.  Serve lemonade in crystal glasses on the patio in the summer.  Give a needy family a gift card for incidentals in a sweet card in late summer so they can have the things they need for the children to start school.  Drop by and visit an elderly or infirm friend or neighbor one Saturday afternoon to see how they are and if they need anything.  You know what I mean.  Spread the love all year long!  Maintain that ‘holiday heart’ and you will find that what you receive back feels just like Christmas morning did all those years ago as a child.  The rewards to giving are as precious as the receiving.  What it boils down to is this, ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’.  We ‘reap’ what we have sown, so, imagine how rewarding a generous, touching gesture can be.  It would feel like Christmas every day!
Alrighty, then, as I wipe that tear away and get down to business.  Today, Miss Edna and I give you two more parts to this month’s free give-away, ‘Giving Thanks’.  Last week we gave the QP’s and this week we give you all the papers and elements for you to make your own layouts.  As we give the freebies away by the week, we each give two parts a week for three Mondays of each month.  That totals twelve parts you can collect!  All of my previous freebies are still available and I believe Miss Edna’s are, as well.  
My previews are separated by papers and elements, but, each part has a scattering of both.  Click on the element preview for ‘Part 3’ and the paper preview for ‘Part 4’.  (Parts one and two were the two QP’s.)  Then, click on Miss Edna’s preview below mine to go to her blog for her parts.  I do hope you enjoy!
Part 3

Part 4

Miss Edna’s Preview(click to go to her blog)

Aren’t they beautiful and warm?!  LOL  Don’t forget to come back next week for the final parts to this sweet collection.
‘Til then,