Hiya folks! The spring months are upon us, and Christmas is just 7 months away. The elves are busy working, and the reindeer are preparing for the big day. Raymond is too little for reindeer training, so what is a young reindeer to do?
Well, he is counting down the days until Christmas, but that’s not all… Bored during a recent snowstorm, he put on some different outfits and had a photo shoot!
Which picture is your favorite?
Happy April 25th! We’re counting down the months until Christmas, and today marks just 8 months to go. It’s springtime, so you know what that means… it’s baseball season! Wait a second—there’s baseball at the Northpole? Well, kind of… Santa, the elves, the reindeer, and especially Raymond love to watch baseball on the TV.
Not only does Raymond love baseball, but he also loves many other sports. Remember when Raymond went to London, England during the 2012 Summer Olympics?
Raymond has been very excited about baseball for several weeks. He watches it whenever he can, talks about it quite a bit, and pretends to play baseball with snowballs.
One afternoon when Raymond was taking his mid-day nap, he fell into a deep sleep and dreamt about baseball.
In his dream, he went to a baseball park.
He stood on home plate, pretending to slide into home, scoring the win!
Then he trotted around the pitcher’s mound.
He even dreamt he got a signed baseball by his favorite player.
He wanted to try on the fielder’s glove, but it didn’t fit him. Silly Raymond! That’s not how you wear a baseball glove!
When he woke up, Raymond excitedly told everyone at Santa’s Secret Village about his dream!
Later that night, Raymond found a baseball next to his pillow. Maybe it wasn’t a dream after all 
Greetings, folks! Our Christmas countdown continues, and to celebrate today—March 25th—I’m sending you a hearty salutation, saying “Happy 9 months until Christmas!”
As you probably know by now, Raymond loves to travel. So when he heard that I was traveling to California, he eagerly offered to accompany me on the trip. While we were there, we took a stroll along the coast in Ventura, CA. We enjoyed the salty scent of the Pacific Ocean and the peaceful surging and ebbing of the waves on the beach.
After gazing at the beautiful scenery, Raymond trotted off to play in the sand. He dug a hole in the sand with his shovel and guess what happened next?
He covered himself with a mound of sand… with a little bit of help from me
Then Raymond spotted some seagulls.
He was tempted to chase after them, but just as he realized that wouldn’t be a kind thing to do, the seagulls flew away.
What else do you think Raymond is up to?
Greetings! It’s February 25th… just 10 months until Christmas is here! I bet you all are bustling about—thinking about school, work, and family. I’ve been busy drawing, sewing, and crafting—making all sorts of fun things. (There will be more about that later. ) As I walked into the workroom the other day, look what I stumbled upon…
Yup! You guessed it. Raymond.
He eagerly came to the workroom to help me pick out some ribbon for my most recent project, but he got all tangled!
I could go on and on about all the wonderful things happening at the North Pole, but I’d like to hear from you.
What have you been up to this month?
Happy New Year!! And Happy January 25th—Christmas is exactly 11 months away! I hope you all brought in the new year with much joy. This time of year, there’s usually a buzz about eating healthier, exercising more, spending more time with family, etc. What are your plans or resolutions for the new year?
I did make a resolution to eat healthier (again), but what I’m more excited about is (drumroll, please)… trying a new recipe every week. So far so good! I’ve tried a handful of recipes from a healthy cookbook
I shared the first batch of cookies with the other elves and reindeer here at the North Pole, and everyone loved them!
Especially Raymond.
Raymond loved the cookies so much that he begged me make another batch of cookies. It didn’t take much prodding for me to agree to bake some more. (Who can say no to cookies?) So Raymond and I headed to the pantry to gather the ingredients.
But first we needed to put on our aprons.
Then we got all the ingredients together. Raymond mashed the bananas while I mixed the dry ingredients.
After we added all the ingredients, we put the cookies on baking sheets, and then popped them in the oven to bake. About 15 minutes later, Mrs. Claus took them out of the oven. In the meantime, Raymond and I eagerly waited for the cookies to cool.
Looking for more yummy recipes? Click here to view the recipes in Mrs. Claus’ Kitchen.
What’s your favorite cookie?
We hope everyone had a very merry Christmas! All of us up here at the North Pole had a lovely Christmas indeed.
We wanted to take a moment to express some gratitude. First off, thank you to our corporate sponsors who have helped us tremendously with the cost of developing and maintaining northpole.com. So, thank you very much to our Diamond Deck-the-Halls Sponsor, Restaurant Technology, Inc., and our Platinum Poinsettia Sponsor, SimTrain! (Interested in sponsoring Northpole.com? Click here for more information!)
Also, thanks go out to YOU for spending part of your Christmas with us! We appreciate every single one of our visitors, and we are so happy that you came to visit Santa’s Secret Village. We do hope that you’ll spend part of next Christmas with us as well!
As 2012 draws to a close, there are now 362 days until Christmas. We won’t be posting on the Elf Blog quite as often over the next several months, but come check back every now and then because we might post some surprises between now and next holiday season 
And in the meantime, you can still check out all of our awesome content, such as the craft ideas, gift ideas, and Raymond the Reindeer’s adventures.
Thanks again for spending part of your Christmas with us here at northpole.com, and we wish you a very happy and healthy 2013!
Happy Christmas Eve, everyone!! As you know, we’ve invited our friends on Google+ to the Northpole.com Official Countdown to Christmas 2012 where they can upload photos of how they’re celebrating Christmas and celebrate with the rest of the world. If you’re on Google+, we hope you’ll join us! (If you’re not on Google+ yet, you can sign up here.)
Here are some of our favourite photos from yesterday and today!
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) We are very excited for Santa this year.”Does your family have any Christmas Eve traditions? Let us know in the comments below!
Christmas is a faaaabulous time of year! Brighten up any area with this wintery pink arrangement of branches and icicles. This quick & easy centerpiece could be on your table in no time. Pick whatever type/color of winter branches you like from the craft store. I got about 4 stems of a linear branch (hot pink), and 4 stems of a bushy branch (light pink). You may need more if you have a large vase. (My vase is 10.5″ tall with a 4″ opening.)
It’s never too early to start thinking about next year’s Christmas cards! Just think how adorable your cards would be if they included a photo of your dog in this amazing Christmas caroler costume. I’m smiling just thinking about it
Snowmen are a classic winter icon! Bring the charm of these frosty, round men indoors with these delightful rustic burlap balls. Decorate them any way you wish!
Becky on Raymond’s Sporty Dream