“Elf On The Shelf”
Start a new holiday tradition by playing “The Elf On The Shelf” game. The elf is one of Santa’s many helpers. and shows up at the beginning of the holiday season, keeping an eye on things until Christmas. On Christmas Eve, the elf returns to the North Pole with Santa Claus until the next year. […]
James Dashner’s: The Maze Runner
With the film adaptation coming next September, I have heard many mentions of James Dashner’s The Maze Runner lately. In a similar style to The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner (the first book in a series of the same name) is a sci-fi/dystopian teen-oriented novel that is immensely popular, especially in the last few months. […]
Silk for Christmas (encore’)
Silk for Christmas Still wondering what would be a very special gift for Christmas? I have a great idea that combines luxury and health, a pure silk comforter, pillows, sheets or shams. Why pure mulberry silk? Oh, there is a wealth of healthy reasons for sleeping on silk. The first is pure silk is hypoallergenic […]
Narcoleptic Shoppers
The Christmas season is tiring. Oh, it’s loving and magical and all that stuff, too, but it’s downright exhausting. For instance, I’ve taken three cat naps writing these first two sentences. For the record, there is a slim possibility my fatigue is related to age, but for obvious reasons, I’m going with holiday exhaustion. There […]
Christmas is Coming
One really cannot avoid the fact that the best known Christian holiday is right around the corner. Many non-Christians play into the holiday with apparent joy, anti-Christians argue about public language concerning the season (and decorations on government property), and Wall Street anticipates the results of retailers. Christians of a liturgical tradition (like me) become […]
Stranger Than Fiction: The Christmas Truce
December 24, 1914 started out like many other days during the Great War, now known as World War I. The day began with a barrage of artillery and gunfire between German and British troops entrenched along the western front near Ypres in Belgium. As the hours of Christmas approached a most miraculous event occurred on […]
Remember The List
Christmas is approaching and children everywhere are making their “lists” for Santa, and my granddaughter is no different than these children. Today, she came to my house with list in hand. She had carefully looked through catalogs, surfed the internet for suggestions and attentively watched all the commercials. Armed with this information, her list was […]
Planning For Holiday Events
Hello, my sweets! I trust that you all had a wonderful, calorie rich Thanksgiving dinner. I know that I did. Now it is time to plan for all of those holiday events. Be it casual or elegant, tis the season to have fun with your style. I love to celebrate every day and look for […]
Flocking A Christmas Tree
We are putting up our tree this week and I am wondering how to get a real tree flocked. When we were younger, I lived in a large city and we ordered the tree from the florist flocked. I haven’t seen any real flocked trees around here but would like some advice on where to […]
Traditions
I have talked about the need of traditions for children. It gives them a sense of security and builds trust. This holiday season is a good time to build family traditions that will follow your child through their life. The traditions you start will, in part, be passed down to their children. I have listed […]
Including Children In Thanksgiving
FRUIT TURKEY Supplies: 1 Green apple, Pineapple, Mandarin oranges, Green grapes, Dark grapes, Edible eyes, 1 Cherry, Peanut butter and Tooth picks Directions: Cut the bottom off the apple so it will stand up straight. Save the cut off part to make the wings and head. Poke 4 tooth picks on the back side of […]
Thanksgiving Encore
I can’t wait. Just three more days until Thanksgiving. I can smell the turkey and pumpkin pies now. I see a table flowing over with harvest food. I see corn, beans, potatoes, sweet potato casserole, cornbread stuffing, oyster souffle, broccoli casserole, baked acorn squash, pumpkin soup, cabbage casserole, cheese grit casserole, marinaded carrots, cauliflower salad, […]
Stranger Than Fiction: the Lincoln’s First Thanksgiving
Although Thanksgiving had been observed sporadically throughout the nation since the administration of George Washington, the day was never observed as a national holiday until President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation making it a legal holiday. The nation was set to observe the first national day of giving thanks in November of 1863. Ironically, the […]
Thanksgiving in America
This is the month of Thanksgiving, often called gratitude month, when columnists never fail to comment on the theme. I will not disappoint. Let’s start with some history. We celebrate on the fourth Thursday of November. We have done this nationally and officially only since 1941, although individual states had their own dates since the […]
Canadian Math
If you pay close attention to your world, you’ll see some very interesting signs, and some are very confusing. One of my favorites is “slow children at play.” I don’t quite know how to take this sign. Is it a cavalier attitude toward the safety and welfare of fast children? Perhaps it represents misguided belief […]
Leftovers
My family is traveling to my parents’ house for Thanksgiving and we are really looking forward to the trip. There is, however, one annual point of argument. My Mom is old school and believes that it is fine to leave leftovers in the oven for several hours before storing the food. I am afraid for […]
