Merry Christmas friends! Today I’m sharing Christmas pictures.

So pictures don’t tell the whole story. They put their best foot forward and hide the chaos beyond the lens.

On the periphery of these photos are laundry piles, dirty dishes, dog hair, sticky counters, messy little hands, smeared fingerprints on stainless appliances and unmade beds. Yep.

I’m thankful for those laundry piles. (My family and I are blessed with clothes.)

I’m thankful for dishes in the sink and sticky counters. (We have plenty to eat and drink here.)

I’m thankful for the Chloe hair. (We absorb quiet comfort from a gentle, wagging tail and sympathetic brown eyes on our hardest days.)

I’m grateful for messy little hands and faces. (They belong to the loves of my life. How I wish I could protect them from the harsh world they were born into ….)

I’m thankful for smeared fingerprints on appliances. (Dishwashers, dryers, washing machines, stoves and refrigerators simplify the mundane, giving me time to focus on other things.)

And lastly, I’m thankful for the unmade beds. (We each have a cozy place for shut eye, even if we can’t bounce a nickel on the bedspread. How blessed are we.)

I read an article after Thanksgiving about a woman who lost her house and all her possessions in the Paradise fires. She spent Thanksgiving at a shelter, serving turkey dinners to fellow homeless survivors.

“It’s probably the best Thanksgiving of my life,” she said. “Being alive – my family being alive – makes you realize…. (what’s really important)”

This quote hangs in my kitchen: “Gratitude turns what we have into enough”

Are you in search of Christmas joy this year? Me too. What a year it’s been. At every turn, sorrow for so many. Broken relationships, loss of loved ones, health crises, financial and political stress, and so much more.

Today I’m snuggled by the fireplace, counting my blessings, like that grateful lady in Paradise.

I’m thankful to be alive and experiencing the joys of the season.

I’m thankful for each member of my family and extended family.

I’m thankful for today, because that’s all that’s guaranteed.

I’m thankful for a tiny Baby that arrived in a manger bed two thousand years ago on a cold winter’s night. Hope.

What are you thankful for?

Wishing you a beautiful, meaningful time with your family and friends, celebrating the joys of the season.

All my love and wishes for a peaceful, restful Christmas and a New Year filled with joy and hope. XOXO

You may also enjoy: The Gift of Giving and Broken Wings

The post ISO: Christmas Joy appeared first on Through Her Looking Glass.

Gorgeous frosted Christmas Sugar Cookies all season long without stress? Yaaaasss! With a little planning and these handy tips, you can too!

I’ve made these light buttery roll-out cookies for decades. These are hands down the best Christmas Sugar Cookies I’ve tasted. They’re light and delicate, crunchy and pair perfectly with buttery frosting. Divine with coffee! (Warning: these are addictive!)

Say goodbye to thick, heavy roll-out cookies. These taste every bit as good as they look. Change up the cookie cutter and they work for any holiday. Individually wrapped, these cookies make a beautiful party favor.

Here are some baking tips that work for me:

Mix dough.

Chill in refrigerator for an hour, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap.

Roll out and cut with just one cookie cutter. (I chose Christmas trees because they fit nicely on a round platter and need only two frosting colors.) Use plenty of flour on your rolling mat so they won’t stick.

Once rolled, dough should be thin, but not translucent. (If too thick, they’ll puff and lose shape. If too thin, they over brown.) To give you an idea, the cookies in above picture should be rolled just a tad thinner.

Use a very thin metal cookie spatula to carefully transfer cut-outs onto parchment lined baking sheet. Space adequately as they do spread some. Very important: Each pan of cookies should be refrigerated for  5-10 min. before baking. (This helps butter cookies retain their shape while baking.)

Watch closely at the six minute mark, they can over brown in seconds. Bake until edges are just browning.

Bake a pan of tiny embellishment cookies to decorate with. For tree toppers, I sprinkle baby stars with colored sugar before baking so I won’t have to frost later. (Yep, I like sparkle.)

Cool and freeze unfrosted cookies in airtight containers. I put cookies in stacks to minimize breakage. (I don’t freeze in plastic bags, the cookies are too fragile.)

Make frosting. Divide and color frosting to coordinate with your cookies. (Less is more in the food coloring department.) Store in the refrigerator ’til use. For best results, use at room temperature with a decorating bag and tip.

Pull cookies from the freezer individually and frost for cookie platters as needed all season. They’re more fragile when frozen, but thaw in just minutes.

Decorate on large cookie sheet to minimize mess. Experiment and perfect your frosting technique on one, then repeat the design. The repetition on the cookie platter is stunning. (Once you’ve mastered a design, you can frost mindlessly and concentrate on more important things…. singing Rudolph and composing your naughty/nice list!)

Transfer cookies to serving platter. Once frosting sets, add more cookie layers, with parchment paper in between.

Print

Decorated Christmas Roll Out Cookies

The perfect Christmas Roll Out Cookies. Light, crisp and buttery. Only seven ingredients. Taste these and you'll never make a different recipe. They will disappear fast!

Course Cookies

Cuisine American

Prep Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 6 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 36 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Author Allie Taylor

Ingredients

Cookie Dough:

• 1/2 cup butter room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Butter Cream Icing:

• 1/8 cup butter
• 1/8 cup vegetable shortening
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2-3 tablespoons cream or half and half

Instructions

Cookie Dough:

• Cream butter.
• Add sugar to creamed butter.
• Beat in egg and vanilla.
• Sift flour with baking powder and salt. (Or mix well with a fork like I do!)
• Stir dry ingredients into creamed ones.
• Chill dough, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap, for 1 hour.
• Roll out thin.
• Transfer cut out cookies to parchment lined baking sheet.
• Refrigerate pan of cookies 5-10 minutes before baking.
• Bake for 6-8 minutes at 350 degrees, until just browning on the edges. Watch closely at the six minute mark.

Butter Cream Icing:

• Cream butter.
• Add in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time.
• Mix in vanilla and cream, 'til it's the consistency you want.
• Use a decorating bag and frosting tip for fine details.

Notes

I usually triple or quadruple this cookie dough recipe.
Refrigerate cookies on baking pan 5-10 minutes before baking.

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The post Christmas Sugar Cookies appeared first on Through Her Looking Glass.

Well hello friends, hope you had a very Merry Christmas. (Did you?) I did, thank you very much. Relaxing because I stayed in my pj’s ’til about 4 p.m. on Christmas Day. Yep, I did that. Just because I could. And I wanted to. And so did my boys. Love a laid back, relaxed Christmas day. Then the mad scramble of getting ready for extended family arriving for dinner at 5 starts about 4. I had a New England Beef Stew simmering in the crockpot all day. So it’s not like we scrambled making dinner or anything. Just getting out of pj’s and cleaning up the morning carnage. (The nature of the scramble.)

Plus I made the ganache for the Brick Street Chocolate Cake. Had a near catastrophe. While my back is turned stirring the ganache, Hudson pilfers a large chunk (read:fistful) from the cake. He’s no fool. (Hudson’s five, has Down syndrome.) Had to pry his determined little clamped fingers from around that chunk, piece it back on the cake. Nobody knew the difference. (‘Til now.)

So anyway, in the spirit of the season, I’m sharing King John Was Not A Good Man today from King John’s Christmas. A favorite of mine. If you know A. A. Milne at all, you know he was the clever, winsome creator of Winnie the Pooh and all the adventures in the Hundred Acre Wood. He also wrote a slew of other poems.

I’ve always been an A. A. Milne fan, likely because my grandmother gave me his book Now We Are Six on my sixth birthday. (Timing is everything.) I read and re-read the book as a child and find myself returning to it often as an adult.

She gave me the actual Now We Are Six book that she and my grandfather read aloud to each other while courting in 1927. I know. What to say? This book is very precious to me. Then my grandmother had the book rebound for my 6th birthday in 1978. (How old am I?)

She’s been gone over a decade now, and I love having this little piece of her. Can still hear her reading this King John’s Christmas poem aloud. A favorite that delighted me. A couple years ago my Jon and I acted it out for a “talent” show at church. I use the words act and talent loosely. I was the narrator, Jon – King John.

• Kingly robe (ratty old bathrobe)
• Scepter (read: toilet plunger)
• Crown (Burger King)

Oh my, did we have a “ball.” (Pun intended.) Hope you find a special place in your heart for King John today. Humor me this once and listen along.

King John Was Not a Man Good Man

(I’ll do my best to read it as my grandmother might have. She somehow kept a straight face at the funny parts.)

King John was not a good man,
He had his little ways.
And sometimes no one spoke to him
For days and days and days.
And men who came across him,
When walking in the town,
Gave him a supercilious stare,
Or passed with noses in the air –
And bad King John stood dumbly there,
Blushing beneath his crown.

King John was not a good man,
And no good friends had he.
He stayed in every afternoon …
But no one came to tea.

And, round about December,
The cards upon his shelf
Which wished him lots of Christmas cheer,
And fortune in the coming year,
Were never from his near and dear,
But only from himself.

King John was not a good man,
Yet had his hopes and fears.
They’d given him no present now
For years and years and years.
But every year at Christmas,
While minstrels stood about,
Collecting tribute from the young
For all the songs they might have sung,
He stole away upstairs and hung
A hopeful stocking out.

King John was not a good man,
He lived his life aloof;
Alone he thought a message out
While climbing up the roof.

He wrote it down and propped it
Against the chimney stack:
“TO ALL AND SUNDRY –
NEAR AND FAR –
F. CHRISTMAS IN PARTICULAR.”
And signed it not “Johannes R.”
But very humbly, “JACK.”

“I want some crackers,
And I want some candy;
I think a box of chocolates
Would come in handy;
I don’t mind oranges,
I do like nuts!
And I SHOULD like a pocket-knife
That really cuts.
And, oh! Father Christmas, if you love me at all,
Bring me a big, red india-rubber ball!”

King John was not a good man –
He wrote this message out,
And gat him to his room again,
Descending by the spout.
And all that night he lay there,
A prey to hopes and fears.
“I think that’s him a-coming now,
(Anxiety bedewed his brow.)
“He’ll bring one present, anyhow –
The first I’ve had for years.

“Forget about the crackers,
And forget about the candy;
I’m sure a box of chocolates
Would never come in handy;
I don’t like oranges,
I don’t want nuts,
And I HAVE got a pocket-knife
That almost cuts.
But, oh! Father Christmas, if you love me at all,
Bring me a big, red india-rubber ball!”

King John was not a good man –
Next morning when the sun
Rose up to tell a waiting world
That Christmas had begun,
And people seized their stockings,
And opened them with glee,
And crackers, toys and games appeared,
And lips with sticky sweets were smeared,
King John said grimly:
“As I feared, Nothing again for me!”

“I did want crackers,
And I did want candy;
I know a box of chocolates
Would come in handy;
I do love oranges,
I did want nuts.
I haven’t got a pocket-knife –
Not one that cuts.
And, oh! if Father Christmas had loved me at all,
He would have brought a big, red india-rubber ball!”

King John stood by the window,
And frowned to see below
The happy bands of boys and girls
All playing in the snow.
A while he stood there watching,
And envying them all…
When through the window big and red
There hurtled by his royal head,
And bounced and fell upon the bed,
An india-rubber ball!

AND OH, FATHER CHRISTMAS, MY BLESSINGS ON YOU FALL
FOR BRINGING HIM A BIG, RED INDIA-RUBBER BALL!

A.A. Milne

Bless you Father Christmas!

Friends – have a wonderful rest of your Christmas weekend with family and friends. Hope all the cards you received were not only from yourself. (Giggle.)

You may also like: Advent Wreaths & Little Pyros Don’t Mix

The post King John Was Not A Good Man appeared first on Through Her Looking Glass.

Today I want to tell you about a crazy new game Hudson devised: Off Beat Musical Chairs. But first, it’s been a little bit of a crazy time at our house recently with all the busyness of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Then one of the kids ordered basketball shoes on the web. The highly anticipated shoes finally arrived: one a size 9, the other a 12. And two left feet. No joke. (Hopefully not an omen of the coming b-ball season.) Later in the week I poured toilet bowl cleaner down the shower drain thinking it was Drano. Yep. Distracted. I did that. (And I haven’t exactly mentioned it to Jon just yet. I did, however, run lots of water.)

People ask me why I write about life and family here on weekends. Thought about it, and there are a few reasons:

• #1- I have a brain like a sieve. I want to remember the little things (usually the most important) that happen. I want to remember them for longer than five minutes. Savor them. And knowing I’m going to write about the little things helps me pay closer attention, live in the moment.
• #2-  Brings me great joy to write about life and family.
• #3 – Uses up some of my 10K daily words writing here, gives my Jon a break. (You’re welcome honey.)
• And finally, if you haven’t noticed…. I particularly enjoy writing about my little Hudson.

Photo courtesy of Designs by Linda Nee

Why? As many of you know, Hudson’s five now, has Down syndrome. Life with a child with physical and emotional disabilities can be joyful. Also a strain, and difficult on the family. Simultaneously. Writing about Hudson helps me focus on the positive things that happen. The tiny milestones and progress. Also the average person has no idea the challenges of living with a special needs person. It’s a mystery. And the unknown can sometimes seem weird, strange. I find myself in a very unique position to write about mothering a little boy with Down syndrome.

Because not only does my little Hudson have Downs, but my oldest sister does as well, putting me in a rare category. Think about it: I’ve never known a day without an immediate family member with Down syndrome.

But being the sister and mother of a disabled person are two very different things.

The difference can be summed up in a word: responsibility.

Being mom to this very special little boy has had its highs and lows, joys and disappointments along the way. We deeply love and accept Hudson with our whole hearts, and yet his diagnosis changed our family and our family’s future. Forever. There have been countless physical, medical and communication challenges on the journey. Not to mention many precious and poignant lessons we could’ve would’ve never learned without Hudson joining our family.

On this blog I attempt to peel back the curtain just a tad on one little family that deals with disability daily. Mine. So you can see it’s not scary. Or weird. (And if it seems weird, don’t blame Hudson. Blame me.) Our family isn’t superhuman. We’re living life much like everyone else, just a few extra challenges thrown in on a daily basis.

I’m hoping to be one more positive voice towards loving acceptance of people with disabilities. Realizing these special people are far more like the rest of us than they are different. Dreaming of a kinder, gentler more accepting world longterm for our Hudson and many others. Striving to help humanize mental disability through writing about our typical everydays.

Jon and I were told numerous times after Hudson’s birth we were the perfect family for him. Really? I couldn’t see it at the time. I know they meant well. My thought in retrospect?

I think Hudson was the perfect child for our family.

Make sense? There’s a subtle difference there. Children with disabilities are needy and need to be served. That’s the honor, privilege and weighty responsibility our family is entrusted with: to care for Hudson and his many needs. For always. And Hudson in turn has been the catalyst for much of our family’s growth, stretching us, teaching us the meaning of true service. With a lot of joy thrown in along the way.

I shouldn’t write posts when I’m sick. (I’m sick.) Because I write (more) emotionally with a fever. But the reality is I wouldn’t get much writing done if I didn’t, because I’m sick a lot. It’s not that my immune system is weak or anything. It’s that Hudson’s is. He catches anything and everything. Also a master at spreading the wealth. See, he’s got no inhibitions about sneezing or even throwing up. On me. Or his dad or brothers. Doesn’t cough neatly in his elbow. Nope. Hudson has little awareness of needing to blow his nose or wash his hands. Might even stick those hands in his diaper. Yup. He does that occasionally. Hudson’s nearly six and still in diapers. And no sign that’s gonna change anytime soon either. These are just a few of the realities that many families with special needs children face daily.

So I told you I’d tell you about Hudson’s new game, Off Beat Musical Chairs. He came up with it all on his own, loves to play. There are two players. Hudson. And me.

He first showed me Off Beat Musical Chairs last week when he was home sick from school. Started on Monday and continued all week long ’til he went back to school on Friday. Now he comes home and plays it in the afternoons after school.

It goes something like this. But first, many of you know Hudson’s a thrower. Meaning he enjoys throwing objects like a tiny toddler would. His cup. Food. A lamp. My computer. CD’s. Yeah, you get the idea. We’ve worked and worked and worked on this bad habit to no avail. So in time, almost unconsciously, we’ve all become masters of placing valuables/breakables just out of Hudson’s reach. That worked for about four years, as long as we remembered to put things up high.

So last Monday, Hudson had a big breakthrough. He finally realized that if he got a chair, he could climb up onto that chair and it would elevate him enough to reach all those tempting things. CD’s, DVD’s, books, electronics, vases. You name it. Quickly realizing his new game, I told him to get down of course. With a little coaxing he did. This went on for several hours. Over and over and over. Hudson getting a chair, climbing up, being asked to get down. Finally I corralled all the stray movable chairs throughout the house in the dining room. All eight of them.

And just as soon as I get the last chair secured in the dining room, Hudson comes around the corner through the other doorway, retrieves it. Resolutely pushes it back around the circle into the living room again. Firmly sets his jaw, climbs that chair, reaches for the forbidden. And the whole game starts all over again. Now press replay about a hundred times. Stubborn he is. But so am I.

Last week when he was home sick, unless he was watching a DVD, he played this new game Off Beat Musical Chairs for hours. Many children with special needs do things like this almost compulsively. Over and over and over. Some open and close doors. Or make unusual noises. Or spin things. Or stick out their tongue. Or do other compulsive things. Like push chairs around the house and climb them for hours at a time. Giggle.

I’m grateful to report that Hudson was well enough to return to school again this week. So his hours to play Off Beat Musical Chairs were significantly reduced. Meaning I might keep my sanity.

The silver lining? Hudson’s learning to problem solve. And that, is progress worth celebration in the midst of the daily musical chairs insanity.

Dear Santa:

Hudson’s been a good boy this year. But no matter how much he begs or pleads, DO NOT bring him a step ladder. And if you and Mrs. Claus need a few extra chairs at the North Pole, we’ll leave some (8) by the chimney. One each for Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen.

Merry Christmas,

Hudson’s mother

P.S. We’re putting up our Christmas tree tonight and it just occurred to me that Hudson might want the angel topper. Could be a really long game-filled December. (If you know what I mean.)

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The post Off Beat Musical Chairs appeared first on Through Her Looking Glass.

This is a true story that happened at Christmas several years ago. I don’t think of it without chuckling out loud. This is my early Christmas gift to you, friend. A genuine laugh. In this world of stressful bad news, give yourself this five minute oasis. Truth is stranger than fiction. Always. For true flavor, you really must listen to the audio. (Trust me on this one.) Merry Christmas to you!

Nuts About Her by Allie Taylor

We sat in my living room that snowy afternoon, ready to rehearse the Christmas music. An accomplished musician, she plays five instruments proficiently. Today she was accompanying me on guitar. First we had a cup of tea, and she filled me in on her latest adventure.

“So last week at the grocery store, I was on the baking aisle hunting for nuts. And I noticed that eight ounces of chopped nuts costs way more than eight ounces of whole nuts. Well, I needed some CHOPPED nuts, but I wasn’t gonna get ripped off.

So I grabbed the whole nuts and sashayed to the coffee aisle….”

“So you like nuts with your coffee?” I said.

“Not exactly.” She snickered.

” I was looking…for the coffee grinder.”

A wave of horror swept over me.  “You didn’t!”

She giggled loud, then snorted.

“Oh yes I did! I ripped open the bag and poured those nuts right into the coffee grinder, and then…I pushed the button. And there was a funny noise like…UNNNHHH, UNNNHHH, UNNNHHH. And then an awful smell. You know, like stinky burnt peanut butter. I pressed the button over and over…but nothing came out!”

Now I was snorting. She continued, higher pitched.

“So I tippy toed to see inside. But it was just GOOK! And I got so ticked, I marched right to the front of the store and demanded to speak to the manager.”

“You DIDN’T!!!”

“Oh yes I DID! I said, “Excuse. Me. Please. But we have a little problem here. I put the nuts IN, but nothing came OUT.”

And the manager said, ” but you can’t put NUTS in the coffee grinder”.

And so I said, “Says WHO?  I don’t want to get ripped off.  Maybe YOU should charge less for chopped nuts.”

Tears streamed down my face. Hers was beet red from laughing and snorting. She was absolutely delighted by all the attention.

“So how ‘bout you make a CARROT cake next?” I suggested. (I love to egg her on.)

She giggled, hiccuped and plowed on at ninety miles an hour.

“So the next week I went grocery shopping with my hubby. And he said, “maybe we should take a look see at the coffee grinder.” And you know what? We couldn’t find it. Because it wasn’t THERE anymore.

“And I said, Now all the nice people in Bedford can’t have their fresh ground coffee anymore. And then I felt bad.”

I wiped my eyes, blew my nose…sipped my tea. And somehow we managed to get through that stack of Christmas music that afternoon.

Christmas Eve arrived just a few days later. The service was in the function room of a local hotel. She’d agreed to rehearse with me before the 5:30 service. But 5 o’clock came and went and she didn’t show. The minutes ticked by as I played the prelude. 5:15. 5:25. Finally, my phone buzzed with a text at 5:28.

“You’ll never believe this. I went to the NUTfield Inn by accident. Be there in a jiffy!”

Somehow, I DID believe it. Because you just can’t make this stuff up.

Merry Christmas to all. And to all…….a good night!

(And may all the nice people of Bedford have fresh ground coffee on Christmas morning.)

If Nuts About Her tickled your funny bone, please share the laugh with a friend. Laughter: the best medicine.

If you enjoyed this true story, you’ll also enjoy this one: Entrepreneur of Sorts

The post Nuts about her… appeared first on Through Her Looking Glass.

I know what you’re thinking.  “Why elephants?”  And I would say to you, “Why not?”

Elephants are cute. And they don’t really have pink ears that I know of. And that’s ok. Because when you hold the paintbrush, you can live in your own pink-eared elephant world if you so choose. And I do. (Better than rose-colored glasses.) I also live in a house full of men, so I have to sneak in the pink where I can. (Yup, pink toothbrush.) I also have to represent myself on a Christmas tree laden with soccer balls, basketballs and baseball bats. That’s one reason why I made pink-eared Clay Elephant Christmas Ornaments this year.

I also participate in an ornament exchange each Christmas season. So I try to choose an ornament that means something personally.

Elephants seemed the natural choice after Jon’s recent trip to Nepal and his horrific ride on a naughty elephant who was having a horrible, no good, very bad day. If you missed that saga, click here and read (or listen!) to Near Death by Elephant.   http://throughherlookingglass.com/?p=1291   That will fill you in on the sordid details.

I’m going to stop rambling so we can talk about making Clay Elephant Christmas Ornaments.

My cousin gave me these fun animal cracker cookie cutters last year. I love them. They work great for making animal crackers, and also ornaments. The little plunger imprints the top. You can buy animal cracker cookie cutters online at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Chicago-Metallic-5-Piece-Plunger-Cutters/dp/B00K2S2AEE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1418190758&sr=8-2&keywords=plastic+animal+cookie+cutters  The set on Amazon also has a cute seal and a tiger. (But beware: it doesn’t have the zebra.)

Materials:

• Clay (airdry or regular)
• Rolling pin
• Animal cracker cookie cutter
• Acrylic craft paint
• Craft paint brushes
• Mod Podge water based sealer
• Embroidery floss or twine for hanging

Directions:

• Roll out clay on a rolling mat or parchment paper. (Grease lightly with Crisco first, it helps keep the clay from sticking)
• Don’t roll too thin. They’ll be sturdier and less likely to break if they’re thicker.
• Stamp with cookie cutter.
• Punch a hole in your ornament for hanging. (The blunt end of a kitchen skewer worked well for me.)
• Transfer to parchment paper to air dry, or bake in the oven according to your clay’s directions.
• Paint with gray paint. Paint the ears pink if you want.
• When dry, shellac with Mod Podge.
• String with matching embroidery floss or twine.

 A group of elephants is called a herd or a parade!

(I sure hope you have electricity on the day you roll your clay out. I didn’t. I was doing it by candlelight on Thanksgiving Day. Thanksgiving Day (and week) was another saga, similar to an unpleasant elephant ride, but within the confines of my own house. If you don’t know about that yet, you can read my Wild and Wooly New England Thanksgiving post. http://throughherlookingglass.com/?p=1569 )

The post Clay Elephant Christmas Ornaments appeared first on Through Her Looking Glass.

He adores fire. Most little boys do.

“Can I light the candles tonight? Please please, pretty please with sugar on top????”

(More fun – listen to the audio below!)

Advent Wreaths and Little Pyros Don’t Mix… by Allie Taylor

Around the campfire, rest assured he’s millimeters away, poker in hand, waiting for that unsupervised nanosecond to furtively stoke the flames with contraband. His fascination borders on pyromania.

He also loves Advent. Last Christmas he lit the Advent wreath at home. Without permission. It was sitting on a side table under a lamp. First there was fire. Then smoke. The lamp light now diffuses differently through the large burn hole in the shade. But the house is still standing, and for that his parents are grateful.

Last year his great uncle died. As a comfort to his great aunt, he constructed a special sketch book for her about uncle’s journey to heaven.

 “And THAT’S what happens if he’s GOOD.”

His parents were overwhelmed, even teary reading the sweet handmade book to assuage auntie’s grief. But then they turned the page.

Oh. Dear.

(Note: he ends cheerfully.)

He promptly received a theology lesson, and the book was altered before sending on to auntie, despite the author/illustrator’s belligerence regarding the forced amendment to his masterpiece.

There was a lull in his preoccupation with fire. It was brief.

He attended a picnic at his grandmother’s house. She innocently offered a magnifying glass for bug hunting in the backyard. She was, as of yet, unaware of his tendencies. His eyes “lit up” to see the magnifying glass. Within moments, the sun’s rays were harnessed on a pile of crisp leaves that were soon smoking, then blazing away in Gigi’s yard.

His parents went out for dinner last week. The door had barely clicked shut. He mounted a stepladder and retrieved left over fireworks, hidden at the back of a top shelf. He offered to stage a backyard show for the babysitter. She was onto him in a heartbeat and nixed it. Incidentally, that evening he also found liquid “red sugar blood” packets from last year’s Halloween basket. She nixed that too. (What a wet blanket!)

His fire fetish was not limited to home and family only. Recently his mother received a note from his second grade teacher. An excerpt follows:

“I’m writing today because the third grade teacher informed me of an incident that occurred last Friday afternoon. Your son handed a note to another boy that said “Ticket to Hell”…  We talked with him and he did confess to writing the note. Even in jest, these words are inappropriate and quite harmful. He understood, was apologetic, and did apologize to the other boy.”

His mother, relieved to hear of his remorse, hopes that perhaps he will not aspire to arson after all.

(But wait…what’s that smell?)

If you enjoyed this true audio story, you may also enjoy listening to:

“Entrepreneur of Sorts” http://throughherlookingglass.com/?p=870

“Every Time A Bell Rings”  http://throughherlookingglass.com/?p=768

Many thanks to all who took time to think of so many fun, creative captions for the Christmas Photo Caption Contest this past weekend.  It was so entertaining to see the entries coming in.

Big congratulations to Linda for her winning entry:  “I’ll just close my eyes for a minute…”  She wins the gift package below. Linda, I’ll be in touch about delivery!

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The post Advent Wreaths and Little Pyros Don’t Mix appeared first on Through Her Looking Glass.

Let’s face it, the Christmas season can be unhealthy. From the edibles we gift to the chocolates we receive. And I do love my chocolate. Dark, very dark. Yes, dark chocolate is an essential in my life.

But I recently came across this DIY Clementine Wreath. I think it’s genius. It’s quick. Healthy. Colorful. Festive. It’s different. No baking. No dishes. A man could do this. (So kidding. Forgive me? Seriously, some of the best cooks I know are men.) But who doesn’t love a plump, juicy clementine? This is a fun project for the kids and grandkids to help with too.

I can even see… MATH!

“Johnny — we’re making three clementine wreaths for your teacher gifts today. There are seven clementines in each wreath. How many clementines will we need?” Ok, you get the point. (And it’s just more fun talking about chocolate.)

DIY Clementine Wreath Materials 

• 7 clementines (or more!)
• a long roll of cellophane wrap (NOT PLASTIC SARAN WRAP)
• tape (Scotch tape or packing tape. I liked packing tape better, sturdier.)
• twine
• ribbon

Directions

1. Lay down a 6 – 8 inch wide strip of cellophane wrap, length-wise. (Depending on the width of your cellophane roll, you may need to tape two pieces together. I did.)

2. Line the clementines  in a straight line on top of the cellophane, down the center.  Leave space in between each clementine.

3. Fold the cellophane together and tape together at intervals.

4. Tie a piece of twine in between each clementine.

5. Twist into a circle and tie a knot (or tape!) the two ends together. (Then twist and shout! Because you are almost finished…)

6. Tie a pretty bow and add a gift tag.  I like red for Christmas.  (But that’s just me.)

 Line up the clementines in a row on the cellophane and tape it shut.

Twist the clementines into a circle.

And tie a knot in the cellophane if you have enough extra.  Or tape.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The post DIY Clementine Wreath appeared first on Through Her Looking Glass.